Gambold v. MacLean

173 N.E. 220, 254 N.Y. 357, 1930 N.Y. LEXIS 1051
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 14, 1930
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 173 N.E. 220 (Gambold v. MacLean) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gambold v. MacLean, 173 N.E. 220, 254 N.Y. 357, 1930 N.Y. LEXIS 1051 (N.Y. 1930).

Opinion

Lehman, J.

The defendants have appealed as of right from a decision of the Appellate Division, modifying and *358 affirming, as modified, a final judgment, entered in the court below, after a decision of the Appellate Division which unanimously affirmed an interlocutory judgment. The notice of appeal to this court from the final judgment states that the appellants intend to bring up for review the interlocutory judgment of the Supreme Court and the decision of the Appellate Division affirming that judgment. The respondent moves to dismiss the appeal so far as it attempts to bring up for review the interlocutory judgment and the decision of the Appellate Division affirming that judgment on the ground that this court has no jurisdiction to review said interlocutory judgment, decision, * * * or judgment for the reason that the said Appellate Division by a unanimous decision affirmed the said interlocutory judgment * * * and that no appeal has been allowed either by the Appellate Division or * * * the Court of Appeals.”

The Constitution of the State (Art. VI, § 7) has defined the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals and the classes of cases in which an appeal may be taken, and it has provided that “ The Legislature may further restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals and the right of appeal thereto.” The Legislature in the Civil Practice Act, section 588, has provided for appeals in the classes of cases permitted by the Constitution. Other sections of the Civil Practice Act contain further provisions affecting appeals to this court. These sections cannot enlarge the constitutional restrictions upon the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals and the classes of cases in which an appeal may be taken. Limitations . contained in the definitions of the classes of cases in which an appeal may be taken to this court, embodied by the Legislature in section 588 of the Civil Practice Act, in obedience to the mandate of the Constitution, must be read into any other sections of that act which in terms authorize an appeal to this court. So we held in Sultzbach v. Sultzbach (238 N. Y. 353).

*359 Until a final judgment has been entered a judgment of the Appellate Division affirming an interlocutory judgment does not finally determine the action and no appeal to the Court of Appeals may be taken except “ where the Appellate Division allows the same.” (Civ. Prac. Act, § 588, subd. 4.) A complete determination of the validity of the final judgment entered in the court of original jurisdiction after the affirmance of the interlocutory judgment by the Appellate Division requires consideration of the correctness of both the interlocutory judgment and the proceedings taken after the interlocutory judgment has been affirmed by the Appellate Division. An appeal to the Appellate Division from a final judgment taken, after the interlocutory judgment has been affirmed, brings up for review “ only the proceedings to take the final judgment, or upon which the final judgment was taken.” (Civ. Prac. Act, § 619.) The Appellate Division may not again review the interlocutory judgment. If the aggrieved party complains only of the previous decision of the Appellate Division affirming the interlocutory judgment and seeks a review only of that decision, an appeal from the final judgment to the Appellate Division would be without purpose, except to create a conduit by which the decision of the Appellate Division, affirming the interlocutory judgment, might be brought to- this court for review. In such circumstances the aggrieved party may avoid the useless appeal to the Appellate Division by appealing from the final judgment directly to this court which then may review only the determination of the Appellate Division affirming the interlocutory judgment. (Civ. Prac. Act, § 590.)

Though the Constitution does not, in terms, permit an appeal direct to this court from a judgment of a court of first instance except as provided in article VI, section 7, subdivision 3, since upon an appeal to this court taken in accordance with section 590 of the Civil Practice Act, this court may review only the determination of the *360 Appellate Division, we have regarded the appeal as one taken from such a determination. It follows that the right to appeal is subject to the constitutional and statutory restrictions which apply to all appeals from a decision of the Appellate Division. Where the decision appealed from is a unanimous affirmance it may be taken only by leave either of the Appellate Division or the Court of Appeals. (Sultzbach v. Sultzbach, supra.)

In the.case now under consideration the aggrieved party has chosen to appeal to the Appellate Division from the final judgment. That court has reviewed the proceedings upon which the final judgment was taken and has modified the final judgment. From the judgment entered upon the decision of the Appellate Division the aggrieved party may appeal as of right to this court as he may appeal from any other judgment entered upon a decision of the Appellate Division which finally determines an action “ where the judgment * * * is one of reversal or modification.” (Civ. Frac. Act, § 588, subd. 1.) Concededly, no restriction upon the right to appeal to this court contained in statute or Constitution qualify or condition that right. The question presented here is not whether the defendants have a right to appeal from the judgment of modification without leave previously granted, but whether upon that appeal this court is precluded from reviewing the unanimous decision of the Appellate Division affirming the interlocutory judgment which forms the basis of the final judgment appealed from.

Though upon the appeal to the Appellate Division from the final judgment its review was limited to proceedings taken after the affirmance of the interlocutory judgment, it is expressly provided by section 603 of the Civil Practice Act that on an appeal to the Court of Appeals from the determination of the Appellate Division upon the appeal from the final judgment, the determination of the Appellate Division affirming the interlocutory judgment *361 * * * may, at the election of either party, be reviewed thereupon.” (See Redman v. Verplex Art Co., Inc., 237 N. Y. 475.) The right to elect to bring up for review an interlocutory determination of the Appellate Division, where an appeal is properly taken from a final judgment, is not expressly limited by any section of the Constitution or Civil Practice Act. We find no basis for any inference that the Legislature intended that limitations upon the right to take an appeal to this court are impliedly annexed to the right to bring up for review, upon an appeal from a final judgment, an interlocutory judgment which affects the validity of the final judgment. Certainly, nothing we said or decided in Sultzbach v. Sultzbach (supra) supports the respondent’s contentions.

The provisions of the Constitution and the Civil Practice Act which define the class of cases where an appeal may be taken by leave of the court are not in true sense restrictions upon the right of appeal, but are rather grants of such right.

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Bluebook (online)
173 N.E. 220, 254 N.Y. 357, 1930 N.Y. LEXIS 1051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gambold-v-maclean-ny-1930.