Scott v. Bergdoll
Scott v. Bergdoll
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Plaintiff sued to recover compensation for professional services rendered defendant in connection with her
The questions necessary to be passed upon are raised under the second assignment of error, which is to the refusal of the court below to- grant a new trial. This assignment, as originally stated, merely recited that the court erred in overruling the motion for a new trial and in entering judgment for plaintiff on the verdict. We have repeatedly said that assignments must be self-supporting and that where the overruling of a motion for a new trial is assigned for error it must set forth the motion and reasons and the order of the court: Com. v. Filer, 249 Pa. 171; Fuoss v. Water Co., 251 Pa. 68; Sikorski v. Phila. & R. Ry., 260 Pa. 243; Walla v. Mifflin Twp., 266 Pa. 139. An attempt was made to cure the defects in this respect by filing amended assignments; this attempt, however, was but partially successful as the first amended assignment contains the motion and reasons for a new trial but not the order of the court, while the second contains the order only but without including the motion and reasons. We have, however, considered the case on its merits and find no cause for reversal.
Defendant contends the verdict is excessive. Considered in the light of the labor and time devoted to defendant’s litigation by plaintiff, there does seem to be considerable merit in this contention. However, this court has uniformly held in a line of cases beginning with Smith v. Times Pub. Co., 178 Pa. 481, and extending down to the recent case of Knobeloch v. Pgh., etc., Rys. Co., 266 Pa. 140, that a judgment will be reversed
The remaining question involved is whether, as subsequently shown, the foreman of the jury being a son of a client of plaintiff, was that fact sufficient ground for setting aside the verdict? Depositions were taken in support of the reasons set forth in the motion for a new trial and plaintiff now argues the depositions are not properly part of the record. This contention cannot be sustained. The depositions recite they were taken “pursuant to notice and on motion for new trial” and the record shows the hearing was attended by counsel for plaintiff and no objection was raised as to the regularity of the proceedings. It appears from the docket entries the depositions were duly filed of record. This distinguishes the case from that of Com. v. Jester, 256 Pa. 441, where depositions were taken and used in support of a petition to the Superior Court for a writ of habeas corpus and the record contained nothing to indicate they were in fact filed or taken pursuant to a rule or regular practice.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- Appeals—Assignments of error—New trial. 1. Assignments of error must be self-supporting. 2. Where the overruling of a motion for a new trial is assigned for error, the assignment must set forth the motion and reasons and the order of the court. Attorneys-at-law—Compensation for services—Excessive verdict —New trial—Discretion. 3. A judgment will be reversed on account of the amount of the verdict only where it is so grossly excessive as to shock the sense of justice of the appellate court, and indicate a clear abuse of discretion on the part of the court below in refusing to set the finding aside and grant a new trial. 4. A verdict of $10,000 for legal services will not he set aside as excessive, where ten reputable members of the bar testify that, under the peculiar circumstances, and, in view of the standing of plaintiff in his profession, and the time devoted in behalf of defendant, the amount claimed by plaintiff and substantially allowed by the jury, was fair and reasonable. Jury—Connection of juryman with plcdntiff—Setting aside verdict. 5. The mere fact that the foreman of the jury was a son of a client of plaintiff, is no ground for setting aside a verdict in favor of plaintiff; and especially is this so where plaintiff had no knowledge of such relationship. Evidence—Depositions in support of new triaJ-^Depositñons as part of record—Appeals. 6. Objection cannot be made on appeal that depositions in support of a new trial were not a part of the record, where the depositions themselves recite they were taken “pursuant to potice and on motion for new trial,” and the record shows the hearing was attended by counsel for plaintiff, and no objection was raised as to the regularity of the proceedings, and, further, that it appeared from the docket entries the depositions were duly filed of record.