Downing v. . Marshall

37 N.Y. 380
New York Court of Appeals·Decided September 5, 1867·Published·Cited by 68 cases

Opinion

Our attention is specially directed to the exceptions touching the extra allowances of costs and counsel fees in this case.

When the case was first in the Supreme Court, there were allowed, in addition to taxable costs: to the plaintiffs or their attorneys, $500; to James E. Marshall, $250; Benjamin Marshall and others, $250; the Bible society, $250; the *Page 381 Missionary society, $250; the Tract society, $250; the Marshall infirmary $250; to the attorney and guardian ad litem of infants, who put in an answer submitting their rights to the court, $250 — in all, $2,250.

These sums were allowed by the judgment now under review, and additions made thus: to the attorneys of the executors, $2,500; to the attorneys of the Marshalls, $2,000; to the attorney of the Marshall infirmary, $1,500; to the attorney of the Bible society, $1,500; to the attorney for the Missionary society, $1,000; to the attorney of the Tract society, $1,000 — in all, $12,250.

The taxed costs of all the parties, including those in this court, amount to $2,849.93, making, in all, aside from the costs in this court upon the present appeal, $15,099.92.

The trustees are ordered to pay these sums out of the estate, one-half from the realty, and the other from the personalty.

By the common law costs were not awardable. They were, however, recoverable, in many actions at law, as early as the thirteenth century. (2 Coke's Inst. 112; Statute of Marleborough, chap. 6, id. p. 288; Statute of Gloucester, whereof Coke says: "Before this statute, at the common law, no man recovered any costs of suit, either in plea, real, personal or mixed;" 6 Vin. Ab. 321, Costs.)

By a statute of the 17 Richard II, chap. 6, it was enacted that "forasmuch as people can be compelled to come before the King's Council, or in chancery, by writs granted upon untrue suggestions, that the chancellor, for the time being, personally, after that such suggestions being duly found and proved untrue, shall have power to ordain and allow damages, according to his discretion, to him which is so troubled unduly, as often is said." (Beames on Ch. Costs, 4; 4 Inst., 82, where Coke says: "This is the first Parliament that I find touching the matter." He is treating of the Court of Chancery.) It is understood by Beames, supra (and see 2 Bl. Com. 451, and Coke, supra), that the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery touching costs originated in this statute. It was construed as authorizing the award of "damages" *Page 382 (construed as including costs) to either party, and in any amount, according to the discretion of the court, and thesedamages were awarded sometimes as a remuneration to the successful party, and sometimes as a punishment to the unsuccessful party. In one case, for scandal in bill, the gross sum of £ 100 was directed to be paid, and in another the like sum, for scandal in an answer. (Vin. Ab., Costs in Chancery, v. 6, p. 364, 365.)

The practice of punishing a party, by ordering the payment of a gross sum, or exemplary costs, was discontinued at an early day, from the intrinsic difficulties of conviction (Beames on Eq. Costs, 164); and the court, after a time, regulated the amount of costs, and for what services they should be allowed, by general orders, and thus established a fee bill of costs between party and party, which is adhered to except in special cases, when the court will order the costs to be taxed as between solicitor and client.

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Downing v. . Marshall, 37 N.Y. 380 (N.Y. 1867).

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