Thomas v. Caldwell

Elderly widow Carolyn Thomas (plaintiff) owned Japanese urns and other antiques; her children's friends Michael and Stanley Caldwell (defendants) told her Stanley had become an expert antique appraiser, and she asked him to appraise her antiques, including the urns, which he valued at $1,000 and $400 respectively -- even though a dealer had previously offered her $1,000 for the higher-valued urn. Thomas gave Stanley a painting and gold frame for the appraisal, then, after considering the matter for days with her family, sold the urns to the Caldwells for $1,400; weeks later she discovered the Caldwells had advertised the urns for $15,000 each and sued in replevin to recover them, arguing Stanley's self-described expertise created a fiduciary relationship and that he had misrepresented the urns' value. The trial court found no fiduciary relationship or misrepresentation, and Thomas appealed.