SmartBrief
Confirm favorite deletion?
Commercial Law Keyed to Whaley
Shapiro, P.A. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Citation:
352 F. Supp. 3d 1226 (2018)Facts
On November 16, 2017, Shapiro was contacted by his client, a car dealership, that needed to repay a loan. The client forwarded Shapiro an email from the lender’s lawyer, James Messenger, containing wire transfer information for an account at M & T Bank in Syracuse, New York. The next day, the client forwarded to Shapiro another email from an individual purporting to be Mr. Messenger, informing Shapiro that payment should be wired to a different bank account: a Wells Fargo account based in Texas. Despite the email containing numerous spelling errors and contradicting the email that Shapiro had received the day before, Shapiro decided to follow the instructions in the second email because it was more recent. Shapiro did not attempt to call Mr. Messenger to confirm which account to wire the money. The funds were wired to the Wells Fargo and immediately withdrawn by the imposter, an individual named Chris Achebe, and Wells Fargo denied liability. Shapiro sued Wells Fargo to recover the funds, arguing that Wells Fargo should have noticed that the name on the wire transfer and the name on the receiving account did not match. Shapiro pointed to the fact that Wells Fargo had opened the receiving account in Chris Achebe’s name and that there was an automated audit trail which had identified a possible name mismatch. Also, Shapiro contended that Wells Fargo failed to meet the due diligence requirement imposed by the UCC.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
Topic:
Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.Parties:
Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.Procedural Posture & History:
Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.:
A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises:
Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
Brief Facts:
A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.Rule of Law:
Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.Facts:
What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case.Issue(s):
Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.Holding:
Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.Concurring / Dissenting Opinions:
Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.Reasoning and Analysis:
Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
Policy:
Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.Court Direction:
Shares where the Court went from here for this case.
Topic Resources
6m 28sTopic Outline 
Topic Refresher Course 