Willcox v. Jones

177 F. 870, 101 C.C.A. 84, 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4423
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 7, 1910
DocketNo. 928
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 177 F. 870 (Willcox v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Willcox v. Jones, 177 F. 870, 101 C.C.A. 84, 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4423 (4th Cir. 1910).

Opinion

PRITCHARD, Circuit Judge

(after stating the facts as above). The principal question for our consideration is as to whether this court has the power in this proceeding to review the action of the state court wherein the intervener obtained a judgment against the receiver. The intervener instituted an action in the state court of South Carolina against the receiver, and obtained judgment against him for the sum of $8,065.63, together with interest on the ■ sum of $7,845.61 from February 5, «1907. From this judgment an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the state, and the judgment of the lower court was affirmed by that court. The intervention upon which this suit is based is in pursuance of Act Aug. 13, 1888, c. 866, § 3, 25 Stat. 436 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 582) which reads as follows:

“That every receiver or manager of any property appointed by any court of the United States may be sued in respect to any act or transaction of his in carrying on the business connected with such property without the previous leave of the court in which such receiver or manager was appointed; but such suits shall be subject to such equity jurisdiction of the court in which such receiver or manager was appointed so far as the same shall be necessary to the ends of justice.”

Prior to the enactment of this statute a receiver could not be sued without leave of the court by which he was appointed. This was a rule of universal application in so far as the federal courts were concerned ; but by the enactment of this statute receivers may be sued in any court of competent jurisdiction. The suit in the state court was to recover damages for personal injuries caused by the negligence of the receiver or his agents in operating a railroad as a common carrier, and w.as, therefore, a common-law proceeding. A claimant may intervene, and thus have the validity of his claim passed upon by the court appointing the receiver, of under this statutq he may institute suit in [873]*873another court. If the claimant intervenes in the suit wherein the receiver is appointed, he thereby waives his right to a trial by jury, which is contemplated by this section.

In the case of Flippin v. Kimball et al., 87 Fed. 258, 31 C. C. A. 282, this court, among other things, said:

“The appellant, BTippin, could have proceeded in an action at law against the receivers without leave of the court. 25 Stat. 433, Act 1888. Of his own accord he intervened in a suit in equity, and submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court By doing this he waived his right to a trial hy jury, for it is a fundamental principle that the right of trial by jury, considered as an absolute right, does not extend to cases of equity jurisdiction.”

In that case the petitioner could have instituted a suit against the receivers in the state court, and by doing so would have been entitled to a trial by jury. This statute is framed so as to permit the United States courts to fully administer estates that may be placed in the hands of receivers, and while permission is granted to institute suits against receivers, still there is nothing in the statute which in the slightest degree authorizes the doing of any act calculated to hinder, delay, or embarrass a court of equity in the exercise of its functions.

In Street’s Federal Equity Practice, § 2688, in referring to the reservation contained in the second clause of this section, it is said:

“The most important feature of this statute so far as regards equity practice is that of the reservation contained in the second clause. This reservation has at least two important effects, namely, (1) it prevents the creditor who is thus permitted to sue from obtaining any undue advantage over other creditors or claimants, and (2) it prevents such creditor from depriving the receiver, and, through the receiver, the court, of the possession or control of any property in his hands hy virtue of the receivership.”

In the case of St. Louis S. W. Ry. Co. v. Holbrook, 73 Fed. 112, 19 C. C. A. 38-5, this question was passed upon by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth circuit. In that case the appellee had received severe personal injuries, which he charged were caused by the servants of the receivers in operating trains on their road. He began a suit against the receivers in the state court of the state of Texas. The receivers appeared and answered. On November 10, 1890, the appellee secured a judgment against the receivers for the sum of $10,000. In Texas such actions (all civil actions) are tried without a jury unless a jury is demanded by one of the parties. Neither party demanding a jury, the case was tried, upon issues of fact as well as law, by the judge. A writ of error to the Court of Civil Appeals of that state was sued out, but was dismissed because the writ was not taken in time. The appellee then filed an intervention in the Circuit Court. That court held that the judgment of the state court was conclusive as to the facts found and as to the amount of the appellee’s claim against the receivers, and that the claim was a charge acquired by the appellant under the decrees mentioned above. The case was taken by appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals. That court, in disposing of the matter, said:

“The assignment of errors presents these two questions: (1) Was the judgment of the state court conclusive as lo the right of the plaintiff to recover, and as to the amount that should be recovered? (2) Is the claim thus established a charge on the property acquired under the decrees of the court?
[874]*874“The first of these questions was directly presented to this coprt. at a former term, in the case of Dillingham v. Hawk, 9 C. C. A. 101, 60 Fed. 495 [23 L. R. A. 517], and was answered in the ¡¡ .native. Without expresslj1 approving all of the reasoning of the opinion, which did not then receive the full concurrence of all the judges rendering that decision, we adhere to the conclusions then expressed as to the sound construction of the third section of the act of March 3, 1887 [c. 373, 24 Stilt. 554 (U. 8. Comp. St. 1901, p. 5S2)]. In the state court in which appellee's action went to judgment, the parties had the right to have, their case submitted to a jury, on a demand therefor. They chose to not demand a jury. Section 649 of the Revised Statutes of the United States [U. S. Comp. St. 1991, p. 525] provides for trying issues of fact in civil cases by the court, without the intervention of a jury, and the finding of the court upon the facts has the same effect as the verdict of a jury. And where the submission of a civii case is made without the stipulation in writing, the judgment cannot he questioned, if it is warranted by the pleadings. The analogies, therefore, would seem to indicate that where parties could try their issues before a jury, and choose to try them without a jury, the finding of fact and judgment of the court would have at least the same effect as the verdict of a jury.”

■ It is contended by counsel for the appellant that this statute gives the court appointing a receiver or manager the right to review any judgment that may be recovered in a state court against the receiver or manager; that the language “subject to the general equity jurisdiction of the court” means that the court appointing the receiver or manager is to exercise full and complete jurisdiction over such suit and to inspect and review the proceedings of. the court in which it may be instituted.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
177 F. 870, 101 C.C.A. 84, 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4423, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willcox-v-jones-ca4-1910.