Facts

The plaintiff retained the defendant to act as escrow holder in a refinance mortgage. On the day the refinance proceeds were to be released, the defendant was served with a writ of attachment and a temporary restraining order that was issued in a lawsuit against the plaintiff for an unpaid yellow page advertising invoice. The defendant refused to release the refinance proceeds due to the orders in the writ of attachment and the TRO. The defendant ultimately interplead the proceeds and obtained a discharge order that included costs and attorney's fees. However, in the interim, the plaintiff had sued the defendant for not releasing the refinance proceeds.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiff contended that the writ of attachment and TRO only forbade plaintiff from refinancing the property. Since the refinance proceeds were available earlier in the day that the writ of attachment and TRO were issued, defendant was under no obligation to comply with them.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant argued that it was obligated to comply with valid court orders. In addition, the escrow instructions allowed defendant to stop further processing the escrow once a dispute over the subject matter of the escrow arose.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff did not make a specific demand. The defendant demanded a dismissal and payment of $25,000 in attorney fees and costs.

Result

Defense verdict on all counts.

Deliberation

two hours

Poll

11-1 (on all counts)

Length

four days