Allen v. Brown Advisory, LLC

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing for failure to state valid claim, plaintiff’s action, alleging that defendants-holders of plaintiff’s investment accounts breached contract and breached fiduciary duty owed to plaintiff, where defendants honored certain withdrawals made on his investment accounts by plaintiff’s daughter pursuant to power of attorney that plaintiff had granted to her. Terms of power of attorney shielded defendant from liability on breach of contract claim, and although plaintiff asserted that contract required defendant to “supervise and direct investments” with respect to his investment accounts, contract imposed no duty to restrict withdrawals made by plaintiff or his attorney-in-fact. Moreover, same result applied to plaintiff’s breach of fiduciary claim, where plaintiff argued that defendant should not have allowed daughter to make certain withdrawals from his accounts, and where language of power of attorney shielded defendant from liability for daughter’s conduct. Also, defendant had no fiduciary obligation to refuse to carry out transactions authorized by power of attorney.