Opinion ID: 1653664
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Yukon Automobile Purchase

Text: In June 2001 Ryerson purchased a new GMC Yukon XL in the name of E.B. from Valley Buick Pontiac GMC (Valley Buick). Ryerson had previously represented a Valley Buick sales associate, N.H., in a dissolution matter, and in June 2001, Ryerson informed N.H. that her elderly relative, E.B., was interested in buying a car. Ryerson told N.H. that she had authority to select the vehicle for E.B., and she provided a power of attorney as evidence of her authority to act on E.B.'s behalf. Ryerson selected a GMC Yukon XL priced at $43,294, and N.H. prepared a credit application for E.B. to sign. On June 25, 2001, E.B. supposedly signed the document. The application was approved on June 30, 2001, after which N.H. delivered the GMC Yukon XL to Ryerson along with a series of documents that needed to be signed to complete the transaction. N.H. testified that he witnessed Ryerson signing E.B.'s name to all the documents. The GMC Yukon XL was later repossessed when the necessary installment payments were not made. During its investigation, the Office of Lawyers Responsibility discovered that E.B. did not have a driver's license at the time the GMC Yukon XL was purchased. Further, the power of attorney presented by Ryerson appeared to have been signed by E.B. on September 1, 2000, but was not notarized until September 8, 2000. The forensic document examiner testified that there was a strong probability that the E.B. signature on the power of attorney was not genuine, that the E.B. signature on the credit application used to purchase the Yukon was not genuine, and that Ryerson was the person who signed the E.B. signature on the credit application.