Clark v. Morris
Clark v. Morris
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
Appellee was dealing with appellants in the capacity of an agent or broker. The law is well settled that where a broker
The only question left for determination is, was the stock for which the receipts of Cowen and Garrett were given paid for ? The court instructed the jury as follows: “The plaintiff, if he is entitled to recover at all, is entitled to recover only to the extent that he proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the subscription to the stock described in the declaration was procured by him or through his influence, and that the subscription was actually paid for by the subscriber. It is not,
The price for which this stock was actually sold to Cowen and Garrett is immaterial. The price for which appellee was directed to negotiate for the sale of the stock was $2.50 per share. It -was upon that basis that he brought the parties together. If the stock in question was sold for a less price than appellee was authorized to take, and the sale was consummated without notice of the reduction in price to appellee, he is entitled to recover his commission on the basis of a sale at $2.50 per share. If they sold the stock at a greater price than that given appellee upon which to base his negotiations, they have not been damaged and cannot be heard to complain.
The judgment is therefore affirmed, with costs, and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CLARK v. MORRIS
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Brokers; Instructions to Jury. 1. Where a broker is employed to sell property on commission, and he brings the owner, or the agency through which he is employed, and the-prospective purchaser together, and a sale results, though it be accomplished by the owner or such agency without any further assistance by the broker, the broker is entitled to his full commission, the-same as if he had conducted all the details of the sale. 2. Where a broker employed to solicit subscriptions to the stock of a mining corporation upon an agreement that he should receive a commission on all subscriptions obtained by him, or through his influence, was told by his principal not to see a party with whom he was negotiating until further notice, and he obeyed, he is entitled to his. commissions on a subscription subsequently obtained by the principal from such party. 3. The instructions of the trial court to the jury should apply the law to-the facts as disclosed in the case in which they are given. An instruction correctly stating the law in one case, if given in another ease, though similar, might be erroneous. 4. In an action by a broker for his commissions for obtaining subscriptions. to stock in a mining company under a contract entitling him to commissions on subscriptions obtained by him or through his influence, where it appears that after obtaining a subscription from one party, for which he was paid his commission, and obtaining his promise to-endeavor to interest another party in the stock, he was prevented by his principal from continuing his negotiations to obtain an additional subscription from the first party and a subscription from the other, and that such subscriptions were subsequently made, it is not error for the trial court to instruct the jury that they are entitled to infer that the broker was the procuring cause of the new subscriptions, and also to infer that if the stock certificates were actually delivered to the subscribers they were paid for by them, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary. 5. If a broker employed to obtain subscriptions to the stock in a mining company at a certain price, brings his principal and a prospective subscriber together, and the principal, without notice to the broker, sells the stock for a less price, the broker is entitled to his commission on the price for which he was employed to sell. If the sale is for a greater price, the principal has no cause to complain, in a suit by the broker for his commission on the contract price.