I had a attorney botch a case, he missed every deadline, he then forced a settlement & threatened me, if it did not accept it he would not do any discovery & will not got to trial this was 10 days before the trial. They put down a settlement in writing (instead of taking the deposition) which I refuse to sign or accept. I got a new lawyer, the original agreement was for a contingency fee, the old lawyer refused to turn over the file until he got paid what he claims is his fee for the settlement. He finally agreed to turn over the file & says he will lien the file. What does that mean? Can he do that? And how can I fight it? This is a civil case in NJ
Thank you

He plans on suing you for his share of what the settlement would be ( or what it sounds like)

As long as you have proof that he refused to do certain things, and proof that he threatened you, there is not much to worry about.

And you will have to wait till he sues you to fight it.

... the old lawyer refused to turn over the file until he got paid what he claims is his fee for the settlement. He finally agreed to turn over the file & says he will lien the file. What does that mean? ...

The only way it makes sense to "lien the file" is to claim a possessory lien on the file, as he was doing before he turned it over. It's illegal to do that in many states. Looks like he didn't know what he was talking about.