Defense Plant Corporation v. United States Barge Lines

Citation145 F.2d 766
Decision Date27 November 1944
Docket NumberNo. 118.,118.
PartiesDEFENSE PLANT CORPORATION v. UNITED STATES BARGE LINES, Inc. SAME v. UNITED STATES BARGE LINES, Inc. (BARNES et al., Interveners).
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Maurice A. Krisel, and Roman Beck, of Washington, D. C., for intervenors-appellants.

Bigham, Englar, Jones & Houston, of New York City (F. Herbert Prem, of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.

Before SWAN, CLARK, and FRANK, Circuit Judges.

FRANK, Circuit Judge.

1. Intervention is permissible in an admiralty suit only if (a) the suit is in rem (Admiralty Rule 34, 28 U.S.C.A. following section 723) or (b) the intervenor has an interest in proceeds in the registry of the court (Admiralty Rule 42). The admiralty suit here was in personam with a claim for foreign attachment; the garnishment did not convert the suit into one in rem. Brown v. C. D. Mallory & Co., 3 Cir., 122 F.2d 98, 104. For Admiralty Rule 36 does not require the garnishee to pay into the registry of the court but permits the garnisheed debts or credits to remain in the hands of the garnishee, and that is what was done here. Even assuming, arguendo, that the final judgment in that suit, had it been enforced, would have been the equivalent of payment into the registry, the fact is that that decree was not enforced because of the injunction issued in the interpleader suit.

It will not do to say that the payment into the registry in the interpleader suit satisfies Rule 42 since it was a payment in the same court sitting one moment in admiralty and another in "equity." For it is a mere coincident that the interpleader action was brought in the district in which the admiralty suit was pending; had the interpleader action been brought in another district court, the payment would have been into that court's registry, and yet that court could properly have issued a similar injunction.

2. But, assuming that the court below could properly have permitted the intervention, it was not required to do so. True, the mere fact that a final decree had been entered would not necessarily be a bar to intervention on the ground of tardiness.1 The admiralty court has wide discretion as to the time of intervention. But here the court denied the intervention for specified reasons, and also said that "there are additional reasons for refusing the relief sought." We construe this statement to mean that, inter alia, the district judge exercised his discretion. As there was no abuse of it, ...

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14 cases
  • Jackson v. Inland Oil and Transport Co.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • June 25, 1963
    ...of the writ of attachment by seizing the Three Jacks did not convert the suit into one in rem. Defense Plant Corporation v. United States Barge Lines, 2d Cir., 1944, 145 F.2d 766, 767; Brown v. C. D. Mallory & Co., 3rd Cir., 1941, 122 F.2d 98, 104, 105. In the latter case, it was "An action......
  • United States v. Maryland Casualty Company
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • June 30, 1956
    ...3 How. 568, 572, 44 U.S. 568, 572, 11 L.Ed. 729; The John E. Mulford, D.C. S.D.N.Y., 18 F. 455, 459; Defense Plant Corp. v. United States Barge Lines, 2 Cir., 145 F.2d 766, 1945 A.M.C. 15; cf. The Clara A. McIntyre, D.C.E.D.N.C., 94 F. 552, cf. Holmes v. City of New York, 2 Cir., 30 F.2d 36......
  • Morgan Guar. Trust Co. of NY v. Hellenic Lines
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
    • February 23, 1984
    ...Coal Co. v. Dillman, 15 F.2d 25 (8th Cir. 1926); Defense Plant Corp. v. U.S. Barge Lines, Inc., 57 F.Supp. 14 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd 145 F.2d 766 (2d Cir.1944); In re Southern Pacific Golden Gate Ferries, Ltd., 1942 A.M.C. 1581 (N.D.Cal.1942); The Transfer No. 18, 17 F.Supp. 488 (D.Conn.1936). I......
  • Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Good Hope Refineries, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • October 16, 1979
    ...Dillman, 8 Cir. 1926, 15 F.2d 25, 26; Defense Plant Corp. v. United States Barge Lines, Inc., S.D.N.Y.1944, 57 F.Supp. 14, 15, Aff'd, 2 Cir., 145 F.2d 766. When the admiralty proceeding precedes the petition in bankruptcy court, the power of the bankruptcy court to enjoin further proceeding......
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