Naylor-Collins Co. v. Leaverton

40 S.W.2d 192, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1171
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 27, 1931
DocketNo. 3594.
StatusPublished

This text of 40 S.W.2d 192 (Naylor-Collins Co. v. Leaverton) 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
Naylor-Collins Co. v. Leaverton, 40 S.W.2d 192, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1171 (Tex. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

RANDOLPH, J.

The following statement of the nature and result of suit is taken in the main from ap-pellee’s brief:

• On April 11,1929, Naylor-Collins Company, alleging itself to be a Texas' corporation of Wichita Falls, Tex., filed in the district court of Lubbock county, Tex., its original petition against the appellee, basing its suit on only an open account with an alleged balance of $1,967.41. No mention is made in this petition of any contract and the statement of the alleged account is attached to the original petition.

On June 25, 1929, the City National Bank of Wichita Falls, Tex., as intervener, filed in this suit a pleading which is called an “inter-pleader,” in which it is alleged that before the commencement of this suit the plaintiff had assigned its alleged open account to the bank and at the time of its interpleading the bank was the owner of the account. It further alleged that the suit filed by Naylor-Collins Company against Leaverton had been collusively instituted and prosecuted by Nay-lor-Collins Company, at the request of the defendant Leaverton, with the intent to defraud the creditors of Leaverton and especially the bank, and that at the time of the filing of the suit, the said account was not the account of Naylor-Collins Company, and at the time of the. filing of the interpleader,' was not its property, but that the bank was the owner of the account by reason of the assignment. The Naylor-Collins Company and the bank were represented by the same attorney in the filing of these pleadings and throughout the suit.

On March 5, 1930, the Naylor-Collins Company and the Wichita bank joined in a pleading which is indorsed “Plaintiffs’ Amended Petition,” but which does not appear in the body of the petition to be an amendment of any sort proceeding as an original petition. In this pleading the open account in favor of Naylor-Collins Company against Leaverton for a balance of $1,967.41 was again alleged. The pleading then alleges that on September 22, 1928, the account was assigned by Naylor-Collins Company to the Wichita bank. The petition further alleges that on January 21, 1929, the Wichita bank reassigned the account to Naylor-Collins Company, and that at the .time of the filing of this pleading the bank was not claiming any interest in the account because of said assignment. It proceeds further, however, to allege that on April 30, 1929, which was after the original petition of Naylor-Collins Company had been filed, and before the original interpleader of the bank had been filed, the Naylor-Collins Company, by a deed, had transferred and conveyed to the bank all the assets of the Naylor-Collins Company, including the good will, *193 franchise, planing-mill, real estate, choses in action, and other tangible assets then belonging to the Naylor-Collins Company,, and that at the time of the filing of this joint petition the bank was the holder and owner of all such assets, including the account sued upon. It further alleged that by reason of such conveyances and by virtue of its ownership of the assets of the Naylor-Collins Company, the bank was entitled to recover from Leaverton judgment for the alleged balance due on same. This document went on to state that in the event the court should find that by the transfer of all of its assets, the Naylor-Collins Company had ceased to retain its corporate identity, then .the plaintiff bank, being the owner and holder of all of said assets, was entitled to maintain this action and entitled to a judgment against Leaverton. It alleged that the account referred to was the outgrowth of a contract between Leaverton and Naylor-Collins Company, a copy of which was attached to this joint pleading. A copy of the deed of conveyance from Naylor-Collins Company to the bank was also attached to this joint pleading.

. Just two days before this joint pleading had been filed, Leaverton, on March 2, 1930, filed his first amended answer' in response to plaintiff’s original petition, the original plea of intervention or interpleader filed by the bank and the pleading of the American Window Company, which had in the meantime been interpleaded by Leaverton and had answered in the suit. Leaverton denied the account under oath and alleged his contract with Naylor-Collins Company, by which contract Naylor-Collins Company had agreed to furnish all millwork for the Texas Technological College Chemistry Building, said mill-work to he furnished according to the plans and as described in specifications under the heading of “millwork,” prepared by the architect of the building. He alleged that the plans and specifications under the heading of “millwork,” as referred to, provided that the windows were to be equipped with American Window Company hardware. The defendant Leaverton further alleged that the Naylor-Collins Company had violated many provisions of its contract with reference to properly manufacturing the material, and that Naylor-Collins Company 'had failed and refused to deliver some of the material and had delivered wrong kinds of material, and that Leaverton had been required, by reason of .such failures on the part of the Naylor-Collins Company, to furnish material and labor, the value of which more than offset the balance claimed to be due on the account; he also alleged that by reason of the contract, the Naylor-Collins Company was liable for the debt alleged to be due to the American Window Company; he denied under oath any debt due by 'him to the American Window Company, and asked that his damages incurred by reason of Naylor-Collins Company’s default be offset against the debt alleged'by Naylor-Collins Company; he also alleged that Waples-Platter Company was claiming an assignment of the account sued upon and made that company a party to the suit.

This company later disclaimed any interest in the subject-matter .and no further mention need be made of it.

On March 5, 1930, the American Window Company filed an answer in response to the pleadings of Leaverton, Naylor-Collins Company, and the bank, in which pleading it alleged a debt of $1,054 to be owing it by Lea-verton by reason only of a sale of its merchandise to Leaverton at his special instance and request. It alleged that it had furnished Leaverton its prices on its material, and that thereafter Leaverton had ordered goods from it, and that the goods had been sold and delivered to Leaverton on this order of Leaver-ton. There is an attempt in this pleading to allege an implied obligation on the part of Leaverton to pay it the sum sued for.

After all of these pleadings had been filed in this ease, Leaverton, in response to all of them, filed on October 13, 1930, his second amended original answer, denying under oath any account in favor of any of the parties. He again alleged his contract with Naylor-Collins Company. He alleged in detail each item of expense which he had necessarily incurred in performing work and furnishing material, which Naylor-Collins Company had contracted to perform and furnish, alleging the actual cost and the reasonable and customary market value. He also alleged delays which damaged him and the amount in which he was damaged.

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Bluebook (online)
40 S.W.2d 192, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/naylor-collins-co-v-leaverton-texapp-1931.