Lucas v. Compte
| Decision Date | 30 November 1866 |
| Citation | 1866 WL 4683,42 Ill. 303 |
| Parties | HARVEY B. LUCASv.THOMAS J. LE COMPTE. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
APPEAL from the Circuit Court of Washington county; the Hon. SILAS L. BRYAN, Judge, presiding.
The opinion of the court states the case.
Mr. DANIEL HAY, for the appellant.
Mr. THOMAS J. LE COMPTE, pro se.
The only question presented by this record is as to the proper construction of section 35, chapter 59, in relation to justices of the peace and constables.
That section is as follows: “In all suits which shall be commenced before a justice of the peace, each party shall bring forward all his or her demands against the other, existing at the time of the commencement of the suit, which are of such a nature as to be consolidated and which do not exceed one hundred dollars when consolidated, into one action or defense; and, on refusing or neglecting to do the same, shall forever be debarred from the privilege of suing for such a debt or demand.” Scates' Comp. 703.
The case was, Le Compte had a demand for services rendered as an attorney and counselor at law, against Lucas, for one hundred and sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents. This demand was made up of several items of service. Le Compte divided it into two demands, one for ninety-five dollars, and the other for seventy-two dollars and fifty cents, and brought suit before a justice of the peace on the same day, on each demand. A trial was had on the least demand and a judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiff for sixty-five dollars and costs. On the trial of the suit for the larger demand, Lucas pleaded this recovery in bar, but the justice of the peace disallowed the plea, and rendered judgment against Lucas for ninety-five dollars, the amount of that demand.
On appeal to the Circuit Court of Washington county from this judgment, the same proceedings were there had, and the plea of Lucas there disallowed, and judgment rendered against him for ninety-five dollars, to reverse which he prosecutes this appeal.
In support of appellant's views, the case of Buckner v. Thompson, 11 Ill. 564, is relied on.
That was a case where the plaintiff held two promissory notes against the defendant, to one of which, the defendant had a set-off to an amount exceeding the note. Separate suits were brought on each note, and the set-off established in one suit. When the other was tried, the defendant pleaded this recovery in bar of the suit on the other note, which the justice of the peace allowed. On appeal to the Circuit Court, it was decided, the recovery was not a bar, and it was so held by this court on appeal. This court said, each note constituted a separate demand, upon which the holder had a right to bring a suit, and although it appeared upon trial that the other party was entitled to a set-off or cross-demand, to an amount...
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Marrese v. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
...the plaintiff went first to a court of limited jurisdiction in the same state that could not hear them." The holding in Lucas v. Le Compte, 42 Ill. 303 (1866), is similar to this "general rule," but that holding was based on a construction of an Illinois statute, Ill.Rev.Stat., ch. 59, § 35......
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Marrese v. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
...to harass a defendant with multiple suits "when one suit in the proper court would have been all the litigation necessary." Lucas v. Compte, 42 Ill. 303, 305 (1866). But the real concern in that case, where a plaintiff had divided a debt exceeding $100 into subparts and brought suit on each......
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... ... Pierce, 3 Hill, 171; Machine Co. v. Farmer, ... 27 Minn. 428, 430, 8 N.W. 141; Bolen Coal Co. v. Brick ... Co., 52 Kan. 747, 749, 35 P. 810;Lucas v. Le ... Compte, 42 Ill. 303, 305; Sutherland on Damages, Secs ... 186, 187, 189; Freeman on Judgments, Secs. 277, 244; 2 Van ... Fleet's Former ... ...
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... ... 35 P. 810; Bierer v. Fretz, 37 Kan. 27, 30, 14 P ... 558; Howell v. Goodrich, 69 Ill. 556, 559; Simes ... v. Zane, 24 Pa. 242, 244; Lucas v. Le Compte, ... 42 Ill. 303, 305; Sutherland on Damages, Secs. 186, 187, 189; ... Freeman on Judgments, Secs. 277, 224; 2 Van Fleet on Former ... ...