Crouse v. Bedell
Crouse v. Bedell
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff filed a bill in equity against the defendants, praying for the dissolution of the firm of Bedell & Crouse, the appointment of a receiver of the assets, property, accounts and' credits of said firm and an accounting of the partnership dealings. The court, on October 21, 1898, made a preliminary order appointing Fletcher Coleman receiver of the firm and restraining the defendants from exercising further control over the firm property. Coleman filed his bond as receiver, in accordance with the decree of the court, which bond having been duly approved, he took charge of the property of Bedell & Crouse and rendered services and expended money in the execution of his trust. The parties, plaintiff and defendants, on December 2, 1898, entered into a stipulation and agreement, which agreement was filed of record and approved by the court, under the terms of which the business of the firm was to be continued and carried on by the receiver. Fletcher Coleman, not desiring to continue as receiver under tins arrangement, with the consent of the court, resigned. Thereupon, by agreement of the parties, E. E. Tait, Esq., was appointed receiver, and continued to act as such. Fletcher Coleman subsequently filed a statement of his disbursements and expenditures as receiver .and the court granted a rule to show cause why the same should not be paid out of any moneys that might come into the hands of Tait, who had succeeded Coleman as receiver. The defendants opposed the payment of these expenses, the court made the rule absolute, and from that order the defendants took this appeal.
The only assignment of error is to the making of the order directing Tait, as receiver, to pay, out of any money coming
The order appointing the receiver and granting the injunction was a unit, it was mandatory in language, had the effect of and was an injunction. It was clearly within the operation of the statute, and yet it was issued without a bond having been given by the plaintiff. This was an error for which the order would undoubtedly have been revoked by the court below, or reversed upon appeal, had the objection been made in time: Schlecht’s Appeal, 60 Pa. 172; Railroad Co. v. Casey, 26 Pa. 287. There was no defect of jurisdiction in the initiation of the proceeding, which was by bill filed in the proper court having general jurisdiction of the subject, and the plaintiff was in court upon a valid application to its unquestionable powers. The failure to require the plaintiff to give a bond prior to issuing the injunction did not affect the jurisdiction of the court over the parties or the subject-matter. The court, therefore, had general jurisdiction over the subject-matter and the parties, and no mere error of the court in the proceeding made void the decree: Littleton’s Appeal, 93 Pa. 177 ; Haught v. Irwin, 166 Pa. 551. The purpose of the legislation upon which the appellants rely was to prevent men’s rights from being jeoparded by special injunctions awarded during1 the pendency of causes, before those rights were determined by final decree. There can be no doubt that a defendant can waive this provision of the statute, by stipulation filed at the time of the issuing of the injunction or subsequently. In the present case, the defendants, after having filed their answers to the bill and being fully aware of their rights,
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.