accountant's lien

plural accountant's liens

1. lawThe right of an accountant to retain a client's papers until the accountant's fees have been paid.

   A recent decision from New South Wales suggests, however, that in the absence of some contractual prohibition the benefit of a possessory lien (in this case, an accountant's lien over his client's papers) may be assigned to a third party, along with the debt.

   1994, Michael Gillooly, chapter 5, in Securities over Personalty, →ISBN, page 140