People Ex Rel. Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Gorindar

182 N.E. 732, 350 Ill. 256
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 22, 1932
DocketNo. 20850. Rule discharged.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 182 N.E. 732 (People Ex Rel. Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Gorindar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People Ex Rel. Chicago Bar Ass'n v. Gorindar, 182 N.E. 732, 350 Ill. 256 (Ill. 1932).

Opinion

Per Curiam :

This is an information filed at the April term, 1931, to disbar the respondent, Israel Gorindar. The charges made relate to his conduct in certain transactions had by him with Meyer Mell.

Mell is a cousin of Gorindar’s wife. For some years before 1925 he was in the wholesale drug sundries business in Chicago. He also engaged in various real estate deals with his brother-in-law prior to the death of the latter, in 1922 or 1923. During that period his interests were represented by attorneys other than Gorindar. The first business dealings between him and Gorindar were in 1925, when he had a talk with Gorindar about making investments, which resulted in the drafting of a written agreement. This agreement, dated June 20, 1925, provided that Mell was to invest his funds, in such amounts as he might desire, in second mortgages, reserving the right to refuse any securities of which he did not approve; that, as to any securities purchased through Gorindar, Mell relied entirely upon Gorindar’s judgment as to their safety and legal validity; that the profits from the purchase of such securities should be divided equally, sixty per cent of Gorindar’s profit share to be paid to him upon the purchase, and forty per cent to be retained by Mell until the securities were completely liquidated; that Mell was to pay Gorindar six per cent interest on the sums thus retained; that interest paid on securities was not considered profit, and only discounts obtained in each transaction were to be deemed profits; that Gorindar agreed to investigate the securities and advise Mell as to their safety to the best of his knowledge and to furnish all legal and other services necessary in such transactions, and that he further agreed to share one-half of any loss sustained by Mell by reason of the failure of any securities purchased as aforesaid and to pay the same to Mell. Mell and Gorindar operated under this agreement until the fall of 1927, the amount which Mell invested during that period being about $100,000. In 1927 Mell decided to purchase second mortgages from some company which was established in that line of business and which would afford him greater security than he enjoyed under his contract with Gorindar. After investigating the firm of Balch & Balch and securing reports on them from R. G. Dun & Co. and the Investors’ Protective Bureau, Mell commenced dealing with them, the agreement being that they would pay him eleven per cent interest return on his investments, payable to him monthly, and that they would pay Gorindar on the basis of one per cent a year on each transaction. As each deal was made Balch & Balch issued to Hell their written guaranty assuring the payment of principal and interest. The total investments made by Mell under this arrangement amounted to $180,000. All the books which pertained to Hell’s investments were kept in Hell’s office. In the summer of 1928 Hell made a trip to Europe and was away for several months. In his absence Gorindar dealt for him with Balch & Balch under a written power of attorney. After his return in December, 1928, Hell made no further investments through Balch & Balch.

It is desirable to consider separately the several matters which are relied upon by the relator. One of these may be referred to as the Julia Kryl transaction. The Kryl mortgage, in the sum of $3500, was bought under the contract of June 20, 1925, between Hell and Gorindar. Upon Hell’s return from Europe Gorindar made to him a written report, headed, “In account with you and for moneys received on the following accounts and notes under power of attorney.” Gorindar’s statement is that this report was “just for the purpose of showing the transactions on account, that I might show how much money was supposed to be paid in and how much money was supposed to be paid out.” In this report was an item entitled “on account of Julia Kryl.” This item purports to show the receipt by Gorindar of four payments of $90 each, with interest, for the months of August, September, October and November. In fact, these payments had not been received by Gorindar. While counsel for the relator admits that the effect of this was to charge Gorindar with the money although it had not been received, it is contended that the purpose was to deceive Hell into believing that the mortgages were being paid so that he would be induced to renew them when they became due and to continue his business relations with Gorindar. It may be said, in the first place, that there is no direct evidence that such was Gorindar’s motive. The investment in question was made under a written contract between the parties which bound Gorindar to stand half the loss if there was one, and Gorindar, as well as Mell, had a personal pecuniary concern in its outcome. Assuming that the relation of attorney and client existed as between Mell and Gorindar, the situation was not one where the client was alone financially, involved in the outcome and stood to suffer alone such loss as there might be. In any event, Gorindar testified that payments on this mortgage were in default before Mell left for Europe and that he informed Mell to that effect. Direct corroboration of this is found in the testimony of Abraham Skolnik, Mell’s bookkeeper at that time, that before Mell went to Europe he heard Gorindar tell Mell that Gorindar was making some of the payments on the Kryl notes. If Mell was so informed the argument made by the relator is without force. The record contains an exhibit dated May 12, 1929, which is partly in the handwriting of Mell and partly1 in that of his book-keeper and which contains the following statement: “G. becomes a partner to loan as of 2/1/28, on which date Kryl stopped making payments. On that date Kryl owed a balance of $2690. Therefore G. has to invest $1345. Instead of paying a lump sum of $1345 on 2/1/28, G. made ten payments at various dates, as shown on statement attached, totaling $1039.77. Therefore G. still owes a balance of $305.23. In addition M. is entitled to receive interest on balances remaining unpaid, totaling $59.06, as shown on schedule attached. Total indebtedness of G. to M. is $364.29.” The record also contains a receipt signed by Mell and in which he acknowledged receipt of that sum. In this receipt Mell acknowledged that he retained notes secured by the Kryl mortgage amounting to $1700 and also a note for $2900, which was additional security and which was secured by another piece of property; also that he withheld notes totaling $400 which belonged to Gorindar. It is thus apparent that nearly two years before the information was filed Mell and Gorindar made an adjustment of the matter between themselves and that Mell acknowledged receipt of what was due him in that deal.

The power of the court to disqualify attorneys-at-law is a judicial power and is not to be exercised in a despotic manner. The hearing is to be governed by rules of law and the evidence must be such as clearly proves the charge. The disbarment of an attorney is a serious matter to him, and this court is bound to weigh carefully the circumstances presented in any disbarment matter. (People v. Gilmore, 345 Ill. 28.) To justify the infliction of such heavy punishment as disbarment the case must be clear and free from doubt, not only as to the act charged but as to the motive. (People v. Harvey, 41 Ill. 277; People v. Matthews, 217 id. 94; People v. Thornton, 228 id. 42; People v. Ader, 263 id. 319.) In view of all the circumstances we cannot say that the evidence with respect to the Kryl transaction is sufficiently clear and free from doubt to justify the infliction of the penalty demanded.

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Bluebook (online)
182 N.E. 732, 350 Ill. 256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-chicago-bar-assn-v-gorindar-ill-1932.