Star.
London, England, 1818-11-04 00:00:00

y^~ul

.

.1 II ••••

:44W JNTELI,IQ&'N

": ys

COURT eg CHANCERY, OCTOBER ss.
SLAM AND OTMEMS O. EVANS AND CLARWCE, TRUS-
TEES OD THE MARQUIS AND MARCHIONESS OF
HAsTINGs.
Mr. HART, on the part of the plaintiffs, moved the
Court that Mr. Evans, a Solicitor, and one of the
trustees, should, within enefurtnight, pay into. Court
the sum of £B4OO, which Mr. Evans in his answer
bad admitted he had (since filing the bill in this
cause) received, as one of the trustees under a deed
of trust for the sale of certain estates of the Marquis
and Marchioness of Hastings, of which the proceeds
were to be applied, after payment of costs, to •liqui-
date certaindebts of the Marchioness; and he further
moved, that Mr. Evans shouldforthwith deliver his'
bills of costs as Solicitor of the Trustees, and that
the Master should tax such costs, and that said de-
fendant should bring into Court the trust-deeds, &c.
Mr. HART stated, he did not mean any imputation
Pn Mr. Evans, who was a gentleman of great respec-
tability in his profession, and of great practice ; nor
had he any instructions to contend that he was not
entitled to the whole of the money detained by him;
but what he contended was, the money should be
paid into Court, until the costs were taxed, and that
then, and not till then, the money due to him should
be paid over -to him, and that he ought not to retain
the money in the .mean time.
Mr. WETHERELL, on the part of the defendant,
opposed this motion, which, he said, was totally un-
necessary on the part of the creditors, and was only
made for the purpose of bringing before the Public
the names of the noble persons concerned. No part
of the conduct of his client, who was a man of strict
honour and high professional character, had rendered
it necessary ; that it appeared by the accounts in pos.
I session of the plaintiffs, that, after giving credit for
the sum of £B4OO, and all, other monies received,'
Mr. Evans had paid more than he had received, and
was a creditor on the cash account alone, over and be-
sides all kis costs, and was in fact now a creditor for
nearly £10,000; and that the creditors had themselves
offered to pay him £5OOO, in addition to the monies
he had already received, if lie would relinquish his
claim claim on the trust-estate, and claim against the Mar-
quis personally for tke balance. This Mr. Evans bad
assented to; but the creditors had subsequently re-
fused to perform the engagement on other points
which Mr. Evans had nothing to do with. The
Learned Counsel added, that if, notwithstanding, his
Lordship should think it,right the money should be
paid into Court, Mr. Evans had instructed him to I
say he had no wish to retain it for a moment, but
was ready instantly to pay it over; but he contended
that there was no pretence for calling the money. into
Court. Mr. Evans had a clear right to retain it,
whether he had incurred any costs or not; and as to
his bill of costs, l‘L. Evans had offered himself to
deliver them in by the 21st November instant, the
earliest day on which he thought it possible to do so.
With respect to that part of the motion which related
to the delivery of the bills to the Master to be taxed,
Mr. Evans, personally, had no objection to this; but
he (Mr. WETHERELL) submitted, that as by the trust
deed a special tribunal was constituted for the pur-
pose, (two Gentlemen of' great respectability being
thereby appointed to settle all the accounts and cdst4,
and as the affairs were in many respects very intricate
and delicate, there was no ground to disturb the mode
chalked out by the deed, and that it ought to bk.ad-
bored to : that Mr. Evans had indeed offered te en-
trust his bills of costs to any persons 'to be appointed
by the plaintiffs' Solicitor ; but he (the Learned Coun-
sel) contended that the forms of the trust-deed should',
be adhered to.
Mr. Lover followed, at length, on the same side.
Mr. Haar, in reply, contended that the creditors
had an undoubted right not only to know the state
of the accounts, but to have the bill of their Solicitor
tared by a Master. The Court would agree with
him, that the creditors were not dissatisfied without
reason ; for on debts amounting to £30,000, no larger
a sum had been paid than three per cent..for 5 years.
Mr. WiLus followed on the .same side. "'
The LORD CHANCELLOR said this was a motion of
considerable importance, as it involved a general
principle; and therefore he should take thit'opnoFtn-
nity of saying, that if a person was not'only theITUS.
tee under a trust-deed, but Solicitor also to the trust,
he was in his character of trustee subject to the same
duties against himself as Solicitor, as he would have
to exercise against any other Solicitor that might be
employed. So far for the general principle.—lle had
not the pleasure of being personally acquainted with
Mr. Evans; but he did not doubt that he was a Gen-
tleman of the highest honour, and should act towards
hint in the same manner as he should towards the
friend he most respected, it' placed in Mr. Evans's si-
tuation. In what he should feel it his dirty to say,
therefore, on this occasion, Mr. Evans would not feel
that there was the least imputation thrown on his
character or conduct. With respect to that part of
the motion which prayed an order for payment of
money into Court, he should not order it. With re-
spect to the other part of the motion, namely, that
Mr. Evans should deliver a copy of his bills of costs,
this was a matter of course: every Solicitor was
bound to deliver a copy of his bill when called for,
de die in diem. Let the bill, therefore, be delivered
by the Ist of December next. As to the mode and
tribunal for taxing the bill, that might be subject for
future consideration.
Mr. EVANS here addressed the Court, and said,
that although after giving credit for all monies re-
ceived he was a creditor on the cash account for mo-
nies advanced by him besides his bills of costs, never-
theless, he had never refused or objected to deliver
them ; on the contrary, the moment they were asked
for they were set about, and were making out with
all practicable expedition, and that he had himself
proposed and offered to undertake to deliver them by
die 21st November instant, as his Counsel had befo
stated, being ten days earlier than his Lordship had
intimated.
The Lorin CitAncitu.on.—" Try, Mr. Evans, who
they you can do so by that day now."
Mr. EVANS said he would, with his Lordship's
,1 permission, now take till the Ist of December.
1 Mr. Wixxis, on behalf of the plaintiffs, said 'that
his friend, Mr. Hart, had greatly understated the
amount of the demands, which, instead of £30,000,
were upwards of £200,000, and that they had re-
ceived only three per cent.
Mr. EVANS said, that although a small part only