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Commercial Law Keyed to Whaley
Hutzler v. Hertz Corp.
Citation:
39 N.Y.2d 209, 347 N.E.2d 627, 383 N.Y.S.2d 266 (1976)Facts
On June 1, 1966, Hutzler commence an action against Hertz to recover damages for the personal injuries and wrongful death of her husband. After some time, Hutzler’s attorney, Daniel D. Yudow, succeeded in settling the action with Hertz and on November 23, 1970, in consideration of the settlement, Hutzler executed a general release of claims against Hertz in exchange for $11,500. The settlement came in the form of two checks mailed by Hertz on December 11, 1970, one of which constituted the bulk of the settlement and was misappropriated by Hutzler’s attorney, Yudow. On December 14, 1970, Yudow, having indorsed the settlement check with his own signature and with the forged signature of Mrs. Hutzler, deposited the check into an account in his name at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, which was also the drawee bank the check was drawn on. Hutzler never received her portion of the settlement check and was unable to track down Yudow until June 1973. Yudow had shut down his office and was no longer practicing law. Thereafter, Hutzler demanded payment from Hertz but Hertz refused. However, Hertz did produce a copy of the settlement draft for Hutzler to examine and she immediately recognized that her signature had been forged. Hutzler sued Hertz, arguing that it should have compared the forged signature on the check with her signature on the settlement agreement. The lower court found in favor of Hutzler and Hertz appealed.
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