No claim or agreement for legal services or disbursements in support of any demand made or suit brought under the provisions of article two of this act¹ shall be an enforceable lien against the amount to be paid as damages, or be valid or binding in any respect, unless the same be approved in writing by the judge presiding at the trial, or, in case of settlement without trial, by a judge of the common pleas court of the county in which the injury occurred.

No claim or agreement for legal services or disbursements in support of any claim for compensation, or in preparing any agreement for compensation, under article three of this act,² shall be an enforceable lien against the amount to be paid as compensation, or be valid or binding in any other respect, unless the same be approved by the board. Any such claim or agreement shall be filed with the department, which shall, as soon as may be, notify the person by whom the same was filed of the board's approval or disapproval thereof, as the case may be.

After the approval as herein required, if the employer be notified in writing of such claim or agreement for legal services and disbursements, the same shall be a lien against any amount thereafter to be paid as damages or compensation: Provided, however, That where the employe's compensation is payable by the employer in periodical instalments, the board shall fix, at the time of approval the proportion of each instalment to be paid on account of legal services and disbursements, and the board may upon application made to it commute the sum awarded for legal services and disbursements.