Auckland v. Conlin

LANGDON, J.

This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment against her after separate demurrers of the defendants had been sustained to her third amended complaint.

The third amended complaint alleges, in substance, that the defendants are father and son; that at all times mentioned in the complaint the father was a doctor and the son was a lawyer; that the father was the physician of plaintiff, and in November, 1921, while said physician was rendering professional services to plaintiff and after plaintiff had

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stated that she wished to consult an attorney about her domestic affairs, said defendant suggested that she consult his son, the other defendant herein, and that plaintiff permitted said son and attorney to call upon her; that prior to June 22, 1923, defendant attorney claimed to have rendered professional services under an oral agreement with plaintiff, for which he charged and collected the amount of $22,250. It is then alleged that the father secured the employment of the son by false and fraudulent representations to the effect that plaintiff would lose her property unless she employed said son. Plaintiff alleges that part of the $22,250 received by the son in payment of his alleged services has been delivered to the father; that the son represented to plaintiff that his services had been the means of securing to her the sum of approximately $100,599.15, which she would not have received without said services, and that said statement was false and untrue and known to have been untrue by said defendant. It is further alleged that, relying upon said statements of said defendant, that he had secured $100,-599.15 for plaintiff herein, plaintiff allowed said defendant to retain the said sum of $22,250, and that subsequent to the first day of April, 1922, plaintiff discovered that said defendant had not secured for her the sum of $100,599.15, and further discovered, that the services of said defendant were not of the reasonable value of $22,250, and were of no value at all to plaintiff. The complaint then proceeds, in a rambling way, to set out various particulars in which the defendant attorney is alleged to have improperly performed his duty to plaintiff in the management of her legal affairs, and alleges that plaintiff was never in danger of losing her property and that the representations made to thé effect that defendant attorney had secured $100,599.15 for plaintiff were made for the purpose of securing to said defendant attorney his said fee.