Thompson v. Denton

95 Ohio St. (N.S.) 333
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 13, 1917
DocketNo. 15188
StatusPublished

This text of 95 Ohio St. (N.S.) 333 (Thompson v. Denton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Denton, 95 Ohio St. (N.S.) 333 (Ohio 1917).

Opinion

Nichols, C. J.

In June, 1914, Joseph Thompson, a stockholder of The George W. McAlpin Co., of Cincinnati, filed his petition in the Hamilton county court of common pleas, seeking equitable relief, asking, first, that a receiver be appointed to take charge of and manage the property and assets of the corporation, and, second, that the court administer as a trust fund the property and assets of the corporation.

Thereafter the court to which application was thus made appointed Elroy C. Denton as such receiver, who proceeded to administer, the trust, and, after conducting the business as a going concern for nearly a year, sold the assets then remaining, consisting largely of merchandise, to B. W. Jones, which sale was confirmed by the court on May 10, 1915.

On May 7, 1915, three days prior to such confirmation, B. W. Jones, the prospective purchaser, who was also a large creditor of the corporation, was granted leave by the court to file an intervening petition in the original case, and thereby became a party thereto.

On the same day, Jones, as such intervenor, filed his petition, concluding the same with the following prayer: “This intervenor prays that in making any orders herein the court will protect his and the rights of creditors.”,

In the bid submitted by Jones and accepted by order of court it was stipulated that if his bid be accepted he would “pay the costs and expenses of administration, as may be finally allowed and adjudicated in this cause, in this court or on error, or [335]*335appeal, including the fees of the receiver and the attorney for the receiver.”

In the entry confirming the sale it was ordered by the court that the receiver “retain out of the cash in his hands the sum of $21,250.00 to abide the final allowance and adjudication of fees and allowances to the receiver, attorneys and costs.”

On May 22, 1915, the following order was entered: “Upon the evidence adduced, the court, being fully advised in the premises, upon due consideration, finds that the fair and. reasonable value of all services by said Elroy. C. Denton as receiver herein is $15,000.00. It is accordingly ordered and adjudged by the court that the receiver herein pay to Elroy C. Denton the sum of $15,000.00 in full payment of all services as receiver of this estate.”

From this order Jones, together with certain other parties, appealed to the court of appeals. Motion was made by appellee Denton to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the court of appeals was without jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from such an order in such a case. The court of appeals sustained the motion and dismissed the appeal. From this judgment error is prosecuted to the supreme court of Ohio, appellants coming as a matter of right, since the case involves a question arising under the constitution of the state of Ohio.

There is but a single question in this case, important as it is: Under favor of that part of Section 6, Article IV, of our Constitution, which provides that courts of appeals shall have “appellate jurisdiction in the trial of chancery cases,” does an appeal lie from an order of the kind entered [336]*336May 22, 1915, fixing the compensation of the receiver ?

This court has already held that all jurisdiction in appeal attached to the court of appeals is constitutionally conferred. The Cincinnati Polyclinic v. Balch, 92 Ohio St., 415.

In the same case it was held that the general assembly is wholly without power to either enlarge or diminish such jurisdiction.

In the case of Wagner v. Armstrong et al., 93 Ohio St., 443, this court declared to be unconstitutional Section 12224, General Code, which purported to confer such jurisdiction on the court of appeals.

The case in hand is not fraught with the difficulty encountered in Wagner v. Armstrong et al., supra, for here the case is undoubtedly one of chancery origin. The relief sought, the manner of the administration of the trust, the entire proceedings had in the court of common pleas, were all of an equitable nature.

Counsel for appellee have submitted for the consideration of the court five propositions of law in support of their contention that an appeal does not lie from an order of this character, all of which are worthy of the attention of the court.

First: That the Ohio law as to appeals is different from all others, and in this state the entire action is carried up for a trial de novo upon the facts and law.

This contention may in the main be granted, without being in any sense determinative of the specific point now under consideration.

[337]*337Second: That the order complained of does not involve the main controversy in the case or relate to any iss.ue between the parties, but is only incidental or ancillary thereto, and is therefore not .appealable.

Third: That under Section 6, Article IV, of the State Constitution, as amended September 3, 1912, jurisdiction of the court of appeals is limited to the trial of chancery cases, and an order on a motion fixing the compensation of a receiver, after judgment rendered between the parties on the merits, is not a trial in any sense.

The second and third points thus advanced will be treated as one.

Were these proceedings had under favor of old Section 12224, General Code, which fixed the jurisdiction of the circuit court on appeal, there might be some doubt as to the right of an aggrieved party to appeal from the order under consideration, although, for all of that, authority is not wanting under the old order of things for an appeal from just such an order.

In the case of Gardiner et al. v. Railroad Co. et al., 65 Ohio St., 608, decided by this court without opinion, an examination of the record discloses the fact that the court of common pleas of Huron county made allowance to certain receivers, as compensation for their services, the sum of $115,000, throwing in for good measure a private car.

Appeal was made to the circuit court where appellants were met with a motion to dismiss. The circuit court overruled this motion, heard the case [338]*338and reduced the compensation allowed by the common pleas court from $115,000 to $15,000. The private car so generously awarded was also withdrawn from the receiver.

The usual and most forceful reason advanced against regarding unreported cases as judicial authority is that it is not possible always to ascertain the exact legal proposition involved and decided. It is urged, and with good reason, in such cases, that where several errors have been assigned, and the court does not state the point on which the decision rests, the uncertainty is such as to destroy the case as commanding authority.

However, in the Gardiner case, supra, it is wholly beyond dispute that the question involved in the instant case was there decided by the court. The point made by the receivers in that case, and on which they predicated their motion to dismiss, was that under the statute then regulating the jurisdiction of the circuit court that body was wholly without jurisdiction, since the order from which appeal was had was not a final order.

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Bluebook (online)
95 Ohio St. (N.S.) 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-denton-ohio-1917.