Anderson v. Arpin Hardwood Lumber Co.

110 N.W. 788, 131 Wis. 34, 1907 Wisc. LEXIS 176
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 19, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 110 N.W. 788 (Anderson v. Arpin Hardwood Lumber Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anderson v. Arpin Hardwood Lumber Co., 110 N.W. 788, 131 Wis. 34, 1907 Wisc. LEXIS 176 (Wis. 1907).

Opinion

Marshall, J.

The Tuling against appellant’s motion for a change of the place of trial from Eau Claire county to Wood county involves an important practice question, which must be solved by the statutes governing the matter without much M-d from judicial authorities. Such statutes provide [39]*39that the proper place for the trial of a civil action against a corporation of the sort to which appellant belongs is in “the county in which it is situated or has its principal office or place of business, or in which the cause of action or some part thereof arose” — sec. 2619, Stats. (1898)'; and that “when the county designated in the summons or complaint in any action is not the proper place of trial thereof the defendant may, within twenty days after the service of the complaint, serve upon the attorney for the plaintiff a demand in writing that the trial be had within the proper county, specifying it, unless there be more than one such county, and the reason therefor that “within five days after service of such demand the plaintiff’s attorney may serve a written consent that the place of trial be changed, and specify to what county, having the option to name one of two or more in which it may be, properly triable, and such consent shall change the place of trial accordingly and that “if the plaintiff’s consent he not so served the defendant may, within twenty days after the service of his demand, move to change the place of trial, and shall have costs if his motion be granted.” Sec. 2621, Stats. (1898).

Thus it will be seen that the prime essential to a compulsory change of the place of trial of this action was a statutory demand. That contemplates opportunity on the part of the plaintiff to make the change by merely serving a written consent in general terms when there is but one “proper county,” and by such a consent coupled with a choice where there is more than one such county. A motion and order is only contingently necessary. The demand and the consent, as it has been said, work a change ipso facto. Woodward v. Hanchett, 52 Wis. 482, 9 N. W. 468. A motion is only necessary in case consent is not given in the maimer the statute provides, and is only proper when the statutory basis therefor has been laid by service of a proper demand.

It will readily be seen, and is freely conceded, that the proper place for the trial of such an action as this is not con[40]*40fined to tbe county where Hie corporation is situated or lias its principal office or place of business, but it extends to tbe county, or counties, where the-cause of action or any part thereof arose. So a demand for a change of the place of trial to the home of the corporation was not obligatory unless the cause of action wholly arose there, which we may well say in passing is not claimed. It also seems quite plain that the statute contemplates the making of a demand sufficiently broad to show that the county where the action was brought is not the nor a proper county and containing such statements as to enable plaintiff to phrase his consent to a change with reference to the or any proper county.

The words “the proper county” are material and should be embodied in the demand. They, by themselves, suggest that the county where the action was brought is not the county in which the corporation is situated or it has its principal office or place of business, or in which the cause of action or some part thereof arose. The words “the reason therefor” relate directly to the words “the proper county.” They, therefore, call for a statement in the demand not only showing why the county where the action was brought was not the proper place for the trial, but considered with reference to what follows, as to consent and choice, for a statement of why the particular county to which the change is demanded is the proper place for the trial, or, in case of there being more than one county, for a statement of the reasons and disclosing the names of such counties.

It is considered that any other construction of the statute than the one suggested would not enable both parties to an action to obtain the full benefit of the plan for changing the place of trial thereof without judicial interference. The words “specifying, it, unless there be more than one such county” do not signify, it is thought, that the proper place for the trial is not required to be disclosed in the demand, except in case of there being but one such place, but suggest that where there- is -but one proper county the demand should be [41]*41for a change thereto. TRe scReme taken as a whole, as indicated, contemplates a disclosure Rj tRe defendant of every fact required to Re placed Refore tRe plaintiff’s attorney in order for Rim to respond to tRe demand within tRe full scope of Ris privilege. So the form of the demand should Re'that the trial be Rad within the proper county, to wit: the county of -, ‘followed by a statement of why that is the only proper county, or, where there is more than one such county, followed by a statement in accordance with what we Rave said. TRe significance of the words “the proper county” does not seem to have been recognized by Mr. Bryant in Ris work on Code Practice, as indicated at page 83, which seems to Rave been followed. Other standard works on practice under statutes similar to ours phrase the demand as we Rave indicated. 1 Estee, Pleadings (4th ed.) § 59; Winslow, Forms, § 1802.

Applying the foregoing here the demand was insufficient. It required the trial to be Rad in Wood county because the corporation and its principal office and place of business were situated therein. TRe omission of the words “the proper county” suggested that Wood county was not the sole proper place for trial. TRe demand at best only disclosed that such county was a proper place for the trial.' It did not in any way suggest that there were not other such counties, including Eau Claire county. It might well be that the corporation was situated and Rad its principal office and place of business in Wood county and that the cause of action or some part thereof arose in Eau Claire or some other county. TRe demand not being an efficient compliance with the statute, the service thereof did not require plaintiff’s attorneys to respond thereto, nor did such service create a legitimate basis for the motion which was denied. That.is supported by decisions elsewhere under statutes similar to ours. Vt. Cent. R. Co. v. Northern R. Co. 6 How. Pr. 106; Van Dyck v. McQuade, 18 Hun, 376; Estrada v. Orena, 54 Cal. 407; Byrne v. Byrne, 57 Cal. 348; Warner v. Warner, 100 Cal. 11, 17, 34 Pac. 523.

Appellant’s bookkeeper, Mr. Whitney, Raving testified to [42]*42the total payment to respondent, as to which according to such testimony there was no controversy, was called as a witness for the latter and under objection was allowed to testify to the-amount thereof represented by the wages of respondent’s employees, notwithstanding the witnéss stated he had no knowledge of the subject except what he gathered from the hooks and from a statement prepared by him therefrom. No suggestion is made by the learned counsel for appellant that such evidence was prejudicial, and we are unable to- discover that it was. Moreover, the record shows the witness had testified, without objection, that he paid the men as requested by respondent and charged the amoufits accordingly. Such being the case it was competent for him to testify to the aggregate of the payments, refreshing his memory from his books, which it seems is what occurred. In such cases it is not necessary to put the memoranda in evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
110 N.W. 788, 131 Wis. 34, 1907 Wisc. LEXIS 176, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anderson-v-arpin-hardwood-lumber-co-wis-1907.