First American Bank v. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing plaintiff-bank’s claim seeking to recoup $486,750.33 from defendants that plaintiff had paid to its customer, where customer had been defrauded by same amount when defendant-lawyer deposited fraudulent check drawn on customer’s bank account. Record showed that lawyer had cashed into his client’s fund what he believed was check representing settlement proceeds of divorce dispute. Plaintiff could not establish any breach of warranty claim under U.C.C. based on certain missing information on electronic image of original check, where missing information would not have motivated plaintiff into refusing to send customer’s money to lawyer’s bank. Moreover, plaintiff could not have established any “restitution by mistake” claim under section 5/13-418 of U.C.C., where defendants-lawyer and two banks reasonably believed they were engaged in innocent banking activity of forwarding check to its final recipient on behalf of their clients. Also, plaintiff had no claim against defendant-lawyer for professional negligence in failing to discover counterfeit nature of check, where defendant was liable under professional negligence theory only to his own client and not to any third-party.