Titus v. Wallick

26 Ohio Law. Abs. 634, 1937 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 898
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 30, 1937
DocketNo 2750
StatusPublished

This text of 26 Ohio Law. Abs. 634 (Titus v. Wallick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Titus v. Wallick, 26 Ohio Law. Abs. 634, 1937 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 898 (Ohio Ct. App. 1937).

Opinion

OPINION

By HORNBECK, J.

This appeal on questions of law is prosecuted from a judgment in behalf of defendant. In the trial court the plaintiff’s action was for judgment against defendant on a judgment of the Supreme Court of New York of date May 1, 1934, in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant in the sum of $389,103.21.

The answer asserted three defenses: (1) that the judgment sued upon was not responsive to the issues tendered by the pleadings; (2) that the plaintiff is not the real party in interest; (3) that the judgment in the New York Court was procured by fraud practiced upon the court and upon the defendant in that the plaintiff was not the real party in interest and suppressed and withheld this fact from the New York court.

The parties waived a jury, submitted the cause to the trial judge, who found that the defendant had failed to sustain the first defense, but entered judgment in his behalf on the second and third. The trial ecurfc upon request also made separate findings of fact and law.

There are fourteen errors assigned, which may be grouped under the general head-' ings that the judgment is contrary to law and against the manifest weight of the evidence; the court erred in admitting certain evidence; in the conclusions of law and fact and in refusing to find “whether a re-assignment of the claim (upon which the judgment in New York was rendered) was made by Walter L. Titus to Edward H. Titus on December 1, 1925.”

The action in New York was instituted on December 22, 1925. It was twice tried in the lower courts, five times in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and once in the Court of Appeals, with the result that there is a voluminous record, much of which was eventually offered in the trial of the cause 'in this state.

The suit in New York was based upon a claim by the plaintiff that he was the owner of 250 shares of stock of the Secor Hotel Company of Toledo, Ohio, which were withheld from him by the defendant.

On March 31, 1924, plaintiff assigned his claim against the defendant to his brother, Walter Titus. On December 1, 1925, a short time before institution of the New York action, Walter Titus executed and delivered to the plaintiff an instrument in writing, designated an article of agreement.

After the judgment m behalf of plaintiff in New York, London I. Wallick, a brother of the defendant, who claimed to be entitled to a share in the proceeds of the judgment, instituted an action in New York and interposed therein a motion seeking an injunction pendente lite restraining the plaintiff from disposing of or collecting, any of the money due on the judgment. Plaintiff herein asserted a defense to this suit and in support thereof tendered and filed an affidavit of date August 17, 1934, which set out at considerable length the history of the transactions between the plaintiff and the defendant and between London I. Wailick and the plaintiff relative to the subject matter 'of the action '’pen which judgment had been entered ler .Í13 plaintiff and among other thing's the following appeared:

[636]*636“I told him (London I. Walliek) at that time (Nov. 23, 1925) that I had already assigned any interest iii the proceeds of said action against Lou C. Walliek to Walter L. Titus and Emilie F. Titus.”
“The plaintiff’s application for an injunction pendente lite should be denied. Prior to my execution of the instrument of November 23, 1925, (a written agreement between plaintiff and London I. Walliek) I assigned my interest in my claim against Lou C. Walliek to Walter L. Titus, my brother, and Emilie I. Titus. The plaintiff herein knew of this assignment before the instrument of November 23, 1925, was executed. It is respectfully submitted that it does not lie within the jurisdictisn of this court to now enjoin what has already been accomplished.”

Matter in parentheses ours.

The trial court’s opinion is before us. The conclusion is there reached that the plaintiff, in the suit in New York and in the action here, was not the real party m interest and that the judgment m New York was secured by fraud practiced by the plaintifi upon the court and the defendant, in suppressing the fact that he was not the real party in interest.

The voluminous briefs of counsel are directed to every question that arose in the trial of the cause. We can not, within reasonable limitations, discuss all of the authorities cited and discussed at length. Wo have, however, given attention to all propositions advanced and have considered the cases cited.

The question for our determination is: Did the trial court have support for either or both of the conclusions which were, reached.

With the finding that the plaintiff was not the real party in interest in the actions in Ohio and in New York we are in accord upon a fair consideration of the status of 'the plaintiff, his brother and the defendant. The question respecting the fraud practiced upon the court and the defendant in New York, wherein the judgment was rendered for the plaintiff and against the defendant, and particularly the right to assert it as a defense to the action in Ohio, is more difficult. We shall discuss the propositions in order.

The plaintiff originally was the sole owner of the claim against the defendant, upon which the action in New York was predicated. By the assignment to his brother Walter Titus, the plaintiff relinquished any and all interest which he had in the claim. Under the first assignment, then, the sole and only fight in any manner to collect the claim from the defendant was in Walter Titus. If the rights of the parties are fixed by the instrument termed “Article of Agreement” and Walter Titus transferred any such legal or equitable interest or both in his claim to the plaintiff as would entitle him to maintain an action in his own name in New York, then he was a proper party in interest there and a proper party in interest here. This is true without respect to the assertions of fact made in the affidavit of plaintiff in the injunction proceeding m New York, because the plaintiff, though he may have misinterpreted the import of the agreement, could not change its effect in law.

The agreement, after preliminary recitations setting forth the nature of the claim and its former assignment by plaintifi to his brother, Walter, recites that said assignment was delivered upon the oral understanding that Walter would use any funds that might be derived therefrom to pa.y off and discharge certain indebtedness of Edward, later set out. It is stated that Edward w'-h:, to institute an action against Lou O. Walliek to recover stock and that Walter is willing to re-assign the claim to Edward upon terms and conditions thereafter stated. Consideration of $1.00 is acknowledged. Then follow the conditions under which the re-assignment is made, as follows:

1. Walter sells, assigns and transfers all his right, title and interest to the claim against Lou C. Walliek and ail his right, title and interest to 250 shares of the capital stock of the Secor Hotel Company to Edward Titus.

2. Walter appoints Edward his true and lawful attorney irrevocably for him and in his name and stead but for Edward’s benefit to sell, assign, transfer, set over, pledge, compromise or discharge the whole, or any part, of said claim, and to * * * collect”, receive and sue for said stock or for any moneys which may grow due,. upon said claim, and to substitute one person or more with like powers * * *.

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Bluebook (online)
26 Ohio Law. Abs. 634, 1937 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 898, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/titus-v-wallick-ohioctapp-1937.