State ex rel. Ambler v. Hooker
State ex rel. Ambler v. Hooker
Opinion of the Court
This is a case of original jurisdiction. The petition, filed May 1st, 1894, alleges, in substance: That the relator began on February 10th, 1893, an action by attachment against G. C. Stevens and H. H. Graham, co-partners under the firm name of Stevens, Graham & Co., in the Circuit Court of Marion county; that the case having been referred to J esse J. Finley, a practicing attorney, the relator on December 15th, 1893, obtained a judgment against Stevens, Graham & Co., the defendants, for $11,216.66 and costs; that execution issued upon said judgment and was levied upon certain personal property, being the same- property upon which attachment had been levied; that said property was advertised for sale on the first Monday in March, 1894, but that before the legal hours of sale on said day Enoch W. Agnew and John A. Bishop, receivers appointed by the United States Circuit Court for the-Northern District of Florida j filed a claim to said
The answer expressly admits all of the allegations ■of the petition in reference to the suit by the relator against Stevens, Graham & Co., and the issuing and levying of the execution. The answer also admits that the defendant adjudged himself disqualified for the reasons alleged in the petition, and that the allegations of the petition are true which state his connection with the suit of Ambler vs. Stevens el al., and that he had turned over all matters connected with said case to Mr. Edgar P. Allen, as his attorney, and that he had no interest in the same. The answer sets up other matters of disqualification of the defendant, besides those alleged in the petition.
In view of the conclusion we reach in the case, it is only necessary to notice one of these additional matters, which is the allegation that the defendant was one of the attorneys of record of John C. McKibbin, in the suit instituted by him (McKibbin) in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of Florida, against the said Stevens & Graham, and in which the said Enoch W. Agnew and John A. Bishop, who interposed said claim, were appointed receivers. The defendant admits that at the time said claim was filed he had ceased to have any relations with said suit as attorney or solicitor. The relator moves to strike out the answer on the ground that it is insufficient. This motion is in the nature of a demurrer to the answer, and of course admits the truth of all of its material allegations.
Two reasons are assumed in the pleadings stated herein for the disqualification of Judge Hooker: The first is that he was disqualified to try the claim case on account of his connection, as an attorney of record for
That the previous relation of attorney and client disqualifies a judge, has been determined in this State. Tampa St. Ry. & Power Co. vs. Tampa Suburban R. Co., 30 Fla., 595, 11 South. Rep., 562.
As to the first matter, the connection of the defendant with the suit of the relator against Stevens, et al., it is contended by the relator that the defendant, Judge Hocker, is not disqualified, because he was only connected with the main case, and that the claim case presents issues entirely foreign to the main case. It may be true, strictly speaking, that the defendant was not an attorney of record in the claim proceedings, but when we consider that the claim arose and is sought to be maintained in resistance to an effort to enforce the execution issued in a case in which the defendant was once an attorney of record, and that the result of his judgment must be that the execution can or can not be enforced by a sale of the property levied upon, it must appear that the distinction claimed by the relator is too narrow and technical. The rule of disqualification of a judge who has been of counsel for one of the parties, in the matter of the litigation, or matters intimately connected therewith, is but an evolution of the elementary maxim that no man should be a judge in his own lawsuit. The law which disqualifies a judge who has been of counsel in the case intends that no judge shall preside in a case in which he is not wholly free, disinterested, impartial and inde
The next question presented by the pleadings as stated is whether the defendant is disqualified by reason of his connection with the suit of McKibbin, complainant, vs. Stevens, et al., defendants. In this suit the complainant sought and obtained the appointment of
We hold that the connection of the defendant with the main suit of Ambler vs. Stevens et al., and with the case of McKibbin vs. Stevens et al., were either, and each of them, sufficient to disqualify him from
The motion to strike the answer is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The State of Florida ex rel. Daniel G. Ambler v. William A. Hooker, Circuit Judge
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. The previous relation of attorney and client, as shown in this case, disqualifies a judge in this State. 2. The principle of disqualification of a judge by reason of a previous relation of attorney and client should not be given a narrow and technical construction, but should be applied to all classes of cases and to all judicial officers. 3. A judge who, previous to his commission, was an attorney of record in a suit in which an execution issued, is disqualified to try a claim interposed to property levied upon under such execution. 4. A judge who, previous to his commission, was a solicitor of record for complainant in a chancery cause, brought for the purpose of having receivers appointed for certain property, is disqualified from trying a claim interposed by said receivers to said property, when the saméis levied upon under execution in favor of third parties. 3. A judge who, previous to his commission, has been an attorney in a case is disqualified to adjudicate not only all matters arising in that identical case, but also all supplemental matters or proceedings had or taken to enforce, or to resist the enforcement of, any judgment or decree rendered in such case. O. The question of the disqualification of a judge, by reason of a former relation of attorney and client, is entirely distinct and independent of any question of present interest in the case, and of the payment of any fee or reward therein. 7. An act done by a partner in the firm name in the pursuit of its ordinary business is the act of the firm. A judge who, prior to his commission as such, was a member of a law firm which began a suit, using the name of such firm as attorneys for the plaintiff, is disqualified from trying a claim interposed to property levied upon by virtue of an execution issued in such main case, although the management of such suit may have been exclusively under the direction of the other member of such firm and not within the knowledge of such judge. t