Farmer v. Nat'l Life Ass'n of Hartford
| Decision Date | 05 May 1893 |
| Citation | 33 N.E. 1075,138 N.Y. 265 |
| Parties | FARMER v. NATIONAL LIFE ASS'N OF HARTFORD. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from supreme court, general term, second department.
Action by Thomas Farmer against the National Life Association of Hartford, Conn., to recover on an insurance policy issued by defendant. Defendant moved to set aside the service of the summons and complaint, and from an order of the general term (21 N. Y. Supp. 1056) affirming an order of the special term, denying the motion, appeals. Affirmed.
Roger Foster, for appellant.
Judge & Durack, (James P. Judge, of counsel,) for respondent.
The defendant, a foreign life insurance corporation, as a condition of its admission to do business in this state under chapter 346 of the Laws of 1884, appointed, in writing, the superintendent of insurance as its attorney, upon whom all legal process against it might be served with the same effect as if it was a domestic corporation, and empowered him, as its attorney, to receive and accept service of such process, and declared that such service should be deemed valid personal service upon it. On December 1, 1891, the attorneys for the plaintiff issued the summons and complaint in this action, brought to recover for a death loss upon one of the defendant's policies, and sent it to the superintendent of insurance, by mail, with a request that he admit service thereof. On December 3d the superintendent returned the papers to the plaintiff, with the statement that he admitted service of process on him, as attorney for the defendant, made by the plaintiff's attorneys in behalf of plaintiff, and that he had sent to the defendant, by registered mail, a copy of the papers served on him. On December 21st the defendant filed the petition and bond, and took the other proceedings, required by the federal judiciary act for the removal of the cause into the United States circuit court for the eastern district of New York, and thereupon the record was removed into that court, and filed with its clerk; and the action was pending therein until January 8, 1892, when it was remanded to the state court. On April 15th the defendant moved to set aside the service of the summons and complaint on the ground that it had not been personally served on the superintendent of insurance, and upon the further ground that his admission of service was fatally defective, because it did not comply with the essential requirements of section 434 of the Civil Code, which prescribes the contents of a valid admission. The general term has affirmed the denial of this motion by the special term, and the defendant has appealed to this court.
It is unnecessary to consider what force, if any, the objections to the mode of service of process in this case, and to the sufficiency of the admission of service, might have had if they had been seasonably made; for we think it must be held that the defendant necessarily submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the state court, and waived any defect there may have been in the procedure to acquire jurisdiction of its person, by the proceeding which it initiated and consummated for the removal of the action into the United States circuit court. There could be no transfer of the cause from the state to the federal jurisdiction, unless there was an action pending. The federal statute required it, and the petition must so allege, and must also aver that the petitioner is a party to the action. The legal consequences of this acknowledgment of, and submission to, the jurisdiction of the state court, cannot be avoided by the declaration which the defendant's attorney made while engaged in the act,-that his appearance was special, and only for the purpose of effecting the removal of the cause into the federal court. There are undoubtedly cases where the right of a defendant to move to vacate service of process upon him may be saved by a special or qualified appearance for the...
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Weinberg v. COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, INCORPORATED
...effects a general appearance, thus waiving any objections to defective service and jurisdiction over the person Farmer v. National Life Ass'n, 138 N.Y. 265, 33 N.E. 1075 (1893); Tierney v. Helvetia Swiss Fire Ins. Co., 138 App.Div. 469, 122 N.Y.S. 869, 870 (2d Dep't 1910) has no impact on w......
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Cappellini v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
...actor in a proper sense he submits. De Lima v. Bidwell, 182 U. S. 1, 174; Fisher v. Shropshire, 147 U. S. 133, 145; Farmer v. National Life Association, 138 N. Y. 265, 270. (Italics The case of Hirsh v. Block,supra, involved the so-called Ball Rent Law (41 Stat. 298), which provided a proce......
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Van Dyke v. Illinois Commercial Men's Ass'n
...if it desired to question the service upon it. The appellant also relies upon the decision in the case of Farmer v. National Life Ass'n of Hartford, 138 N. Y. 265, 33 N. E. 1075. In that case a suit was filed in the state court upon an insurance policy. The defendant limited its appearance ......
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Hadden v. RUMSEY PRODUCTS INC.
...have appeared generally so that any words of "special appearance" are not sufficient to produce such a result. Farmer v. National Life Association, 138 N.Y. 265, 270, 33 N.E. 1075; Merchants Heat & L. Co. v. James B. Clow & Sons, 204 U.S. 286, 290, 27 S.Ct. 285, 51 L.Ed. There is no dispute......
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Table of Cases
...General Ins. Co. , 116 AD2d 553, 497 NYS2d 407 (2d Dept 1986), §§29:102, 29:111 Farmer v. National Life Association of Harford, Conn. , 138 N.Y. 265 (1893), §§9:661, 9:711 Farmer v. Travelers Insur. Co. , 46 NYS2d 167, rev’d on other grounds, 181 Misc2d 661, 47 NYS2d 451 (App Term 1943), §1......
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Table of Cases
...General Ins. Co. , 116 AD2d 553, 497 NYS2d 407 (2d Dept 1986), §§29:102, 29:111 Farmer v. National Life Association of Harford, Conn. , 138 N.Y. 265 (1893), §§9:661, 9:711 Farmer v. Travelers Insur. Co. , 46 NYS2d 167, rev’d on other grounds, 181 Misc2d 661, 47 NYS2d 451 (App Term 1943), §1......
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Summons, Service of Process, and Appearance
...to jurisdiction if the Federal Court remands the matter back to State Court. [ Farmer v. National Life Association of Harford, Conn. , 138 N.Y. 265 (1893).] More recently, the Farmer decision has been rejected, because of the subsequent changes both in New York and Federal procedure law, an......
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Summons, Service of Process, and Appearance
...to jurisdiction if the Federal Court remands the matter back to State Court. [ Farmer v. National Life Association of Harford, Conn. , 138 N.Y. 265 (1893).] More recently, the Farmer decision has been rejected, because of the subsequent changes both in New York and Federal procedure law, an......