Kline Bros. & Co. v. North Coast Fire Insurance
Kline Bros. & Co. v. North Coast Fire Insurance
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought by the plaintiff to recover upon a judgment entered by the supreme court of the state of New York. Upon trial of the case in the court below a judgment resulted in favor of the plaintiff. The defendant has appealed.
The facts are as follows: The plaintiff is a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Florida. The defendant is a corporation organized under the laws of this state, and is engaged in the general fire insurance business. In the year 1908, it was engaged in writing what is known as “affidavit” or “surplus line insurance” in Eastern states. It had authorized the Eastern General Agency, Incorporated, a corporation in the city and state of New York, to solicit and write insurance for the defendant corporation. The defendant was not required by the laws of the state of New York to be admitted or licensed to do business in that state in order to write this line of insurance. This affidavit or surplus line insurance was described by one of the witnesses as follows:
“Affidavit insurance is insurance on a risk where the admitted companies have their limit, and if the assured desires more insurance he must file an affidavit with the insurance department of the state of New York requesting additional insurance in non-admitted companies, and that insurance must be procured through an agent who is licensed in the state of New York to do that business.”
No question is made that the Eastern General Agency, Inc., was authorized to write this line of business in New York. It is conceded that the Eastern General Agency, Inc., was authorized by the defendant to issue its policies in New York and deliver them there to the insured. It was the practice of the defendant to furnish to this agency blank insurance policies with printed authentications by the officers of the company; and the Eastern General Agency, Inc., when an application was made for a policy, would write the policy, countersign the same, collect the premium, and deliver the policy to the assured.
It is contended by the appellant, first, that the court erred in holding that the New York court had jurisdiction of the
It is apparently conceded upon the record that the supreme court of New York is a court of general jurisdiction. The burden, therefore, of proving that that court had no jurisdiction of the action was upon the appellant, because the presumption is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the judgment of a court of general jurisdiction is regular, and the recitals in such a judgment are prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. Ritchie v. Carpenter, 2 Wash. 512, 28 Pac. 380, 26 Am. St. 877; Aultman, Miller & Co. v. Mills, 9 Wash. 68, 36 Pac. 1046; Willey v. Nichols, 18 Wash. 528, 52 Pac. 237.
It is argued by the appellant that, under the conceded facts, the supreme court of New York was without jurisdiction by reason of the fact that the contract was not a New York contract. Section 1780 of the New York Code of Civil Procedure provides as follows:
“. . . An action against a foreign corporation may be maintained by another foreign corporation, or by a non-resident, in one of the following cases only:
“1. Where the action is brought to recover damages for the breach of á contract made within the state . . .”
It is .argued by the appellant that this contract was either a contract made in the state of Washington, or in the state of Florida, because apparently the contract was to be performed in the state of Florida upon property located in that state. But we think this does not necessarily follow. It is conceded by the appellant that an action upon an insurance policy is transitory in its nature. It is true that the goods upon which the policy was issued to the insured were located in the state of Florida. It does not necessarily follow that the
It is next argued that the court erred in holding that the appellant appeared in the action in the state of New York. It is conceded that Mr. Raphael appeared in the case on behalf of the appellant. The evidence is not clear that the Eastern General Agency, Inc., had authority to employ an attorney in the case. But, under the rule above stated, to the effect that recitals in the judgment must be overcome by the party attacking the judgment, it follows that it was necessary for the appellant to show that Mr. Raphael was not authorized to appear in that case. We think this rule has not been met in this case. It is true, the president of the Eastern General Agency, Inc., testified that he had no recollection of employing Mr. Raphael in that particular case. Yet he testified that he authorized him to appear in a number of cases arising out of this particular risk. But whether the president of that company employed Mr. Raphael or not, we
From what we have said on the first two points, it follows that the judgment entered in the state of New York was a valid and subsisting judgment.
The judgment appealed from is therefore affirmed.
Crow, C. J., Parker, Morris, and Fullerton, JJ., concur.
Reference
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- Kline Brothers & Company v. North Coast Fire Insurance Company
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- Evidence—Presumptions—Judgment. It is presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the judgment of a court of general jurisdiction is regular, and its recitals are prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. Insurance—Policy—Place of Execution and Delivery. A contract of insurance was made, executed, and delivered in the state of New York, where an insurance company of this state furnished blank contracts to its agent in New York authorized to issue .the contract and countersign and make it valid, and to collect the premium and deliver the policy, all of which it did in the state of New York. Corporations—Foreign Corporations—Actions—Right to Maintain. Under N. Y. Civ. Code of Procedure, § 1780, providing that a foreign corporation may maintain an action against another for breach of a contract made within the state of New York, the courts of that state have jurisdiction of an action between foreign corporations upon a policy of insurance issued, executed and delivered in the state of New York. Judgment—Actions—Burden of Proof. Where a judgment of a court of general jurisdiction in a foreign state recited an appearance on behalf of the defendant, it is necessary for the defendant to show that the attorney making the appearance did so without authority. Judgment — Foreign Judgment—’Acquiescence — Attorney and Client—Appearance—Authority. Where, in an action against a foreign corporation, the service on its agent was good, and the defendant had notice of the pendency of the action, and that a certain attorney was appearing for it, but did nothing to renounce the appearance or to prevent a threatened default which the attorney suffered because of nonpayment of his fees, the appearance was authorized by acquiescence, and the default judgment was valid.