Conyers v. Fisher

4 Tenn. App. 127, 1926 Tenn. App. LEXIS 171
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 23, 1926
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 4 Tenn. App. 127 (Conyers v. Fisher) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Conyers v. Fisher, 4 Tenn. App. 127, 1926 Tenn. App. LEXIS 171 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

CROWNOVER, J.

This was an action to recover $162.50 for services in auditing the books of Elrod & Conyers, a co-partnership composed of A. L. Elrod and J. A. Conyers, road contractors.

This action was commenced before a Justice of the Peace and appealed to the circuit court, where it was tried by the trial judge without a jury and resulted in a judgment for $162.50 and costs in favor of the plaintiff below and against the defendants. But upon motion the court amended the judgment by striking out “the defendants ’ ’ and entering judgment against J. A. Conyers alone.

The defendant, Conyers, moved the court for a new trial on the following’ grounds: (1) Because the judgment was against the weight of the evidence. (2) Because under the evidence the plaintiff is not entitled to judgment, against the firm of Elrod & Conyers .nor against defendant, Conyers, individually. (3) Because of newly discovered evidence.

The court overruled said motion and the defendant has appealed in error to this court, and has assigned errors as follows: (1) The court erred in rendering judgment against plaintiff in error because there was no evidence to support the judgment of the court. (2) The court erred in overruling plaintiffs in error motion for a new trial.

Under these two assignments of error the plaintiff in error raises four propositions, and insists that the partnership had been dissolved before the employment and that he is not liable for the account, because:

(1) The employment to make the audit was a new obligation.

(2) The credit was extended to Elrod, personally, and not to the firm.

(3) The plaintiff in error opposed the audit and made it known to defendant in error before the audit was commenced.

(4) The partnership had no assets and that Elrod was insolvent and had no implied authority to bind the partnership after dissolution.

As a preliminary proposition we will state that the assignments of error are not sufficient. The first assignment is not well made be *129 cause tbe error assigned is not set out in tbe motion for a new trial. It is essential in order to preserve tbe right to assign errors in tbe appellate court, to set out in tbe motion, errors tbat occurred at and during tbe trial on the facts, but not errors that occurred before the trial in tbe rulings upon pleadings. The trial court cannot be put in error by objections tbat were not drawn to bis attention and are raised in the appellate court for tbe first time. See, opinions of this court in tbe cases of J. B. Pepper v. Gainesboro Telephone Company, 1 Tenn. App. Rep., 175, Tennessee Brokerage Co. v. C. L. Larkin, 1 Tenn. App. Rep., 276; Railway v. Johnson, 114 Tenn., 632.

As will be observed tbe motion for a new trial is not based upon the fact tbat there was no evidence to support the judgment.

Tbe second, assignment of error, ‘ ‘ tbat tbe court erred in overruling tbe motion for a new trial” is too general. See, Thurman v. Bradford, 3 Hig., 474.

However, we have examined tbe record on tbe four propositions above insisted upon and we do not think tbat -they are well taken.

A. L. Elrod and J. A. Conyers entered into a co-partnership, in the name of Elrod & Conyers, for tbe purpose of making a contract with tbe State Highway Department for tbe construction of a highway in Warren county. Tbe partnership was entered into in tbe year, 1923, and they worked together until some time in October, 1924, when the job was completed and tbe partnership dissolved by limitation of time, with the exception tbat the State owed tbe partnership a balance which had not been collected. Conyers kept the books and Elrod was dissatisfied with the way the books had been kept, and they had not made a final settlement. Conyers had advanced $2,000 to the firm to complete the work and insisted that the balance due the firm by the State Highway Department should be paid to him. Elrod objected. It should be stated that after the partnership had completed the highway in Warren county that Conyers then entered into a new contrct, individually, to build a part of- the highway in Carroll county, while Elrod had entered into a contract to build a highway in Sumner county. Neither of these former partners was interested in the other’s contract.

Sometime in January, 1925, Elrod’s brother went to Huntingdon and examined the books, and seemed to be satisfied with them. But, later Elrod employed the defendant in error, who lived at Nashville, to go to Hungtingdon and make an audit of the books. He accompanied Fisher down there and Fisher did the work for which he charged $162.50, and gave each of the partners copies of his" report. He said that lie did the work for the firm and charged the firm for his services. Sometime later he sent the account to Elrod but it was *130 not paid and then he wrote to Conyers, who refused to pay it, and this suit resulted. He has sued A. L. Elrod and J. A. Conyers under the firm name of Elrod and Conyers, but judgment was rendered against Conyers alone, because it was not shown that Elrod was served with process.

It is now insisted that Elrod personally employed the defendant in error to audit the books and credit was extended to Elrod and not to the firm. The trial judge held that credit was extended to the firm. Is there any evidence to support the judgment?

Under the Uniform Partnership Act of 1917, chapter 140, section 9, every partner is an agent of the partnership for the purpose of its business, and the act of every partner done for apparently carrying on in the usual way the business of the partnership binds the partnership unless the partner so acting has in fact no authority to act for the partnership in the particular matter and the person with whom he is dealing has knowledge of that fact.

This act is declaratory of the common law which was that a partnership is bound by the acts of the partner within the scope of the partnership business, on the ground of implied agency, but any partner may put an end to such authority with respect to new obligations by giving notice that as to some particular matter he will not be bound by his partner’s acts. See, Bank v. Mason, 139 Tenn.. 662; 30 Cyc., 481-2.

A firm is not liable for contracts made by a partner in his individual capacity and not in the character of an agent of the firm, simply because the contract is applied to the use of or inures to the benefit of the firm. See, 30 Cyc., 483-4; Bank v. Mason, supra; Bank v. Day, 12 Heisk., 413; Bancroft v. Snodgrass, 1 Cold., 430.

Fisher testified that he did the work for the partnership and when he completed it he gave a copy of his report to each one; that he charged the account against A. L. Elrod and J. A. Conyers and was expecting the firm to pay him for his services. The partners settled on his report and Conyers collected the balance due the firm by the State Highway Department and Elrod released his claim thereto. We think that this is some evidence to support the judgment.

It is next insisted that Conyers opposed the audit, and gave notice of his dissent to Fisher before the work was done.

The court held that Conyers was liable, thereby impliedly holding that Conyers did not revoke Elrod’s implied agency to represent the partnership.

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Bluebook (online)
4 Tenn. App. 127, 1926 Tenn. App. LEXIS 171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/conyers-v-fisher-tennctapp-1926.