Alropa Corporation v. Rossee
| Decision Date | 30 October 1936 |
| Docket Number | No. 8124,8188.,8124 |
| Citation | 86 F.2d 118 |
| Parties | ALROPA CORPORATION v. ROSSEE. ROSSEE v. ALROPA CORPORATION. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
C. Baxter Jones, of Macon, Ga., for Alropa Corporation.
Charles J. Bloch and John E. Hall, both of Macon, Ga., and Erwin Sibley, of Milledgeville, Ga., for P. C. Rossee.
Before FOSTER, SIBLEY, and HUTCHESON, Circuit Judges.
The suit filed September 11, 1935, in a court of the United States in Georgia is upon five written promises to pay money made in Florida September 3, 1925, and payable in Florida, the last one three years after date. They were signed "P. C. Rossee (Seal)," but contained no reference to a seal otherwise. By demurrer it was set up that the suit was barred by the 6-year limitation of the Georgia statutes. An amendment was made asserting that, under the statutes of Florida where the instruments were executed and to be performed, the notes were effectively sealed. The court held the suit barred and dismissed it.
The Florida statutes referred to in the amendment are: "A scrawl or scroll, printed or written, affixed as a seal to any written instrument shall be as effectual as a seal." "All written instruments heretofore or hereafter made with a scrawl or scroll, printed or written, affixed as a seal are declared to be sealed instruments, and shall be construed and received in evidence as such in all the courts of this State." Comp.Gen.Laws 1927, §§ 5704, 5705. The Florida court holds that no reference to a seal in the body of the instrument is necessary. Grand Lodge v. State Bank, 79 Fla. 471, 84 So. 528; Langley v. Owens, 52 Fla. 302, 42 So. 457, 11 Ann.Cas. 247. The Georgia statute of limitations passed in 1856 reads thus: "Actions upon bonds or other instruments under seal shall be brought within 20 years after the right of action shall have accrued, but no instrument shall be considered under seal unless so recited in the body of the instrument." "All actions upon promissory notes, bills of exchange, or other simple contracts in writing shall be brought within six years after the same shall have become due and payable." Code 1933, §§ 3-703, 3-705. It is well settled by the Georgia decisions that the word "seal" in a scroll, or its equivalent, following a signature does not make the instrument one under seal within the meaning of this statute unless there be a recital of a seal in the body of the instrument. Chambers v. Kingsberry, 68 Ga. 828; Barnes v. Walker & Co., 115 Ga. 108, 41 S.E. 243; Jackson v. Augusta Ry. Co., 125 Ga. 801, 54 S.E. 697.
It is not denied, nor can it be, that in general the law of the place of making the contract or of its performance will control matters touching its validity and meaning and the substantial rights of the parties under it, though a remedy is sought in another state; but that matters affecting the remedy, including its limitation, will be governed by the law of the forum. Bank of United States v. Donnelly, 8 Pet. 361, 8 L.Ed. 974; Le Roy v. Beard, 8 How. 451, 12 L.Ed. 1151; Townsend v. Jemison, 9 How. 407, 13 L. Ed. 194; Obear v. First National Bank, 97 Ga. 587, 25 S.E. 335, 33 L.R.A. 384. The...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS, ETC. v. Madden
...law of the forum, regarding what is a sealed instrument in applying the Maryland statute of limitations. See also Alropa Corp. v. Rossee, 86 F.2d 118, 119 (5th Cir. 1936), in which the Court stated that the forum's law would be applied to determine, in a limitations context, if the contract......
-
In re Central of Georgia Ry. Co.
...Scudder v. Union National Bank, 91 U.S. 406, 23 L.Ed. 245; Pritchard v. Norton, 106 U.S. 124, 1 S.Ct. 102, 27 L.Ed. 104; Alropa Corp. v. Rossee, 5 Cir., 86 F.2d 118; Pratt v. Sloan, 41 Ga.App. 150, 152 S.E. 275, and cases So far as counsel and the court have been able to discover there are ......
-
Holderness v. Hamilton Fire Ins. Co. of New York
...by the law of the forum where the action is brought. Kaplan v. Manhattan Life Ins. Co., 71 App. D.C. 250, 109 F.2d 463; Alropra Corp. v. Rossee, 5 Cir., 86 F.2d 118. In Florida, an agreement purporting to shorten the statute of limitations is contrary to public policy, and void. Sec. 95.03,......
-
Martin v. Texaco, Inc., Civ. A. No. 67-1186.
...7 L.Ed. 676; Association for Preservation of Freedom of Choice Inc. v. Simon, 2 Cir., 1962, 299 F.2d 212, 214; Alropa Corp. v. Rossee, 5 Cir., 1936, 86 F.2d 118, 119; Restatement, Conflict of Laws § 603; Goodrich, Conflict of Laws 152 (1964). This also is the rule in Louisiana. Newman v. El......