Borum v. Fouts

15 Ind. 50, 1860 Ind. LEXIS 283
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 27, 1860
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 15 Ind. 50 (Borum v. Fouts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Borum v. Fouts, 15 Ind. 50, 1860 Ind. LEXIS 283 (Ind. 1860).

Opinion

Davison, J.

The appellant, who was the plaintiff, brought this action against the appellees, to foreclose a mortgage upon real estate in Tippecanoe county. The following is the case made by the complaint. The plaintiff, on September 11, 1854, sold the land described in the mortgage to the defendant, Jacob Fonts, who, at that date, executed to him six promissory notes: the first for $1,060, due December 25,1855; the second for $1,120, due December 25, 1856; the third for $1,180, due December 25, 1857; the fourth for $1,200, due December 25, 1858; the fifth for $1,500, due December 25, 1859; and, the sixth for $1,280, due December 25, 1860. The first three notes had been paid. The fourth was alone due, and unpaid, when the complaint, in this case, was filed; and the object of the present suit was to foreclose, as to the last three notes. After the execution of the mortgage in October, 1856, Fonts, the mortgagor, conveyed the mortgaged premises to Nathan Fonts, who, in November then next following, died, leaving Mary Fonts, his widow, and the defendant, John A. Fonts, his heirs at law; said Mary is now intermarried with Galvin McMillen. Jacob Fonts answered: 1. By a general denial. 2. That the notes, in suit, included usurious interest, at 10 per cent, per annum, from September 11, 1854. 3. That he, Jacob, at the date of the notes, purchased 170 acres of land of the plaintiff at $40 per acre, in all $6,800; of which, by the contract of sale, $1,000 was to be paid December 25,1854; $1,000, December 25, 1855; $1,000, December 25, 1856; $1,000, December 25, 1857; $1,000, December 25, 1858; $1,000, December 25, 1859; and $800, December 25, 1860. That the first payment was not to draw interest; but the second, third, and fourth payments were, at 6 per cent, from September 11, 1854; and the fifth, sixth, and seventh were to draw 10 per cent, per annum: and, that the notes, for the recovery of which this suit was instituted, were given for the last three [52]*52payments, the same not bearing interest on their face, bnt including 10 per cent, interest from their date.

To this answer the plaintiff replied, denying the usury and alleging that the notes were given for a valid consideration, &c. McMillen and wife, by the consent of Fonts, answered the complaint by adopting, the second and third paragraphs of his answer, setting up usury in the notes. And to their answer, so far as it set up usury, the plaintiff demurred, on the ground that Nathan Fonts, as shown by the complaint, had purchased the lands subject to the notes and mortgage, and that neither he nor his heirs had the right to set up usury: but the demurrer was overruled, and the plaintiff replied. John A. Fonts, the heir at law of Nathan Fonts, being an infant, answered by guardian ad litem.

The jury to whom the issues wei’e submitted, found, generally, that there was then due the plaintiff $1,000; that on December 25, 1859, there would be due him $1,000; and, that $800 would be due him on December 25, I860: and further, they found, specially, to the effect, that “in September, 1854, Jcocob Fonts bought l'TO acres of land of the plaintiff, at $40 per acre, making the aggregate amount of $6,800. That the three notes sued on, were given for part of the purchase-money, and were usurious in this: to the principal, in each note, there was added 10 per cent, per annum, for the time each had, respectively, to run; and such interest was so added in consideration of the delay of payment.”

Plaintiff moved for a new trial; but his motion was overruled and a decree of foreclosure rendered on the verdict.

The plaintiff, at the proper time, moved to suppress the deposition of one John J. Taylor, taken by the defendants to be read in evidence in the cause; but the Court refused the motion and he excepted. This refusal constitutes the first error assigned. Taylor, in his deposition, says he was an attorney at law, and resided in Attica, in this State, where he had a law-office. At the request of the plaintiff he drew the notes then shown to him, being the same now in suit, also a title-bond, which contained the written contract between the parties.

None of the defendants were present when the notes and [53]*53bond were drawn. The price of the land, described in the complaint, was $40 per acre; the whole amount, $6,800. The deposition, after setting forth the terms of payment for the land, as stated in the third paragraph of the answer, says: The plaintiff directed him, Taylor, to calculate interest on the three last payments at 10 per cent, per annum; to add such interest into the body of each of the last three notes, respectively; and his, Taylor's, recollection was, that the 10 per cent, was so added for the purpose of evading the statute against usury. The deposition further states, that Taylor, while drawing up the notes and bond, did not consider himself as acting in the capacity of an attorney at law, but merely as a scrivener; that he was employed, by the plaintiff, to draw them up, and that was an end of it.”

■ The appellant contends, that the communications made to the witness, as shown by the deposition, ho being an attorney at law, are privileged, and, for that reason, the motion to suppress should have been sustained. As a general rule, “ Every communication, which the client makes to his legal adviser, for the purpose of professional advice or aid, upon the subject of his rights and liabilities, should be deemed confidential.” 1 Greenl. Ev. § 240. This rule is not strictly confined to communications, made for the purpose of enabling an attorney to conduct a cause in court; but extends, so as to include communications made by one to his legal adviser while engaged and employed in that character, “ and when the object is to get his legal opinion as to the employer’s legal rights and liabilities.” Foster v. Hall, 12 Pick. 89. But such communications, in order to be privileged, must be addressed to an attorney in his professional character of a legal adviser, with a view to legal advice which, as an attorney, it was his duty to give. 3 Phil. Ev., 4 Am. ed., 130, n. 62. In the case at bar, Taylor being an attorney at law, the question to settle is: Were the communications, made to him by the plaintiff, intended to elicit his legal advice: in other words, were they addressed to him as a legal adviser ? As we understand the deposition, the parties had agreed on the terms of the contract before the attorney was called on. No inquiry was made oí him as to its legal effect, or the [54]*54rights and obligations under it. He was employed, not to give legal advice, but simply to draw the notes and bond, as directed by his employer. There is, indeed, nothing in the record from which it can be inferred that the relation of attorney and client, in any respect, subsisted between him and the plaintiff, or that he was employed in any capacity other than that of a mere scrivener. If this exposition of the deposition be correct, and we think it is, Taylor was not professionally consulted, within the scope of his business as an attorney; and the result is, the communications made to him, by the plaintiff, are not privileged. Jenkinson v. The State, 5 Blackf. 465.—Reed v. Smith, 2 Ind. 160.—Hatton v. Robinson, 14 Pick. 416.—Brumwell v. Lucas, 2 Barn.

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15 Ind. 50, 1860 Ind. LEXIS 283, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/borum-v-fouts-ind-1860.