Los Angeles herald., 1890-05-06


also lost two fingers off his left hand.
The case is on trial before a jury, and SO
far only evidence of the plaintiff has been
introduced.
1t is to be said for the company that it
is not soulless corporation. When the
man was injured, although the corpora
ton claim that the accident occurred
while the man was in the ordinary dis
charge OF his duty, and while working
with the material furnished to all en-
ployees, still they paid all Sappenfeld's
expenses while suffering, and the direc-
tors offered him 500 apiece to set him
up in business. when he recovered.
Damron on Top.
Yesterday the application OF the
Messrs. O'Melveny q Hentlg to remove
Mrs. Hentlg as guardian of her son
George Maldonado, was denied by Judge
Clark. The complaint among other
things charges that J. M. Damron, Mrs.
Hentig's attorney, had conspired with
the guardian to defraud the estate. The
decision OF the court is so long that it
would fill two columns of the HERALD.
1t is therefore impossible to run it in
full. The case is thus stated by the
court:
The grounds alleged in the petition,
and upon which it is claimed that said
guardian should be removed, are:
First. Disqualification of the guard
riage to one Hentig, subsequent to the
date of said order; It being the conten-
ton of petitioners that married woman
cannot, under the laws of this State, act
as guardian of the estate of a minor.
Second. Fraud and incompetency in
the management of the wards estate.
The specifications under this last charge
are as follows: (a) Payment to the law
firm of Shaw & Damron the sum of
$3,400 (b) the payment of 5000 for a
horse and buggy for the use of said
minor; Co charge for the maintenance
of said minor at the rate of $50 per
month, aggregating 1,150; (d) allow
ing the real estate Of the ward to be sold
for taxes; (e) representing to this
court, in petition praying for an order
of sale of certain real estate belonging
to said ward: that there was due to said
Damron, as attorneys fees, in the mat
ter of the estate of B. Newman, de-
ceased, which was passed down to be
paid out of the estate of said ward, the
sum of $500, and that there was fur
ther due or to be paid to Damron for SER
vices in two suits pending against said
minors estate, one in the Circuit Court
Of the'United States and in this court,
the sum of 81 500.
The court then goes on to review the
evidence and the law. Most of this re-
fers to Mrs. Hentig's position in having
remarked. 1t is decided that this does
not disqualify her from acting as guard
ian. The decision grants that the
De-, =
been faulty. She should not have
taxes. This the Judge thinks the most
serious matter shown. The sums spent
for the maintenance of the boy may
seem extravagant, but are not As to
Damron's connection with the matter,
the court says:
To protect the interests of her child
and secure his inheritance, the mother
employed the law firm composed of
Lucien Shaw and James M. Damron.
She had no means of her own, and en-
tered into a contract with them, they to
advance the necessary costs and eX-
penses, and to receive a fee of $4,000,
contingent upon success. After a long
and complicated litigation, involving an
appeal to the Supreme Court Of the
State, and in which they were opposed
by very able counsel, all the issues of
the contest were decided in favor of the
ward, and the estate distributed to him.
While, OF course, a guardian cannot
make contract for attorneys fees that
would be binding upon the estate of
ward, yet it is plain that the contract in
question was just and reasonable, and
for the best interest of the wards es
tate; that the amount of the fee was
~ OF II 10 10
of the services rendered, and the con-
tract, upon being reported to the court
would have been ratified.
After the distribution of the estate to
the minor, and after it decreased largely
in value, by reason Of the shrinkage in
the value of real estate in this county,
and after payment ON account of said
fee of the sum of $3, 400 the said attor-
ney agreed to reduce the fee and to ac-
cept $4,000 in full payment of the bal
ance, instead of $11 800, due under the
contract.
Such, then, being a brief history of
the estate and of counsePs connection
with it, it is clear that neither guardian
or her said attorney could have any
motive in deceiving the court by repre-
senting that the estate was in debt to
the amount of $5, 900 for attorneys fees,
and that the testimony of the attorney,
Mr.. Damron, that the statement in the
petition for an order of sale, that there
was due to him the sum of $500, passed
down from the Newman estate, and
81 800 for other services, were but loose
allegations of jurisdictional facts upon
which to base the order of sale, was
true.
The charge in the petition for removal
that twenty acres of the estate of the
ward was sold by the guardian and her
attorney for $4,000, and that they re-
ported to this court that it was sold for
$4,000 is the most serious charge in the
petition. 1t is charge which, involv-
ing, as it does, the personal integrity of
the parties and the professional stand
ing of the attorney, and which, if true,
would require that he be disbarred from
practice in the courts, if not prosecuted
criminally, should not have been lightly
made. l am of opinion that it was
lightly made. The evidence shows that
the attorney went beyond what his duty
as attorney would require; that he took
personal interest in the sale, and used
every endeavor to obtain the highest price
possible; that the price for which the land
sold was small one, is true, yet because
Of fha dull OF of of ha roo1 or 70