Smith v. Whitman

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Wbintbaub-, C. J.

These cases arose put of embezzlements by Paul A. Yivers, an attorney (now disbarred, Vivers, In re, 36 N. J. 531 (1962)), of property of clients. Defendant Whitman, who is a nephew of Yivers, suffered losses óf about $100,000. He obtained from Yivers assets worth about $39,000 which plaintiffs, also victims of Yivers, sought to recover in these proceedings.

The complaints seemingly advanced two theses: (1) that Yivers held specific properties in trust for plaintiffs and transferred those properties to Whitman who took without…