Wisconsin Mirror Plate Co. v. Fidelity & Deposit Co.
Wisconsin Mirror Plate Co. v. Fidelity & Deposit Co.
Opinion of the Court
The trial court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint because it appeared that the defalcation had all occurred after the dissolution of the partnership. The court
When the defendant company signed the surety bond in suit it became responsible for the acts of the two individuals who made up the partnership. When mirrors were shipped or consigned to this partnership an inchoate liability on the bond arose which was not discharged until the mirrors had been paid for as required by the contract. The bond assured the plaintiff that both of the individuals that made up the partnership would fulfil the obligations of their contract with the plaintiff by faithfully accounting for all mirrors consigned to them. Even if all the mirrors shipped after the dissolution of the partnership had been converted to his own use by Mr. Mitchell, there would still remain mirrors of a value much in excess of the penal sum of the bond which were shipped while the partners were acting as agents of the plaintiff and while Mitchell and Huff were still conducting the agency as partners, and the plaintiff had the right to rely upon the assurance given by this bond that the individuals that made up the partnership would fulfil their contract and that neither of the partners would wrongfully convert these mirrors to his own use.
From the fact that $9,800 in value of mirrors were converted, while only about $1,000 in value of mirrors were shipped after the dissolution of the partnership, it follows that mirrors in excess of $5,000, the penal sum of the bond,
By the Court. — The judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded with directions to enter judgment in accordance with this opinion.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wisconsin Mirror Plate Company v. Fidelity & Deposit Company of Maryland
- Status
- Published