Hale v. Groce
Supreme Court of Oregon
744 P.2d 1289 (1987)
Relevant factsFree
Groce (defendant), an attorney, was hired by a client to draft testamentary documents that were supposed to include a bequest to Hale (plaintiff). Groce failed to include the bequest, and the omission wasn't discovered until after the client died. Hale sought judicial reformation of the documents to fix the mistake, but the court denied that relief, so Hale instead sued Groce directly for damages.
IssueFree
Whether an attorney can be held liable to an intended testamentary beneficiary for breach of the attorney's contract with the testator, even though the attorney owes no duty of care in negligence to that beneficiary.