A defendant “who bargains in a matter of advantage with a [plaintiff] placing confidence in [the defendant], is bound to show that a reasonable use has been made of that confidence; a rule applying equally to all persons standing in confidential relations with each other. If no such proof is established, courts of equity treat the case as one of constructive fraud.” (Citations and internal quotation marks omitted)
How later courts described this case
- A defendant “who bargains in a matter of advantage with a [plaintiff] placing confidence in [the defendant], is bound to show that a reasonable use has been made of that confidence; a rule applying equally to all persons standing in confidential relations with each other. If no such proof is established, courts of equity treat the case as one of constructive fraud.” (Citations and internal quotation marks omitted)
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
A majority of the judges of the court have reached the conclusion that the orders appealed from in these cases must be affirmed, but there is no majority in agreement on any of the grounds leading to that conclusion; the orders must therefore be, and they are hereby, affirmed without an opinion for the court as a whole.