Opinion ID: 2338603
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: The taking of the testatrix to Mr. Ittel's office.

Text: I think it fair to assert that were it not for the testimony of Mr. Ittel as to his interview with the testatrix, neither the court below nor this court would probably have entertained the slightest doubt but that this will was the result of the coercion and domination of the testatrix by her daughter and son-in-law. It is especially important, therefore, that we carefully analyze this episode in the drama which has here been enacted. It starts with a letter written by Mr. May to Mr. Beal of the law firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay. Mr. May makes no secret of the object he had in mind, for he testified that he hoped that at least a firm with the reputation of Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay would have some standing and bearing in the courts of this county if anything did occur,  in other words his purpose was to hide behind the skirts of respectability. The letter he wrote to Mr. Beal is remarkable both for its contents and its omissions. It did not ask the Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay office to make any suggestions or corrections, legal or otherwise, in regard to the draft of the will which he was therewith submitting to them. It did not tell them anything about the condition, family or affairs of the testatrix or request them carefully to discuss with the testatrix, as her attorneys, her intentions in regard to the distribution of her estate. It merely made two remarkable requests. The one was that they should have a copy of the will which he was sending to them transcribed in their own office,  obviously so that the original would deceptively appear to have been drafted by them. The other was that they should delegate someone in their office to consummate the matter so that he would be in position to testify if the question of undue influence arose. He gave as his reason for having the matter consummated in their office his desire that no question be raised as to undue influence, of which he was always conscious and obviously and justifiably fearful. Mr. Beal, in conformity with Mr. May's request, delegated Mr. Ittel to take care of the matter. The taking of the testatrix to Mr. Ittel's office and her interview with him are paralleled only by the notorious Russian trials in which the defendant utters parrot-like admissions of guilt apparently sincere to those (by analogy in this case Mr. Ittel) who are wholly innocent and uninformed as to the coercion and pressure that had been exerted upon the victim before his formal appearance. The testatrix's faithful chauffeur having been dismissed for the day, it was Mr. May and his son who, without consulting her doctor or her nurse, took her to Mr. Ittel's office in their car. Never since her son's death had she left her apartment except attended by her nurse. Nurse and servants give us a graphic picture of the condition in which she was when taken away and of her attitude toward the coercive pressure that was being imposed upon her. Three such witnesses, all wholly disinterested, testified that she was extremely weak, that she had to be supported in order to walk, and that she was nervous, distraught and extremely upset. One of her nurses warned her that, in her opinion, she was not in a fit condition to go to town; she was nervous and crying and really wasn't herself, but she insisted that she was going because she had to go. She told another of her nurses that Mr. May and his son were taking her to town, that she did not want to go, but she had to go. We shall see later what she said upon her return. She had to be supported by the May father and son on either side when they took her into Mr. Ittel's office. They waited in the corridor outside while the interview between Mr. Ittel and the testatrix took place. There are certain facts that must be borne in mind in connection with Mr. Ittel's testimony in regard to that interview. The first is that he was not the testatrix's lawyer nor employed as such. Indeed, why would the testatrix have wanted or needed Mr. Ittel or any other attorney? Mr. May had drafted her will and the only important change made from the wills drawn by her previous lawyers was to take away the legacy of the one-third of the estate from Herbert's children and transfer it to Mr. May's children. Why, then, as far as the testatrix's interest was concerned, would she have required an additional lawyer? The second point to be remembered is that Mr. Ittel knew nothing whatever about the testatrix, of her advanced age, of the strokes and illnesses she had suffered, of her distressed mental and emotional condition since the death of her son, of her family life, of the stormy interview between her and the Mays and of what transpired there, of Mrs. May's relations with her mother, or of any of the other facts and circumstances that an adequate interview would have disclosed if conducted by the client's own lawyer. But Mr. Ittel was not engaged by or for the testatrix in order to represent her interests but by and for Mr. May to represent his interest,  to be a witness for him. She made some statements to Mr. Ittel about her family, he read her the draft of the will and inquired whether that was what she wanted, and she said that it was. He, like Mr. May, made no attempt to inform her  to give her the all-important legal advice  that if she really did not want her daughter-in-law to share in her money, that purpose could be readily accomplished without any necessity whatever of disinheriting these grandchildren. To instance how loose and casual the conversation between them must have been, Mr. Ittel testified that he gleaned from what she told him that Herbert's children were each getting one-half million dollars from her husband's estate, which, of course, was absurdly untrue. The will having been signed and witnessed, Mr. May and his son entered and took her home. Mr. Ittel never had any illusion as to his not representing the testatrix and did not send her a bill for his services. He did not send Mr. May a bill because, as he stated, he knew it was a considerable estate and, as all lawyers do, he felt he wanted to attract that business into the office. What I would emphasize is that, human nature being what it is, the testimony of Mr. Ittel, however conscientiously given, must be appraised as coming from an interested witness,  interested because of his having been employed by and for Mr. May, interested because of his natural professional pride in satisfactorily performing the duty for which he had been engaged, interested because his office was engaged in the trial of the case on behalf of the Mays. Was the court below, and is this court, justified in reversing the verdict of the jury when the only issue involved was a purely factual one and this star witness for the Mays, like all their other witnesses, was not a disinterested one, so that it is no wonder he did not carry conviction with the jury as he undoubtedly would and should have done had he been the testatrix's lawyer instead of Mr. May's ? When the testatrix returned from Mr. Ittel's office she was crying and extremely agitated and depressed. Why?