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13 Johns. 492

Yordan v. Hess

New York Supreme Court

Decided October 15, 1816

New York Supreme Court · decided 1816-10-15

<p>a note wao drawn payable to A; and &, edCtoTseriwin!e Dtere°fie!i b”b Sorsed by a! fiisedto’endorle ceiveAsecurity for his indemni ' fication, which ^ it was agreed to give, rahd the nóte was sold to D„ at adiscouñt óf 20 per cebt. It being understood between B. and G. that part of the money thus raised shoulc) be lent to B.; B. drew a note payable to C. orbearer, for the amount actually received by him from C., with aii addition-qf.20 per cent, on that amotint, and interest thereoá from the date, which last mentioned note, was deposited with Aás bis security: in an action by- A agáiust B. upon this note, it was held that it wás usurious and void.</p> <p>An attorney or counsel- cannot.testify a» to communications made by a client,-whilst the relation of attorney or counsel and client subsists; -But if aftdr that relatioirhas ceased, the former client r.epeattó his attorney, voluntarily* and without any artifice being Used, by the latter,-communications previously made, the attorney is a com? petentwitnéss as to such-subsequent communications. * ' . .</p>

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1816-10-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently July 1973

3 state decisions

1018161820183018401850186018701880189019001910192019301940195019601970decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Per Curiam.

¶1If the testimony of Brackett was admissible, it must fully' establish the usury. The plaintiff twice admitted to this witness that the^ note was given for a greater sum than was received by the defendant. That, the money was raised by a salé of Williams’s note, at a discount; furnishes no legal excuse for imposing that loss on the,defendant. With respect tó the testimony of Brackett, it doe's- not fall within the rulé which protects the client from a disclosure,of any communica-. tions made by him to his attorney,' The confessions, by the plaintiff to Brackett were made after he ceased to be his attorney; and although they were, substantially, a reiteration of What had been communicated, whilst the relation of attorney and client existed, yet they appear to have been voluntary disclosures, no way sought for, of drawn out, by the witness.- An attorney cannot, after he ceases to be the attorney of a party, disclose what was communicated to him in that capacity. But this is the privilege of the'client; and if he chooses, after thisrelation has ceased, to volunteer any communications, he is not protected, although, they may be, in substance, the same as were given whilst that relation subsisted. The reason of the rule then ceases. If a repetition of the information should appear to have been drawn out by any artifice, for the purpose of being used as evidence, it ought not tos be received.' But when it is perfectly voluntary, and unsought for, there can be no solid ground for ' excluding the evidence. The defendant is, accordingly, entitled to judgment.

¶2judgment for the,defendant,"

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