State Bank of Morristown v. Labs

275 N.W.2d 37, 1979 Minn. LEXIS 1367
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 12, 1979
DocketNo. 48267
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 275 N.W.2d 37 (State Bank of Morristown v. Labs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Bank of Morristown v. Labs, 275 N.W.2d 37, 1979 Minn. LEXIS 1367 (Mich. 1979).

Opinion

YETKA, Justice.

This is an appeal by defendant Martin C. Labs from an order of the Rice County District Court granting defendant Henry Nagel’s motion for judgment against defendant Labs and from judgment entered on June 7, 1977, in the amount of $3,118.99. We affirm.

On July 1, 1970, plaintiff State Bank of Morristown (hereinafter Bank) served a summons and complaint upon defendant Martin Labs, appellant herein, and on July 2, 1970, the Bank served a summons and complaint upon defendant Henry Nagel, respondent herein. The action was brought to enforce payment of a past due promissory note executed by the parties on or about November 3, 1969.

On July 22, 1970, Nagel mailed to the Bank an answer to the above complaint, a counterclaim against the Bank,1 and a cross-claim for indemnification against Labs. The same pleadings were served on Labs on July 29, 1970.

Labs did not respond to either summons and complaint, and on October 15,1970, the district court ordered that, since defendant Labs was in default, judgment be entered for the Bank against Labs. Judgment was entered on October 19, 1970, in the amount of $2,963.47.

The cause of action between the Bank and Nagel proceeded to trial without a jury, and on December 30, 1970, the court ordered judgment for the Bank against Henry Nagel, finding that Nagel had “signed the note as an accommodation maker” and was therefore liable to the Bank.2 The trial court also ordered judgment for Nagel against Labs, finding that Nagel was “entitled to be indemnified by Martin Labs on the cross-claim for all amounts paid by defendant Nagel to plaintiff.” After a hearing on Nagel’s motion for amended findings of fact or, in the alternative, a new trial and his objection to the Bank’s taxation of costs and disbursements, the judgment for the Bank against Nagel was entered on March 17,1971, in the amount of $3,308.51.3

In November 1976, Nagel issued garnishment summonses to two debtors of Labs. Labs challenged this action on the ground that Nagel was not a judgment creditor of Labs because the judgment for Nagel against Labs had never been entered. Although Nagel had filed affidavits of no answer, of identification, and of nonmilitary status of defendant on January 6,1971, he had never requested the clerk to enter the judgment against Labs ordered by the court on December 30, 1970. Prompted by Labs’ challenge, Nagel requested entry of the judgment, and it was entered by the clerk of court on December 8, 1976, in the amount of $3,308.51. According to the record, which is far from clear on this point, [39]*39this amount was entered at the direction (apparently oral) of Nagel’s attorney. In late December 1976, Nagel served a notice of motion for order to show cause on Labs, Labs’ attorney, and the garnishees.4 The hearing on this motion was set for January 14, 1977. At that hearing, Labs served a notice of motion to vacate the judgment entered on December 8, 1976, and on January 24, 1977, Labs served notice of motion to dismiss the garnishment summonses issued in November 1976. On February 3, 1977, Nagel issued a garnishment summons to a debtor of Labs. On March 4, 1977, Labs’ attorney moved to dismiss this summons, alleging that Nagel did not have a valid money judgment against Labs. On March 25, 1977, the district court granted Labs’ motion to dismiss the garnishment summons, reasoning, in part, that because the court did not order a specific money award in favor of Nagel, Nagel did not have a court-ordered judgment that could be enforced by execution.

On March 31,1977, Nagel served notice of motion for an order entering judgment against Labs in the amount of $2,340.67. This motion was heard on April 18, 1977, and on May 10,1977, the court ordered that judgment be entered for Nagel against Labs.5 Upon the filing by Nagel of a bill of costs and disbursements, to which Labs made no objection, judgment was entered for Nagel against Labs on June 7, 1977, in the amount of $3,118.99.6

The issues on this appeal are:

1. Where a judgment entered pursuant to an order of the district court against the maker of a promissory note in favor of an accommodation signer fails to state the amount of indemnity due the accommodation signer, is the judgment thereby entered void of itself?

2. Is the entry of a subsequent judgment specifying the amount due a “second” judgment?

3. Can appellant properly raise the defense of laches for the first time on appeal?

1. In the memorandum accompanying its order of March 25, 1977, the district court stated that “Nagel does not have a Court-ordered judgment which can be enforced by execution, as there is no specific money award in favor of Nagel.” Rule 55.01(2), Rules of Civil Procedure, requires that—

“* * * the party entitled to a judgment by default shall apply to the court therefor. * * * If the action be one for the recovery of money only, the court shall ascertain, by a reference or otherwise, the amount to which the plaintiff is entitled, and order judgment therefor.”

It is clear from the record that respondent did not comply with this rule when he applied for entry of the judgment entered on December 8, 1976. As a result, that judgment was not enforceable. This court has consistently held, however, that judgments improperly entered by the clerk are not, for that reason alone, void. Sommers v. Thomas, 251 Minn. 461, 466, 88 N.W.2d 191, 195 (1958) (citing Slater v. Olson, 83 Minn. 35, 85 N.W. 825 (1901)).

The appropriate remedy for entry of an unauthorized judgment is a motion under Rule 60, Rules of Civil Procedure, to correct the entry. 2 Hetland & Adamson, Minnesota Practice, Civil Rules Ann., p. 551. Although respondent’s motion was not specifically framed as a motion to correct under Rule 60, it was intended to achieve the same result as such a motion. Rule 1, Rules of Civil Procedure, states that the rules “shall be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” The rules thus “reflect a well-considered policy to discourage technicalities and form.” Love v. Anderson, 240 [40]*40Minn. 312, 314, 61 N.W.2d 419, 421 (1953). In light of these policies, it was appropriate for the district court to treat respondent’s motion as a motion under Rule 60.

2. Appellant’s contention that the judgment entered on June 7, 1977, is a “second judgment” and his reliance on Morehart v. Furley, 152 Minn. 388, 188 N.W. 1001 (1922), are inapt. The Morehart opinion states that once a plaintiff has litigated his claim(s) and entered a judgment, he must abide by that judgment both as to claims he might have raised in the action and as to claims actually raised. The plaintiff cannot go back into court to seek judgment on claims that should have been litigated in the original action but that he neglected to pursue. Id. at 390, 188 N.W. at 1001-02. Such is not the case here. Respondent does not seek to litigate issues that should have been raised in the original action. The issue raised by the motion for entry of judgment, the amount to which appellant is entitled, could not

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
275 N.W.2d 37, 1979 Minn. LEXIS 1367, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-bank-of-morristown-v-labs-minn-1979.