Lewis
Lewis v. Agricultural Insurance
Opinion
Opinion
Herndon, J.
Defendant Agricultural Insurance Company appeals from a judgment holding it liable to respondents to the full extent of its undertaking as surety on the bond of a notary public named Anna L. Green. The trial court found that as the proximate result of the misconduct and neglect of Green, acting in her official capacity as a notary public, respondents had suffered damage in an amount exceeding the penal sum of the bond.
Respondents were the owners of all the outstanding shares of stock in Wesmont Manufacturers Corporation, a California corporation. During the month of July 1965, respondents engaged in negotiations with Samuel. Goldblatt contemplating the sale of all their stock in said company to. Goldblatt and his wife, Hope Goldblatt, for the sum of $30,000.
An attorney named Robert L. McCoy represented Goldblatt in these negotiations and played an active part in the ensuing transactions. He also acted in the capacity of escrow agent in the consummation of the sale. Anna L. Green, the notary public whose conduct was the central subject of inquiry in the trial of this case, was McCoy’s secretary.