Hollis v. Shaffer
Hollis v. Shaffer
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
In 1883 S: M. Hollis, the plaintiff in error, plaintiff below, entered into a copartnership with J. W. Shaffer, the defendant, to engage in the business of selling windmills, pumps, etc., in Cloud, a part of Clay and adjacent counties. Upon the 7th of November, 1884, the copartnership was dissolved by mutual consent, and a contract was entered into whereby the plaintiff purchased all of the stock, notes and property of the partnership for the purpose of carrying on the old business in the territory formerly occupied by' the firm. It was agreed that Hollis should pay all liabilities of the firm, and also, in the language of the contract, “it is further agreed by the said J. W. Shaffer that he shall give to
It is not questioned that the court had authority to enjoin defendant from again engaging in this business in the territory embraced in his contract of dissolution with plaintiff. He had conveyed his good-will in the business, and had contracted not to engage in the same business again as long as the plaintiff should carry it on. The courts have ample authority to execute such a contract, perhaps negatively, by an injunction restraining the party so contracting from setting up a new business, and thereby designedly drawing off the customers from the one established.
The defense urged is, that the plaintiff had not performed his part of the contract. It appears from the testimony that when the partnership existing between plaintiff and defendant was dissolved, the firm was indebted to Sherrard & Searles, of Atchison, Kansas, in a considerable sum, in the aggregate amounting perhaps to $2,000. The firm had given notes at various times to Sherrard & Searles, and had deposited as collateral security, notes made payable to themselves. There is a conflict of testimony as to whether a portion of the notes made payable to Hollis & Shaffer were transferred to Sherrard & Searles as collateral security, or to be applied as part payment of their indebtedness. We shall not pass upon this question, except to say that, as the judgment was for the de
The defendant claims that because the amount of $650 was due and unpaid, the plaintiff had not fully complied with his part of the contract, and therefore that he could not maintain this action. The principle is fundamental, that the party seeking a remedy of this nature against another must show as a condition precedent to his obtaining such remedy, that he has fully complied with the contract on his part, or that he is willing and ready to comply. There is no averment in plaintiff’s petition that he has performed the conditions of the contract entered into with the defendant; there was some evidence introduced during the progress of the trial, however, in regard to the payment of the liabilities of the firm. The defendant contends that the payment .of the liabilities of the firm was an essential part of the contract, and must have been fully complied with before the bringing of this action, while the plaintiff claims that, as the time of the payment was not designated in the contract itself, it is not necessary that he should have paid the full amount of the liabilities of the firm, pro
We believe that the absence of an averment in the petition that the plaintiff had performed his contract in full, or that he was ready and willing to do so, and the absence of the proof establishing the fact that Sherrard & Searles took the notes deposited with them as payment of the indebtedness of Hollis & Shaffer, or that those collaterals were of sufficient value to pay said indebtedness, are fatal to the plaintiff's claim for relief. There is considerable testimony which did apparently seem favorable to the plaintiff in this action, and it may be that the real facts might justify the granting of an injunction; but under the pleadings and the evidence brought here, we are constrained to believe that the decision of the court was correct, and therefore recommend that it be affirmed.
By the Court: It is so ordered.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.