Scott v. City National Bank
Published: May 6, 2003 | Result Date: Mar. 24, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC260685 Arbitration – $133,122
Facts
In April 2001, an individual named Howard Byrdsong Jr. submitted an affidavit of forgery to the defendant City National Bank, alleging that his former attorney, Angela Wallace, had, without authorization, deposited $380,000 in life insurance funds belonging to Byrdsong and converted the majority of the funds to her own use. In early May 2001, the plaintiffs, the sister and mother of Wallace, deposited $117,000 from their retirement accounts into an attorney client trust account maintained by attorney Phyllis Brown Scarlett at City National Bank. The purpose of the deposits was to try to help resolve Byrdsong's claim against Wallace before it turned into a criminal proceeding. Brown Scarlett was instructed to use the funds to resolve the Byrdsong's claim, if possible. If the matter was not resolved, she was instructed to return the funds to the plaintiffs so they could re-deposit them in their retirement accounts before incurring tax penalties. Within one week of the deposits, City National froze the funds and held them, alleging a right of equitable offset against the claim it had against Wallace. The plaintiffs' demands for the return of the funds were rejected and the lawsuit ensued.
Result
After a binding arbitration, the sum of $133,122 was awarded to the plaintiffs consisting of $117,227 in funds wrongfully seized by the defendant plus $15,895 in interest.
Other Information
An arbitration was held before Justice David N. Eagleson, retired, of ADR Services Inc.
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