client of such purchase, however solemnly made, could preclude his adversary from taking advantage of this wholly fictitious fraud upon the client, which the client himself had voluntarily disclaimed. This would be allowing a stranger to vindicate the right of the client to his attorney's undivided allegience when the client himself insists that he has no cause for complaint. The true reason for the rule inhibiting dealings by the attorney adversely to the interests of his client is the protection of the client. As fraud in such cases might be difficult of proof, and as men may be influenced unconsciously by their personal interests pulling them in the opposite direction, while striving to be loyal to their trusts and while honest in the belief that they are loyal, the law has placed in the hands of the client the power arbitrarily in all cases to thurst aside the ordinary legal effect of the attorney's acts so far as they clash with the client's interests, however fair the transaction may have been. There is no justification for pushing the rule further, thus enabling a stranger to reap profit from an act of the attorney where the same act performed by the client would have barred the stranger's right. Under such a stringent rule, the purchase being a nullity, the client could not, by succeeding to the attorney's interest, secure that paramount right which he could have obtained had he originally made the purchase himself; and thus a rule ordained for the protection of the client is turned against him for the benefit of a stranger.
VERMONT LOAN & TRUST COMPANY, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v. H. L. WHITHED, Defendant and Appellant.
Usurious Contract-Compensation for Procuring Loan- General Act-Constitutional Law-Uniform Operation- Building and Loan Associations.
1. Section 4, c. 184, Laws 1890, provides that in all loan transactions the written contract shall correctly state the amount received by the borrower, and the rate of interest to be paid, and a failure so to do renders the contract usurious and void, except as otherwise in the chapter provided. Section 7 provides that a loan broker or other
