M. & R. CONSTRUCTION CO. v. National Homes Corp., 18388.
Citation | 286 F.2d 638 |
Decision Date | 12 January 1961 |
Docket Number | No. 18388.,18388. |
Parties | M. & R. CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, a partnership composed of Jack A. Roberts et al. and Jack A. Roberts et al., Individually, Appellants, v. NATIONAL HOMES CORPORATION, Appellee. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Winston B. McCall, A. W. Jones, Birmingham, Ala., William S. Pritchard, Pritchard, McCall & Jones, Birmingham, Ala., of counsel, for appellants.
George I. Case, Jr., and McGowen & McGowen, Birmingham, Ala., for appellee.
Before RIVES, BROWN and WISDOM, Circuit Judges.
This action sought payment for goods sold and delivered by plaintiff to defendants in accordance with a written contract between the parties. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $10,030.39, and the district court entered judgment pursuant to that verdict. The defendants, appellants, insist that the district court erred in denying their motions for a directed verdict and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the sole contention that the plaintiff was a foreign corporation doing business in Alabama without having so qualified and, hence, that it may not maintain this diversity action on a contract to be performed in Alabama.
The plaintiff was incorporated under the laws of Indiana and had not qualified to do business in Alabama.1 The defendants were residents of Alabama. The written contract was signed by the defendants on August 5, 1955, and was executed by the plaintiff in Lafayette, Indiana, on August 15, 1955. The contract was captioned "Dealer Sales Agreement," and contained a grant by plaintiff to the defendants of "the non-exclusive privilege of sale of its prefabricated dwelling units" in the Birmingham, Alabama, territory. The parties did business under the contract from its effective date, August 15, 1955, until July 1957. The contract contained the following provisions:
In diversity cases, the defense of failure of a foreign corporation to qualify under state laws is available in the federal courts the same as in the state courts. Woods v. Interstate Realty Co., 1949, 337 U.S. 535, 538, 69 S.Ct. 1235, 93 L.Ed. 1524.
The written "Dealer Sales Agreement" signed by the defendants in Alabama had no binding force or effect until accepted and signed by the plaintiff in Indiana. J. R. Watkins Co. v. Goggans, 1942, 242 Ala. 222, 5 So.2d 472, 474. If that contract called simply for the...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Hurst v. Buczek Enters., LLC
...Buczek contracts does not move across state lines, nor do the homes on which Buczek's contractors work. Cf. M. & R. Const. Co. v. Nat'l Homes Corp., 286 F.2d 638, 640 (5th Cir.1961) (contract to ship prefabricated homes into the state did not necessarily mean the company was engaged in intr......
-
Hughes Associates, Inc. v. Printed Circuit Corp., Civ. No. 84-HM-5287-NE.
...290 Ala. 179, 275 So.2d 124 (1972). This doctrine is also applicable in diversity cases in federal court. M & R Construction v. National Homes Corp., 286 F.2d 638 (5th Cir.1961); Advance Industrial Security v. William J. Burns International Detective Agency, 377 F.2d 236 (5th Cir.1967). How......
-
Legion Ins. Co. v. Garner Ins. Agency, Inc.
...such as the case at hand. Aim Leasing Corp. v. Helicopter Med. Evacuation Inc., 687 F.2d 354 (11th Cir.1982); M & R Constr. v. National Homes Corp., 286 F.2d 638 (5th Cir. 1961); Hughes Assoc., Inc. v. Printed Circuit Corp., 631 F.Supp. 851 4. Although the quoted passage addresses the "Cons......
-
Advance Indus. Sec., Inc. v. William J. Burns Intern. Detective Agency, Inc.
...a foreign corporation to qualify under state law is available in federal courts just as in state courts, M. & R. Construction Co. v. National Homes Corp., 286 F.2d 638 (5th Cir., 1961). It is not necessary to discuss the contentions that the employment agreements lacked mutuality and were v......