McCully v. Gano

PRESTON, P. J.

The plaintiff Earl Justin McCully, an attorney at law, brought this action against his former client, Jennie C. Gano, to recover the sum of $2,581.30 for professional services alleged to have been performed by him for her under a written contract.

The cause was tried by the court without a jury and resulted in a judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the sum of $700. From this judgment the defendant Gano prosecutes this appeal.

The facts are briefly these: Defendant and appellant employed plaintiff as her attorney to effect a property settlement with her husband with whom she was having domestic trouble. The contract was reduced to writing and executed and provided that plaintiff should receive for his services a certain per cent of the value of the property finally recovered for his client.

Plaintiff entered into negotiations with defendant’s husband and his attorney and finally proeurred for his client a property settlement more favorable to her than she had previously instructed plaintiff she would accept.

A preliminary contract setting forth the terms of settlement was drawn and signed by the defendant and her husband.

In order to convey title to the various properties owned by these parties, it was necessary for deeds and bills of sale,

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etc., to be executed between the parties. These instruments were all prepared and were agreeable to Mr. Gano, but Mrs. Gano, the defendant, flatly refused to sign any of these instruments and refused to complete the settlement, and discharged the plaintiff as her attorney and refused to pay him for the services he had rendered.

Why defendant refused to finally complete the settlement with her husband and execute the deeds and other writings we are unable to determine from the record. She testified: “I signed that agreement but did not accept the terms because they were not carried out. ... I told him (plaintiff) I positively would not accept the terms there set out and I certainly told him why.”

The court found, among other things, “that in all of his dealings with the defendant, the plaintiff carefully and at all times followed the instructions of his client and in all ways endeavored to secure for the defendant the things she informed him she wanted, and was in all respects diligent, fair and honorable in all his dealings with her, and in no manner took advantage, or attempted to take any advantage of her whatever”.