United States v. Lord Electric Co., 1679 Civil Action
| Decision Date | 22 January 1942 |
| Docket Number | No. 1679 Civil Action,No. 748 Civil Action (Original).,1679 Civil Action,748 Civil Action (Original). |
| Citation | 43 F. Supp. 12 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES ex rel. MARCUS v. LORD ELECTRIC CO., et al. (two cases). |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
Margiotti, Pugliese & Casey, Charles J. Margiotti, Joseph H. Reich, and Joseph A. Rossi, all of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Joseph K. Guerin, of New York City, for plaintiff.
Alter, Wright & Barron and James K. Ruby, all of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Vincent J. Malone, of New York City, for defendants.
Morris L. Marcus brought a qui tam action against Lord Electric Company and a number of others upon authority of Section 3491, R.S., U.S.C.A. Tit. 31, § 232. Following judgment a writ of fieri facias issued from this court upon the Lord Electric Company, to be served by the Marshal for the Southern District of New York; and at the same time a writ of attachment issued to be served in the same way, by which a levy was directed upon bank deposits of the Lord Electric Company in the National City Bank of New York and in the Fifth Avenue Bank of New York.
The Lord Electric Company has moved this court to quash each of said writs. A rule issued thereon and the matter has been heard.
As to both writs the allegation of the Lord Electric Company is that the action upon which the writs were founded was the suit of Marcus, in which the jurisdiction of this court in respect to executions ended with the limits of the State. On the other hand, the counsel for Marcus contends that the action is that of the United States, not Marcus, and therefore within the scope of Section 986, R.S., 28 U.S.C.A. § 839, following: "All writs of execution upon judgments obtained for the use of the United States, in any court thereof, in one State, may run and be executed in any other State, or in any Territory, but shall be issued from and made returnable to, the court wherein the judgment was obtained."
The action, it is true, presents several aspects. It has been instituted by the informer, who is entitled to prosecute it to final judgment, and who, when he has so prosecuted it, has a property in the judgment which cannot be taken from him by any settlement, compromise or pardon on the part of the Government. On the other hand he cannot discontinue the action without notice to the Government and permission of the court. The United States Attorney is by statute required to supervise the procedure in the action, although given no control over it. The judgment is undoubtedly in part for the use of Marcus, but it is just as certainly for the use of the United States. When it is considered that the basic cause of action was in the United States, not in Marcus, the court is led to the conclusion that Section 986, R.S., is applicable and, therefore, the motion of the Lord Electric Company to quash the writs of execution is not sustainable upon the proposition that the writs did not have force beyond the limits of this State.
As stated, supra, the Electric Company has attacked the attachment execution writ upon a ground in addition to its territorial claim. It asserts, without contradiction on the part of plaintiff, that the remedy of attachment execution does not exist under the laws of the State of New York in connection with bank deposits, and therefore the Marshal for the Southern District has no power to levy an execution upon such funds. The basis of this claim is found in Title 28, 28 U.S.C.A. § 504, Sec. 788, R.S., as follows: "The marshals and their deputies shall have, in each State, the same powers, in executing the laws of the United States, as the sheriffs and their deputies in such State may have, by law, in executing the laws thereof."
The Electric Company has quoted, among other cases, Berkman v. New York Produce...
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Juneau Spruce Corp. v. INTERNATIONAL LONG. & W. UNION
...is governed by the procedural law as to a writ of execution of the court which rendered the judgment. United States ex rel. Marcus v. Lord Electric Co., D.C.W.D.Pa.1942, 43 F. Supp. 12. Once the Alaskan judgment is registered in this court the judgment creditor may pursue all remedies avail......
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United States v. Palmer
...the basic cause of action is in the United States and the judgment is "for the use of" both parties. United States ex rel. Marcus v. Lord Electric Company, 43 F.Supp. 12, 13 (W.D.Pa.1942) (lawsuit instituted by informer but prosecuted by government under authority of statute providing penal......
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Gabovitch v. Lundy
...83, 86-88 (9th Cir. 1974) (Rule 69 makes availability and effect of federal process subject to state law); United States ex rel. Marcus v. Lord Elec. Co., 43 F.Supp. 12 (W.D.Pa.1942) (bank deposits affected by writ of execution because state law so provides). Thus, we have no difficulty con......
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Federal Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Rodenberg
...law, but was acting pursuant to a federal statute giving the United States special collection rights. See also United States v. Lord Electric Co., 43 F.Supp. 12 (W.D.Pa.1942). Additionally, this attachment was postjudgment, which, arguably, is a more expansive provision. Thus, the Thornton ......