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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-6247 Civil (2)GATES & ASSOCIATES, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF P.C. and GATES, CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA HALBRUNNER & HATCH, P.C., Plaintiffs V. : CIVIL ACTION — LAW MARIE K. MAGARO a/k/a/ MARIE K. McANDREW, Administrator c.t.a. of THE ESTATE OF DAVID: W. MAGARO DECEASED; MARIE K. MAGARO a/k/a McANDREW, individually; JAMES P. McANDREW, individually; MARIE K. McANDREW AND JAMES P. McANDREW PARTNERSHIP; ANTONIO W. MAGARO,: individually; VARIETY MACHINES, INC.; VARIETY INVESTMENTS; PNC BANK, N.A., EXECUTOR FOR THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM G. MAGARO; MARIE'S PORTRAIT STUDIO, INC. ; and MAGARO' S SPORTING GOODS, INC., Defendants NO. 03-6247 CIVIL TERM IN RE: OPINION PURSUANT TO PA. R.A.P. 1925 OLER, J., March 11, 2008. In this civil case, Plaintiff lawyers sued nine alleged clients for legal fees they claimed were owed for the recovery of certain stock worth $34,560.00. The non jury trial consumed four days, and produced a 14 -page adjudication. The adjudication granted some relief to Plaintiffs and some relief to one of the defendants on a counterclaim.' Plaintiffs then filed a 40 -paragraph motion for post -trial relief 2 From the denial of this motion, Plaintiffs have filed an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.3 The grounds for the appeal have been expressed in a statement of matters complained of on appeal by Plaintiffs as follows: 1. Appellants cannot readily discern the basis for this Court's decision regarding Appellants' liability to Defendant PNC Bank, since the Discussion of the Opinion of September 26, 2007 does not directly address the issue. 2. Appellants assert that this Court erred in issuing paragraph 5 of its Verdict of September 26, 2007. This Court found judgment in favor of Defendant PNC Bank and against Appellants on Defendant PNC Bank's counterclaim in the amount of $23,576.53, plus costs of suit. Appellants believe this was in error because Defendant PNC Bank (a counter -claim plaintiff) did not pose any theory of liability or recovery against the Appellants in its counter -claim or by way of argument at trial, and therefore, has no basis of recovery against Appellants. Defendant PNC Bank can not be permitted to recover the amount of the stock proceeds from the Appellants because the Appellants never had possession, physical or constructive, of the stock proceeds, which is a primary element under a theory of conversion and/or bailment. Furthermore, Defendant PNC Bank never did any of the following: (1) it never established an attorney-client relationship between itself and Appellants; (2) it never identified an error in Plaintiff's conduct or suggested a different course of action; and (3) it 'Verdict, September 26, 2007. 2 Plaintiffs' Motion for Post -Trial Relief, filed October 8, 2007. s Notice of Appeal, filed December 20, 2007. The denial of a motion for post -trial relief is interlocutory. See De Lage Laden Financial Services, Inc. v. Rozentsvit, 2007 Pa. Super. 398, ¶7 FN1, 939 A.2d 915, 918 FN1 (Pa. Super. 2007). A motion to quash the appeal on this ground was filed by Defendant PNC Bank, Executor of the Estate of William G. Magaro. See motion to quash appeal, filed January 17, 2008, at No. 2165 MDA 2007 (Pa. Super. Ct.). 2 never produced and/or admitted into evidence any testimony or other evidence which established a proper standard of care, assuming arguendo that an attorney-client relationship did, in fact, exits.4 This opinion in response to the statement of matters complained of on appeal is written pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(a). DISCUSSION In the court's view, the adjudication in this matter dated September 26, 2007, which was highly detailed in terms of findings of fact, supported by citations to the record, and legal analysis, more than adequately informed Plaintiffs of the factual and legal bases for the $23,576.53 award in favor of Defendant PNC Bank, in its capacity as executor of the estate of William G. Magaro, on its counterclaim against Plaintiffs. In this regard, Plaintiffs' grounds for the appeal may be addressed summarily here as follows: First, the liability of Plaintiffs on the counterclaim was premised upon Plaintiffs' undertaking to recover the proceeds of certain stock in which Defendant's decedent had an interest and the estate's loss of those proceeds as a result of Plaintiffs' advice that they could be hypothecated by a third party. Second, Defendant's counterclaim demanded judgment from Plaintiffs for the interest of its decedent in the aforesaid proceeds, noting that the proceeds had been misapplied through Plaintiffs' conduct; this pleading, in the court's view, sufficiently covered the situation as found. Finally, Plaintiffs' request for relief on the grounds (1) that an attorney- client relationship between Plaintiffs' and Defendant did not exist, notwithstanding that Plaintiffs' claim against Defendant was based upon such a relationship, (2) that no fault on the part of Plaintiffs' existed, notwithstanding erroneous legal advice that led to a loss of Defendant's interest in the proceeds which Plaintiffs had undertaken to recover, and (3) that Defendant had no remedy in the absence of expert testimony is, in the court's view, less than compelling. As 4 Statement of Matters Complained of on Appeal, Filed January 3, 2008. 3 noted previously, a full analysis of this case is provided in the adjudication dated September 26, 2007. Lowell R. Gates, Esq. Mark E. Halbruner, Esq. Suite 100 1013 Mumma Road Lemoyne, PA 17043 Attorney for Plaintiffs Shaun E. O'Toole, Esq. MILLER LIPSITT, LLC 2813 North Second Street Harrisburg, PA 17110 Attorneys for Defendants Antonio W. Magaro, Variety Machines, Inc., and Magaro's Sporting Goods, Inc. Thomas J. Weber, Esq. 320 Market Street P.O. Box 1268 Harrisburg, PA 17108-1268 Attorneys for Defendants Marie K. Magaro, Administrator c.t.a. of the Estate of David W. Magaro, deceased, Marie K. Magaro, individually, Marie K. Magaro and James P. McAndrew Partnership and Marie's Portrait Studio, Inc. John M. Eakin, Esq. Market Square Building Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 Attorney for Defendant PNC Bank, N.A., Executor 11 BY THE COURT, J. Wesley Oler, Jr., J. of the Estate of William G. Magaro, Deceased