Levystein v. Gerson, Seligman & Co.
Levystein v. Gerson, Seligman & Co.
Opinion of the Court
The bill in this cause is exhibited against a partnership composed of three designated persons, nonresidents of Alabama: service of summons being made upon Emil C. Seligman, one of the named partners. After a decree overruling a motion to- quash the summons made by the party served, the complainant proposed to file an amendment converting the suit into one against the partners individually and to further strike out the names of the partners not served, so as to' make it a suit against Emil C. Seligman alone. The court refused to allow the amendment, and the question is error vel non in this lulling.
We think, on principle and authority, the amendment should have been allowed. Conceding that section 40 of the Code of 1896, allowing suits against partnerships by their partnership name without mentioning the names of persons composing the firm,, has no application to suits in equity (City of Opelika v. Daniel, 59 Ala. 211), this cause would be in a better situation for amendment than were the cases of McCaskey v. Pollock, 82 Ala. 174, 2 South. 674, and Sims v. Jacobson, 51 Ala. 186. In the latter case the action was brought in a firm name without any mention of individuals, and the plaintiff proposed to amend so as to evoke the action by individuals against individuals by inserting the names of the members of the plaintiff and defendant firms..The trial court refused, to allow the amendment, and on appeal this court held the amendment allowable, saying; “The .amend
It is of no moment that the summons and the return of the sheriff thereon are not shown in the record, as it otherwise sufficiently appears that service was made on Emil C. Seligman, the member of the firm proposed by the amendment to be retained as the sole defendant. As the court dismissed the bill preliminarily for the want of parties defendant, we deem it unnecessary and improper to rule on other questions, which could arise only subsequently to the establishment of the suit in court.
Reversed and remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.