Vanderhoof v. Crosby
Vanderhoof v. Crosby
Opinion of the Court
This is the appeal of the defendants below from a judgment of the District Court in favor of the plaintiff.
The action was brought to recover $355.80 which the plaintiff alleged was due by virtue of an agreement made between plaintiff and the defendants, and the judgment was entered upon the verdict of a jury.
The suit was brought in the Orange District Court and by stipulation of counsel was transferred to the East Orange District Court. In the latter court when the case came on, the counsel of the defendants moved to dismiss, claiming that the court was without jurisdiction because no summons had been issued out of the East Orange District Court. That motion was denied and the parties proceeded to trial. We believe that under the authority of Morley v. McDonald, 98 N. J. L. 275; 118 Atl. Rep. 582, the court had jurisdiction in view of the stipulation entered into by the counsel who represented the parties throughout the entire proceedings.
We think the specifications of the determinations with which the defendants were dissatisfied properly raise the question as to the legal propriety of the judgment for the entire amount.
Now we think that the judgment was improper. The obligation assumed by the defendants under the agreement was to pay in ten equal installments, and only two of these were due and unpaid. It would seem to follow that plaintiff’s damages were limited to the amount of those two unpaid installments, with interest, it not appearing that there was any provision that such a default was a breach of the entire contract having the effect of making all the payments due.
The judgment will be reversed and a new trial awarded. Costs to abide the event.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.