When Clients do not pay their Lawyers in Spain

In the Spanish legal system there is a specific procedure for when the client does not pay her/his lawyer and / or procurator's fees (more info on the figure of the procurator in Spanish Law: What is a "Procurador" in Spanish Law? (mtcspainsolicitors.com) ) This incidental procedure is called Sworn Account (in Spanish: "Jura de Cuentas" o "Cuenta Jurada", being contemplated in art. 35 (for lawyers) and in art. 34 (for attorneys) of the Spanish Civil Procedure Law. On the other hand, the COMPETENT COURT to resolve the "sworn accounts" will be the same court in which the disputed fees were originated, the very same fees that the lawyer claims from her/his client. Articles 34 and 35 of the LEC do not establish the deadline to initiate the action, being the Supreme Court the one that has interpreted this issue in different resolutions, agreeing in all of them that it is an EXPIRY period which temporality must be the one prevented in article 237.1 of the LEC: "TWO YEARS when the lawsuit is in the first instance and ONE YEAR, if it is in the second instance or pending an extraordinary appeal for procedural infringement or "casación"".