De Rose v. Fay

4 Edw. Ch. 40
New York Court of Chancery·Decided April 11, 1842·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

The Vice-Chancellor :

The object of this proceeding on the part of Ann Fay, against her late solicitor, is to compel him to refund or pay over moneys to her which he has received under the decree and orders of the court made in this cause. The suit was for a sale, in partition, of certain real estate in which Mrs. Fay was interested, to the extent of eight eighteenth parts; Susan Ann De Rose, the widow of Anthony L. De Rose and her three infant children, were interested in five eighteenths, and Matilda De Rose, the widow of John P. De Rose and her infant child, were owners of the remaining five eighteenth parts.

[41] The bill was filed on the tenth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six; and, on the seventeenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred arid thirty-nine, a final decree was made in Ihe cause, under which the property was sold for fourteen thousand dollars. Pending the suit, and on the third day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, W. S. S. procured a judgment to be entered up of record against his client Mrs. Fay, and against Mrs. Matilda De Rose, by virtue of a warrant of attorney and their joint bond made to him for the payment of two hundred and twenty dollars and twenty-seven cents, with interest. On the twenty-fourth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, he procured another judgment to be entered up, in like manner, against his client, Mrs. Fay, by virtue of another bond and warrant of attorney for the sum of two hundred and fifty-seven dollars with interest.

On the reference in the partition suit to ascertain liens, these judgments were presented by Mr. S., and the same were reported by the master: the first, as a lien on Mrs. Fay’s and Matilda De Rose’s share of the estate, and the other on Mrs. Fay’s share alone; the amounts, for principal and interest, computed to the date of his report, were decreed to be paid with additional interest to the time of payment; and they were paid exclusively and entirely out of the eight-eighteenths of the proceeds of sale to which Mrs. Fay was entitled or in which she was interested. She now states in her petition that she was not indebted to the said W. S. S. in any such amounts; and never, knowingly or intentionally, executed such bonds and warrants of attorney; and that the same must have been procured from her by fraud and misrepresentation. But she admits that she once borrowed fifty dollars of him, and also that, at the same time, her sister-in-law, Matilda De Rose, borrowed a like sum; and that they gave their joint notes for the two accounts; and, likewise, that she afterwards borrowed money of him, at different times, to the amount of about fifteen dollars. Also that she recollects he once asked her to sign a paper which he informed her was to secure the one hundred dollars and some part of the fifteen dollars; and that these were the only [42] papers he ever requested her to sign in regard to money lent or money due to him on any account whatever. On these allegations, I deemed it proper to refer the subject to a master, to take proof of the consideration of the two judgments; and, under the circumstances of relationship in which the parties stood to each other, viz., that of solicitor and client, I considered that sound policy required Hr. S. to prove the consideration of the indebtedness, notwithstanding the existence of the bonds and judgments.(a) The order accordingly cast the burthen of proof upon him, requiring him to adduce evidence before the master of the consideration and of the particular items of account or indebtedness on which the judgments were and each of them was founded.

The subject has undergone an investigation before the master, who has taken and reported the evidence; and the whole case has been argued before me and awaits a decision. The testimony of Mr. Millspaugh shows the consideration of the two bonds and judgments. The consideration of the first was made up of the following items:

1836, June 16. To services getting the corporation

to take the mortgages, $ 50.00

To money lent to Mrs. Fay and Mrs. De Rose, 100.00

To interest thereon, 7.77

To expenses going to Albany on business, per Mr. Magill, 37.50

To charges on Day Book, 25.00

$220.27

It is proved, in support of the item of fifty dollars, that Mr. S. was instrumental in procuring the corporation of the city of New York to take an assignment of two mortgages upon the property from the receivers of the Globe Insurance Company, an insolvent institution, so as to prevent an immediate foreclosure; and that, on objections being raised by the counsel of the corporation to their taking the mortgages and advancing the money, Mr. S. succeeded, by furnishing explanations to the counsel, in removing his objections; [43] and it is further proved that fifty dollars was a reasonable compensation for the trouble and pains he took on that occasion, and that even more might be charged, if getting the matter through was an important service to his clients. But who the clients were in that business, or who retained the solicitor, or at whose instance he undertook the matter, no where appears. John P. De Rose, the husband of Matilda, was then living. Mr. S. held a mortgage for two thousand dollars on his undivided share of the estate. The widow and children of Anthony L. De Rose were also interested, as tenants in common ; and if it was for the benefit of one, it was for the benefit of all the owners that this service was performed. As the result has shown, however, it was a disservice : for, if the mortgages had been foreclosed and the property sold in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, as it would have been if the corporation had not been prevailed upon to take the assignments, it would have made a difference to the owners of from eight to ten thousand dollars in the price, and there would have been a •saving of about one thousand dollars besides in the costs and expenses of the proceedings to obtain a sale. It is difficult to imagine a sufficient reason for not leaving the receivers of the Insurance Company to proceed and foreclose the mortgages, instead of procuring a transfer of them to the city corporation ; unless, from an anxiety, somewhere, to make more out of it in the way of costs of a partition suit than could be made by a foreclosure and an adjustment of the rights of parties to the surplus when the same should be brought into court. The owners were all desirous, at that time, of having a sale, for the sake of a partition and settlement among themselves; and the bill in this cause was filed as soon thereafter as it could be prepared. Still, the fifty dollars worth of service, as it was deemed to be at the time, has been performed; but, I think Mr. S. had no right to charge the whole of that sum to only two of the owners, much less to take pay of the whole out of Mrs. Fay’s share of the property, as the sequel has shown was done.

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De Rose v. Fay, 4 Edw. Ch. 40 (N.Y. 1842).

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