Bearhalter v. Tracy

20 Pa. D. & C.3d 1, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 334
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedMay 12, 1981
Docketno. 79-11611-09-2-A
StatusPublished

This text of 20 Pa. D. & C.3d 1 (Bearhalter v. Tracy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bearhalter v. Tracy, 20 Pa. D. & C.3d 1, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 334 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1981).

Opinion

RUFE J.,

This matter is before the court pursuant to B.C.R.C.P. *266for disposition of defendant Thorn’s preliminary objection in the nature of a demurrer. For the reasons enunciated below, the preliminary objection will be sustained.

The procedural history of the action relevant to this opinion follows. On November 26, 1979, John A. Bearhalter and Emma V. Bearhalter, his wife (Bearhalters), and Vernon Van Luvanee and Doris J. Van Luvanee (Van Luvanees), filed a complaint in trespass and assumpsit against Berks Title Insurance Company, Lawyer’s Title Insurance (Lawyers), Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company, William P. Thorn, Esq. (Thorn), George W. Tracy, Esq. (Tracy), and J. Franklin Hartzel, Esq., to recover money damages allegedly arising out of certain conveyances of real property. After defendants raised various preliminary objections to the complaint, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint which differed but slightly from the original complaint, and like the original complaint, contained nine causes of action. Again defendants filed preliminary objections in the nature of demurrers, motions to strike, motions for more specific pleadings, and to challenge the alleged misjoinder of plaintiffs’ causes of action.

On October 28, 1980, with the preliminary objections still outstanding, the parties, with the approval of the court, entered into a stipulation by which, inter alia, the several counts of the com[3]*3plaint were severed resulting in three separate couses of action. The instant action2 is based on cause of action numbers 1, 2 and 3 of the amended complaint concerning the Beaxhalters’ claim arising out of a deed dated September 22, 1971, and recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds of Bucks County, in Deed Book 2013, page 633.3 The stipulation also provided that all preliminary objections filed in the instant action, with the exception of the preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer by Lawyers, Tracy and Thorn, were withdrawn.4 The preliminary objections of Lawyers and Tracy were dismissed by an order interlocutory in nature and will not be discussed in this opinion. Consequently, it is Thorn’s demurrer which is presently under consideration and to which we now direct our attention.

In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged that on the aforementioned dates they acquired separate parcels of land from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) by deeds recorded as previ[4]*4ously described. However, on October 12, 1977, a decree nisi was entered by the Hon. Arthur B. Walsh, Jr., Judge, of the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, that stated inter alia that the deeds to the tracts of land were null and void, and the Recorder of Deeds of Bucks County was ordered to strike the deeds from the record. The order set aside the deeds on the basis that the grantor, WCTU,had ceased to function in accordance with its original articles of incorporation; WCTU had failed to conduct corporate meetings to properly elect officers; that there were no authorized officers to carry on the business of the organization at the time of the conveyance; and WCTU had failed to get proper authorization from the Commonwealth to permit the sales.

Plaintiffs further alleged that at the time of the conveyances Thorn was WCTU’s legal representative, and in that capacity he prepared the legal documents for WCTU to effectuate the transfer of the subject real property between WCTU and the Bearhalters. Thorn allegedly was under a duty to exercise due care in the preparation of the documents because “[t]he duty to use such care is imposed by operation of law and ran to the alleged grantor and to their grantees, the plaintiffs herein.” (Paragraph 33 (a)).5 Thorn knew or should have known that the individuals who purported to be the officers of WCTU lacked the authority to convey a valid deed to the property. Thorn allegedly breached the duty that ran to the grantees when he failed to obtain corporate authorizations for the conveyance and failed to inform plaintiffs that the conveyance was lacking validity due to the un[5]*5availability of proper corporate authorizations. Because of Thorn’s alleged negligence, plaintiffs allegedly suffered economic loss.6

Thorn challenged plaintiffs’ complaint by filing a preliminary objection in the nature of a demurrer pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1017(b)(4) which provides, inter alia, “Preliminary objections are available to any party and are limited to . . . (4) a demurrer. . .” Thorn bases his demurrer on plaintiffs’ failure to allege that Thorn ever represented them. Thorn contends that no duty was imposed on him by operation of law to represent plaintiffs as well as WCTU, and therefore, plaintiffs have failed to allege a cause of action.

In assessing defendant’s demurrer we recognize that we must accept as true all well pleaded material facts that are contained in plaintiffs’ complaint as well as all inferences reasonbly deducible therefrom. The preliminary objections should be sustained and the complaint dismissed only when it is clear that the law will not permit recovery by plaintiff: Guy V. Liederbach, 279 Pa. Superior Ct. 543, 421 A. 2d 333 (1980).

Generally, the rule regarding an attorney’s liability to third parties is stated in Davis v. Community Legal Services, Inc., 9 D. & C. 3d 367 (1979), quoting 1 Standard Pa. Pract., Liability to Third Persons, §228 at p. 369: (footnotes ommitted).

“‘An attorney is not ordinarily liable to third persons for the acts of his client or for his own acts, [6]*6committed in the exercise of his proper functions as attorney, pertinent to the matter in question. He is liable for negligence in the conduct of his professional duties, arising only from ignorance or want of care, to his client alone — that is, to the one with whom the attorney’s contract of employment and services exists — and not to third persons. . . .’”

Plaintiffs contend that the Pennsylvania Superior Court dispensed with the privity requirement in Guy v. Liederbach, supra, and consequently, Thorn owed them a duty to exercise due care as a matter of law. In Guy, plaintiff alleged that she attested the will of Edward J. Kent, Jr., a will under which plaintiff was to receive the residue of Kent’s estate after a $4,500 bequest was made. At the time of the execution of the will and his death, Kent owned real property in Avalon, New Jersey. Plaintiff was barred from taking real property under New Jersey law because she was an attesting witness to the will. Plaintiff sued the attorney who drafted the will, charging that he was negligent in “directing” and “advising” her to be an attesting witness. Defendant attorney demurred to plaintiff’s complaint, claiming that there was no privity between the parties and therefore he owed no duty to plaintiff. The lower court sustained the preliminary objection.

On appeal, the Superior Court framed the issue as “whether a devisee may maintain a cause of action for legal malpractice against counsel for the testator when the devise fails due to improprieties in the execution of the will.” Id. at 545, 421 A. 2d at 334. The court answered in the affirmative and reversed the lower court, decreeing:

“[U]nder certain circumstances, an attorney may be liable for damage caused by his negligence [7]*7to a person intended to be benefitted by his performance irrespective of any lack of privity. In making the

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Related

Lucas v. Hamm
364 P.2d 685 (California Supreme Court, 1961)
Chalpin v. Brennan
559 P.2d 680 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1976)
Guy v. Liederbach
421 A.2d 333 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Ginsburg v. Stern
368 U.S. 987 (Supreme Court, 1962)

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Bluebook (online)
20 Pa. D. & C.3d 1, 1981 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 334, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bearhalter-v-tracy-pactcomplbucks-1981.