State v. Birkins

Seitz, Vice Chancellor:

The sole question presented is the right of successful plaintiffs to recover reasonable attorneys’ fees under the terms of a lost securities bond.

The case arises in this way. Money due some 28 stockholders, inter alla, in a receivership liquidation was deposited to their credit in the Farmers Bank. Subsequently an alleged assignee of those 28 stockholders applied to the court for payment of the money. The assignee was required to file a lost instrument bond because the stock certificates were allegedly lost. The penalty clause in the bond equals the aggregate of those…