Sturgeon v. Security First National Bank
Sturgeon v. Security First National Bank
Opinion of the Court
The only question involved on this appeal is whether or not the Superior Court of Los Angeles County had jurisdiction of the case. Defendants demurred to the complaint, one of the grounds being that the Superior Court of Los Angeles County had no jurisdiction of the subject of the action. The trial court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend and rendered judgment for defendants. From this judgment plaintiff prosecutes this appeal.
The complaint in this action is voluminous, covering some sixteen pages of the transcript. In substance it alleges: That during the past fifteen years appellant had been a client of respondents which were during that period engaged in a general banking business; that during such
If this case is an action at law, then the Municipal Court of Los Angeles City had sole jurisdiction. Act 5238, section 29, created municipal courts and fixed their jurisdiction (Gen. Laws of California, vol. 2, p. 2925). This act provides that “Municipal courts shall have jurisdiction of civil cases and actions as follows: ... (a) All cases at law in which the demand, exclusive of interest, or where the value of the property in controversy, amounts to two thousand dollars or less. ... 4. Each municipal court shall have jurisdiction of all cases in equity, when pleaded as defensive matter or by way of cross-complaint in any ease properly pending in such municipal court.” Section 76 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that “superior
It is the well-settled law in this state that where jurisdiction depends on the amount in controversy the ad damnum clause of the complaint is the sole test. (Erving v. Napa Valley Brewing Co., 17 Cal. App. 367 [119 Pac. 940]; Henigan v. Ervin, 110 Cal. 37 [42 Pac. 457]; Rodley v. Curry, 120 Cal. 541 [52 Pac. 999].) In Flood v. Templeton, 148 Cal. 374, 378 [83 Pac. 148], the court said: “The jurisdiction of a court of equity . . . [depends upon] whether the breach complained of cannot be adequately compensated in damages. If it can, the action has no place in a court of equity, and the plaintiff’s remedy is strictly in law. Equity is designed only to supplement the deficiencies of the law.”
In the instant case the only relief sought is a compensatory one of damages for the injury alleged to have been suffered by appellant. In Traffic Truck Sales Co. v. Justice’s Court, 192 Cal. 377, 383 [220 Pac. 306], the court said: “If the relief sought is analogous in form to the relief granted in courts of equity, then it is a case in equity within the meaning of the Constitution.” In the case now under consideration, the sole relief sought is damages and therefore it is not one coming within the jurisdiction of a court of equity.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ROLLIN S. STURGEON v. THE SECURITY FIRST NATIONAL BANK
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published