The claimant sought recovery from one of two partners in a solicitors’ firm of solicitors of sums paid to the firm and misappropriated by the partner, who had conspired with others to offer a fraudulent investment. The claimant admitted that the promised return was incredible. The funds were received on an undertaking that they would not be used absent documentation. That undertaking was broken. It was in a solicitor’s ordinary course of business to hold money for his client. Nevertheless the defendant contended that the ‘underlying transaction’ had been ‘extraordinary’ and ‘outlandish’ and no reasonable person could have acted in it; and that the claimant could have had no genuine belief.
Held: The claimant was so dazzled by the promised profits that they had not asked whether there was a genuine investment. The recipt of the funds could not have been in the ordinary course of the business of a solicitor, and it followed that the partner was not liable.
Citations:
Unreported, 19 October 2000
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – J J Coughlan Ltd v Ruparelia and others CA 21-Jul-2003
The defendant firm of solicitors had acted in a matter involving a fraud. One partner was involved in the fraud. The claimants sought to recover from the partnership.
Held: ‘The issue is not how the transaction ought properly to be described, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Legal Professions, Company
Updated: 16 May 2022; Ref: scu.186089