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61 Mich. 69

House v. House

Michigan Supreme Court

Decided April 22, 1886

Michigan Supreme Court · decided 1886-04-22

<p>Attorney and client — Privileged communications — Must be made for purpose of obtaining legal advice upon client’s business.</p> <p>Plaintiff and Ms brother employed an attorney at law to draft a power of attorney authorizing their father to indorse certain drafts belonging to them and receive the money thereon. In a suit brought by plaintiff to recover the proceeds'of Ms draft, his brother testified that in a conversation had between them in the presence of said attorney, when the power of attorney was drawn, but in the absence of the father, it was mutually agreed to give to their father the drafts. This plaintiff denied, and the attorney was called as a witness to testify concerning said conversation, but Ms testimony was rejected on the ground that it was a privileged communication.</p> <p>Held, that it falls outside of any known rule, and within Alderman v. People, 4 Mich. 414, Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Reynolds, 36 Mich. 502, and whs competent.</p>

Relies on Alderman v. People

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Reversed · Decided 1886-04-22

How this case has been cited

Cited by 13 later decisions — most recently March 1946

2 federal appellate · 11 state decisions

801886189019001910192019301940decided

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.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Campbell, C. J..

¶1Plaintiff and his brother, Alfred House, sons of defendant, being entitled to legacies from their grandmother’s'estate in England, had made arrangements to have their money remitted to them severally by drafts. About the time these were to arrive from England, they went to the office of William N. Brown, of Mt. Pleasant, and employed him to draw a power of attorney to defendant to indorse the drafts and receive the money, which he did.

¶2Plaintiff sued his father for the sum remitted in his favor, and in the court below recovered the full amount. Alfred swore that before they went to have the paper prepared they had concluded to give the money to defendant, and that while in Mr. Brown’s office they had a conversation in his presence in which plaintiff said that his father was an old man, and had worked hard, and had a large family, *72and that he was glad he was able to help his father by giving him that amount. This plaintiff denied, and no third person was present but Brown, as defendant was not there, and received the power subsequently.

¶3Mr. Brown being called to testify concerning the conversation in his office, objection was made, and it was ruled out as a privileged communication. This is the only question in the case, the jury finding for plaintiff. Defendant brings error.

¶4There is nothing in the case to make this a privileged communication. It took place with, as well as in presence of, a third person, who testified concerning it. It was not a communication made for the purpose of obtaining legal advice upon plaintiff’s business or interests. There appears to have been neither confidential dealing nor confidence concerning any professional business. It falls outside of any known rule, and is within previous decisions of this Court: Alderman v. People, 4 Mich. 414; Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Reynolds, 36 Id. 502.

¶5The testimony was competent. The judgment must be reversed, with costs, and a new trial granted.

The other Justices concurred.
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