Hetrick v. Smith

Citations

• 67 Wash. 664
• 122 P. 363
• 1912 Wash. LEXIS 1229

Syllabus

<p>Attorney and Client — Duties—Conversion—By Trustee--Evidence — Sufficiency. An attorney holding stock in a corporation as a trustee for his client and to indemnify him upon his indorsement of a note, is guilty of a conversion thereof, where he transferred part of his stock to a business associate, called a meeting of the stockholders, ousted his client from office, organized a new corporation, and transferred to it all the assets of the old corporation by voting the stock; his acts being construed most strongly against him, and the burden being upon him to show that his dealings were free from all reasonable grounds of suspicion.</p> <p>Trover and Conversion — Damages-—Corporate Stock — Value— Evidence — Admissibility. Upon a conversion of all the stock of a private corporation, which had no regular market value, its value may be proven by showing the value of the property and business of the corporation at the date of the conversion over and above its liabilities, to be determined by the value of the stock on hand, rather than the book value of the stock.</p> <p>Same. In such a ease, the accounts receivable should be figured at their face value, where the defendant wrongfully converting the stock notified plaintiff not to make any attempt to collect the accounts.</p> <p>Same — Damages—Evidence. In an action for conversion of corporate stock, where the plaintiff offered no evidence of the value of the property of the corporation, the value may be assumed from an inventory of the merchandise on hand near the date of the conversion, where two witnesses testified to its correctness and the actual value.</p> <p>Husband and Wife — Separate Property of Wife — Evidence—Sufficiency. In an action by a wife for conversion of stock held in trust for her by defendant, the stock is sufficiently shown to be separate property where she so testified, and all of the dealings of the trustee had been with her individually.</p>