Somers v. Harris

161 A.D. 230, 146 N.Y.S. 572, 1914 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9310
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedMarch 13, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 161 A.D. 230 (Somers v. Harris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Somers v. Harris, 161 A.D. 230, 146 N.Y.S. 572, 1914 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9310 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1914).

Opinion

Woodward, J.:

The complaint in this action alleges that the plaintiff and defendant entered into a copartnership in the year 1887 under [231]*231the firm name and style of “Geo. D. Harris & Co.” for the purpose of engaging in the business of buying and selling coal under an agreement which provided that the partners should co-operate in carrying on the business, and should divide the net profits upon the basis of four-ninths to the plaintiff and five-ninths to the defendant, and that upon a dissolution of the said partnership, after the payment of liabilities, the assets should be divided between them upon the same basis; that the plaintiff and defendant continued this arrangement until about the 1st day of January, 1903, when the defendant, over the protest of the plaintiff, ceased to co-operate in the management of the business, and he “did not thereafter materially assist in the conduct thereof. That the plaintiff continued to manage and conduct said business until on or about the 1st day of January, 1911, when, by the agreement of the parties, the said partnership was terminated. That at the time of the termination of the partnership, as above stated, the assets of the partnership, exclusive of such sums as maybe found due it from the defendant, were Of the value of about $274,257.56, and consisted of securities, cash in bank, bills receivable and office furniture. That at that time the partnership liabilities, exclusive of any liabilities which may be found due from it to the plaintiff, amounted to about the sum of $58,223.40; that since the termination of the partnership as above stated and prior to the commencement of this action, all the liabilities of said partnership, except such as may be found due from it to the plaintiff, have been paid, the defendant has received assets of said partnership of the value of $98,612.18, and the plaintiff has received assets of said partnership of the value of $50,368.13. That there remain undistributed, besides such sums as may he found due it from the defendant, assets of said partnership of the value of about $31,000, consisting of about $26,000 cash in bank, and office furniture and accounts receivable of the value of about $5,000; and an accounting is necessary to state and settle the affairs of said partnership and to ascertain accurately the interests of the parties. That the plaintiff’s interest in the remaining assets of said partnership is of the value of more than $25,000, and the defendant’s interest in the remaining assets off said partnership is of the value of less than [232]*232$6,000.” The relief demanded, so far as it has any bearing upon the questions here involved, was that the “ partnership be adjudged dissolved; that a receiver of the property of said partnership be appointed, with power to dispose of the same, and to collect all debts for the benefit of all parties entitled thereto; that an accounting be had of the partnership affairs; that the proceeds of the partnership assets be divided, after the payment of all just debts of said partnership, and the costs of this action and of such receivership, between the parties hereto, according to their respective rights.”

The answer substantially admits the allegations in reference' to the organization of the partnership, though putting it in the form of a denial; denies that the defendant ceased to co-operate in the conduct of the business between the years 1903 and 1911, and admits that the partnership was continued down to about the 1st day of January, 1911, “at which time said partnership was terminated by agreement between the parties; ” denies that he has knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the value of the assets, or the extent of the liabilities of the firm at the time of the dissolution; denies knowledge or information sufficient, to form a belief as to the amount of the assets' which the defendant or the plaintiff has received since the dissolution of the partnership, but admits that both have received some portion of the assets, and denies in a like manner knowledge of the amount of the assets due to the plaintiff or to the defendant. The defendant then joins in asking that the partnership be adjudged dissolved; that an accounting be had of the partnership affairs, and that the proceeds of the partnership assets be divided in the manner asked for by the plaintiff.

Where is the justification, under these pleadings, for finding that the defendant owes to the receiver of this copartnership the sum of $54,201.85 for the alleged good will of such partnership ? The principle still remains that the judgment to be rendered by any court must be secundum allegata et probata ; and this rule cannot be departed from without inextricable confusion and uncertainty and mischief in the administration of justice. Parties go to court to "try the issues made by the pleadings, and courts have no right impromptu to make new issues [233]*233for them, on the trial, to their surprise or prejudice, or found judgments on grounds not put in issue and distinctly and fairly litigated. (Wright v. Delafield, 25 N. Y. 266, 270.) The complaint alleges that at the time of the termination of the partnership on the 1st day of January, 1911, “the assets of the partnership, exclusive of such sums as may be found due it from the defendant, were of the value of about $274,257.56, and consisted of securities, cash in bank, bills receivable and office furniture, ” and the express mention of these items excludes the idea that the assets consisted of anything other or different from those mentioned, under the well-known maxim of expressio unius est exclusio alterius (Aultman & Taylor Co. v. Syme, 163 N. Y. 54, 57), or that they were substantially in excess of the amount named. Certainly up to the time of the dissolution of the partnership the defendant had taken no part of the good will. It is true that he had organized a corporation on the 22d day of December, 1910, for the purpose of dealing in coal, but the undisputed evidence is that this corporation did not commence doing business until the 1st day of January, 1911, at which time the plaintiff alleges, and the defendant admits, that “ by the agreement of the parties the said partnership was terminated.” It follows, therefore, that the clause of the complaint which declares the assets, “ exclusive of such sums as may be found due it from the defendant,” cannot be construed as an allegation that there was anything due from him as for good will on the 1st day of January, 1911, for at that time whatever of assets there were were in the custody and control of the partnership; the defendant had taken none of them away, nor had he appropriated any element of good will. The only fair and honest construction of the complaint is that it alleges that the assets of the partnership at the time of dissolution were “of the value of about $274,257.56, and consisted of securities, cash in bank, bills receivable and office furniture,” and such other amounts as the defendant might be found to he owing the partnership upon an accounting not for good will but for any sums which he might have withdrawn, and which were not included in the account. Indeed, it practically appears from the record that the plaintiff did not contemplate that his [234]*234action involved any question of good will, for the learned trial court, in its findings of fact, finds that “the plaintiff did not know that he had any rights with respect to the good will of the partnership of Geo. D. Harris & Co.

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Related

Engel v. Vernon
215 N.W.2d 506 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1974)
Somers v. Harris
163 A.D. 929 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1914)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
161 A.D. 230, 146 N.Y.S. 572, 1914 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 9310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/somers-v-harris-nyappdiv-1914.