The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that Maplewood attorney John Sogliuzzo is liable for damages for using undue influence to take $391,000 from an elderly relative.
The Third Circuit ordered the case sent back to District Court for imposition of damages against Sogliuzzo, reversing a ruling in which a district judge awarded no damages even after finding that Sogliuzzo used undue influence that prompted the woman to make a transfer of cash and bonds to him. The District Court said it would defer to a state probate court on damages because plaintiff Jane Adkins, Sogliuzzo’s sister, failed to offer sufficient evidence that a gift was made during the lifetime of Mary Grimley, a cousin of the plaintiff’s and defendant’s mother. But the finding of undue influence based on transfers made during the donor’s lifetime assumes that an inter vivos gift was made, Judges Theodore McKee, Robert Cowen and Julio Fuentes ruled Wednesday in Adkins v. Sogliuzzo.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
