Leyhe v. McNamara

230 S.W. 450, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 195
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 26, 1921
DocketNo. 8505.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 230 S.W. 450 (Leyhe v. McNamara) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leyhe v. McNamara, 230 S.W. 450, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 195 (Tex. Ct. App. 1921).

Opinion

TALBOT, J.

This action was brought by the plaintiff to recover a half interest in all the assets of the partnership alleged to have existed between the plaintiff and defendant, and for a partition thereof.

The plaintiff charges in his petition that about the 1st of September, 1915, he entered into a copartnership with the defendant un *451 der the name and style of Leyhe Piano Company ; that they had accumulated assets, consisting of pianos, phonographs and miscellaneous musical instruments, and of notes secured by mortgages pledged with piano dealers and factories, and of money on hand, furniture, and fixtures, aggregating $20,000; that on the 11th day of February, 1918, defendant repudiated the partnership, and denied that plaintiff had any interest in the assets, and that he feared the defendant was converting a considerable portion thereof to his own use by delivering them to his wife; that the defendant is insolvent, and he fears will continue to place his assets in the name and under the control of his wife. He prayed that he be awarded a half interest in the assets of said partnership, and that they be sold for the purpose of partition, and that a receiver be appointed pending this action to take charge of and preserve said assets; that the receiver be authorized to collect the debts due the firm and manage and conserve all said assets pending suit, with the authority to employ counsel for the purpose of instituting suits if necessary, and to take possession of all the partnership property whenever situated, and to manage, control, and dispose of the same under the order and direction of the court, so that in the final hearing the interest may be partitioned and divided and said partnership dissolved, and that defendant may be required to make an accounting of said partnership, and for general relief.

On the 25th day of March, 1918, defendant filed his answer to the -plaintiff’s petition, asking for a receiver, in which he denied under oath the existence of any partnership with the plaintiff, and he averred that he had been engaged in the piano business in the city of Dallas from the 1st day of September, 1915, under the trade-name and style of Leyhe Piano Company; that he alone is the owner of all the property used in said business and conducted in said name; that neither the plaintiff nor any other person has any interest in his stock in trade, notes, and accounts or any other property used in -said business, and conducted in said name; that the plaintiff had been in the employment of the defendant at a stipulated salary, but that he is not now and never was a partner of defendant; that the plaintiff is insolvent and unable to respond to the defendant in any action for damages which might accrue to him in case a receiver for his business is appointed, and defendant deprived of the possession of his property and interrupted-by such appointment. He demanded a trial of thé question of partnership before a jury, and for that purpose he paid the jury fee. He offered to execute a bond payable as the court should direct, conditioned to pay the plaintiff any sum found to be due him upon an adjustment of all partnership accounts in case it should be determined that any such relation ever existed between him and the plaintiff.

On the 16th day of March, 1918, the plaintiff filed a motion to require the defendant to file an inventory and appraisement of the partnership property and for an order restraining the defendant during the pendency of the suit from making any disposition of the assets of the partnership. The defendant filed his answer thereto, denying the existence of any partnership, and that he is in possession of any property belonging to said partnership. He alleges that he is entitled to file his answer in this case on the 2d day of April, 1917, and is not aware of any right that the plaintiff has to compel an answer of any character before the time allowed by law; that if the filing of an inventory becomes necessary, and the court directs the same to be filed, he will comply with its orders; that until an obligation rests upon him to file such pleading or statement he will decline to oblige the plaintiff by doing so; that if he is in possession of any facts which the plaintiff has any inclination to investigate the statute affords him every facility for doing so by taking his deposition; that he has no property of any character except his individual property, in which the plaintiff has no interest or concern, and denies the right of the plaintiff to have any exhibit of his property.

No action was taken upon the plaintiff’s application for the appointment of a receiver until the 31st day of March, 1920, when this cause was regularly reached for trial, and both parties announced ready. The case was submitted to a jury upon three special issues; and in determining those issues the jury found that a partnership did exist between the plaintiff and defendant from the 1st day of September, 1915, to the 10th day of February, 1918; that on the 10th day of February, 1918, plaintiff was excluded from active participation in the business . of the Leyhe Piano Company by defendant; that the agreement between the parties under which business was conducted was not committed to writing by W. A. Rhea, attorney.

Judgment was rendered upon the findings of the jury, declaring the existence of a partnership between the plaintiff and defendant under the name of the Leyhe Piano Company. A dissolution of said partnership was decreed. It was adjudged that plaintiff is the owner of an undivided one-half interest in all the moneys and assets of the Leyhe Piano Company, and that plaintiff should have a full accounting of t the business and affairs of said partnership. Harry Farracy was appointed receiver, and was authorized by the judgment to take charge of all moneys, bills, notes, accounts receivable, and *452 other property of the Ley he Piano Company, and sell all of the same for cash for the best prices obtainable, and to take charge of all books of account kept by the plaintiff or defendant, or any one employed by them to investigate and determine the accounts between the plaintiff and defendant, and determine the amount that each is entitled to as equal owners from the profits ’realized from the business conducted by the partnership, and to file with the court an inventory of all property taken charge of by him as such receiver, and a full and complete report of all sales made by him, and receipts therefrom, and of the amounts due and owing by said partnership, and to said partnership ; that said receiver should act under the direction's of the court, and such orders as might from time to time be made by the court. The bond of the receiver is fixed at 11,000. The defendant is adjudged to pay all the costs, and execution is awarded to the officers of the court for the costs incurred by each respectively. The defendant made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and he perfected an appeal to this court.

The first assignment of error is as follows:

“Said cause came on for trial upon all the issues presented by the pleadings in the case and not upon the issue of partnership alone, as declared by the court in its judgment.”

The proposition contended for is:

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Related

Leyhe v. McNamara
243 S.W. 1074 (Texas Supreme Court, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 S.W. 450, 1921 Tex. App. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leyhe-v-mcnamara-texapp-1921.