Aguilar v. Bocci
California Court of Appeal
39 Cal. App. 3d 475 (1974)
- Written by Daniel Clark, JD
Facts
Antonio Aguilar (plaintiff) was charged with assault and retained Thomas Bocci (defendant) to be his defense attorney. Under the retainer agreement, Aguilar was to pay Bocci $10,000. To secure his obligation, Aguilar deeded his home to Bocci. When he executed the deed, Aguilar owned a one-half interest in the home, the other half interest being owned by his wife. Later, Aguilar obtained his wife’s one-half interest. Aguilar never paid Bocci the amount owed under the retainer agreement. At all times, Aguilar had exclusive possession of the home. Eight years later, Aguilar filed an action to quiet title to the home, arguing that Bocci engaged in fraud to obtain the deed. Bocci countersued, seeking to quiet his title in a one-half interest in the home. The trial court held that Aguilar and Bocci were tenants-in-common, each owning a one-half interest in the home. The trial court declared that the home must be sold so that the proceeds could be divided between Aguilar and Bocci. Aguilar appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Draper, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.