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Civil Procedure Keyed to Field
Surowitz v. Hilton Hotels Corp.
Citation:
383 U.S. 363, 86 S. Ct. 845, 15 L. Ed. 2d 807 (1966)Facts
Dora Surowitz, a Polish immigrant seamstress with limited English and no formal education, invested her savings in Hilton Hotels Corporation stock based on advice from her son-in-law, Irving Brilliant, a Harvard Law School graduate with a master’s degree in economics. When the corporation announced a stock purchase plan in December 1962, Brilliant investigated and discovered what he believed to be fraudulent schemes by corporate officers involving stock manipulation and self-dealing totaling millions of dollars. After nearly a year of investigation by Brilliant and attorney Walter Rockler, both former Nuremberg trial prosecutors, Mrs. Surowitz agreed to file a derivative suit. The complaint alleged violations of federal securities laws and state corporate law. Though Mrs. Surowitz verified the complaint as required by Rule 23(b), her deposition revealed she did not understand its technical contents, relying instead on her son-in-law’s explanation and advice.
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