Frisbie v. McFarlane
Frisbie v. McFarlane
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This judgment must be reversed for wide departure from the ' verdict on which it was entered. Hiram Frisbie and Horace Kipp, trading as Hiram Frisbie & Co. brought suit against McFarlane & Co. and at the last trial the jury rendered a verdict for defendants with a certificate in their favor. The parties stood as above stated, the jury were sworn, and the verdict rendered, upon the record in that form. But without regard to all this, judgment was entered by precipe from counsel in
If this were all the judgment might merely be reversed and the case sent back for the entry of a new judgment conforming to the verdict. But there is a more vital error.
The action was for breach of a lumber contract in writing between Hiram Frisbie & Co. and James McFarlane & Co. the names of the individual partners of either firm not appearing in the contract. The breach alleged by plaintiffs was admitted but the defense was upon other breaches by Frisbie & Co., G. W. Kipp & Co. and Kipp & Kizer, the essential element of the defense being that these three firms were identical. A set-off of this nature against the parties plaintiff on the record is available to the defendants as wrns held in Chambers v. Davis, 3 Wharton, 40, which will be more particularly noticed in the next case, Kipp et al.’s Appeal, post, p. 116. But under the circumstances of this case it required to be presented to the jury with particular care and discriminating reference to the evidence. This we are obliged to say it did not receive. No reference was made to the facts that the three firms were distinct not only in name, but in the persons of the partners, and in the dates of the contracts in which they were concerned, this last consideration being of such importance that the contract of Kipp & Kizer on which they were brought into the case was not made until after this suit had been begun by Frisbie & Co. The presumption was that the firms were not identical, and the burden of showing that they were, was upon the defendants, but no hint to that effect was given to the jury. On the contrary they were charged, inter alia, “ So far as the evidence goes Frisbie did not appear upon the place at all. He was eliminated from the busi
Judgment reversed and venire de novo awarded.
Reference
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- Practice — Judgment— Verdict. A judgment must conform to the verdict on which it is entered, and if a verdict is rendered against two parties it is error to enter judgment against one party only. Contract — Breach—Defense—Set-off—Partnership. In an action by one firm against another firm for a breach of contract where the defendants set up breaches by the plaintiffs and two other firms, on the theory that the three firms are identical, the charge of the court is inadequate if it makes no reference to the facts that the three firms were distinct not only in name, but in the persons of the partners, and in the time of the contracts in which they were concerned. In such a case the jury should be charged that the presumption is that the firms were not identical, and that the burden of showing that they were identical was upon the defendants. A statement in the charge that it was a material question in the case whether one of the firms was financially interested in Another of the firms, is misleading and erroneous.