Denise Kitson (Appellant) v Roger Phynn (Respondent) (Jamaica)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2025/0091

Jurisdiction

Jamaica

Parties

Appellant(s)

DENISE KITSON

Respondent(s)

ROGER PHYNN

Issue

(1) Can a solicitor’s right to a lien over their client’s documents for unpaid fees be defeated by the power of a liquidator under section 45 of the Co-operative Societies Act to compel the production of documents? (2) Were there any issues with the service of the warrant for commitment to prison by failing to serve the documents on the Appellant personally?

Facts

The Appellant is the managing partner of a law firm in Jamaica, Messrs Grant Stewart Phillips and Co (“GSPC”). GSPC represented their client Mount Royal Co-operative Society Limited (“Mount Royal”) for numerous years. Mount Royal is an entity subject to the Co-operative Societies Act (the “Act”). In October 2019, Mount Royal was placed into voluntary liquidation and, soon after, the Respondent was appointed as its liquidator pursuant to section 44 of the Act. The Respondent continued to instruct GSPC to represent Mount Royal, and payments were made for GSPC’s fees. However, the Respondent later became unhappy with GSPC’s advice and terminated the relationship. The Respondent demanded that GSPC return all documents held by the firm on behalf of Mount Royal. At this point, Mount Royal owed an outstanding bill of JMD$4,243,050.00 to GSPC. GSPC argued that such unpaid fees entitled them to a solicitor’s common law lien to retain the documents until the fees were paid by Mount Royal. In March 2022, the Respondent stated that he would use his powers under the Act to compel the production of the documents and would seek remedies in the event of non-compliance. As no documents were handed over by GSPC or the Appellant, the Respondent issued a ‘formal order’ under the Act requiring the Appellant to produce the documents and this order was left with the receptionist of GSPC (the “Formal Order”). In April 2022, the Respondent initiated enforcement / committal proceedings in the Kingston And Saint Andrew Parish Court (Civil Division) and applied for a committal order such that, if the Appellant did not comply with the Formal Order, the Appellant would be committed to prison. In June 2022, an order for substituted service was made such that the application for committal should be served on GSPC in lieu of personal service on the Appellant. The same day, following submissions from both parties, the Senior Parish Court Judge ruled in favour of the Respondent and ordered that the documents be produced by the Appellant or else the Appellant is to be committed to prison for up to 30 days. As part of the Senior Parish Court Judge’s reasoning for their decision, they dismissed any procedural issues with the service regarding the committal proceedings and held that a solicitor’s common law lien to retain the documents did not defeat the clear meaning of the Act giving the Respondent the power to obtain such documents of Mount Royal. The Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal of Jamaica. The Court of Appeal of Jamaica dismissed the Appellant’s appeal and upheld the judge’s ruling that the solicitor’s common law lien was defeasible by the Respondent’s power to obtain the documents under the Act and confirmed that there were no procedural grounds of challenge concerning the committal proceedings. The Appellant was granted leave to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Date of issue

23 September 2025

Case origin

Appeal As of Right

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