Wyoming Ry. Co. v. Herrington, No. 3480.

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: PHILLIPS, BRATTON and HUXMAN, Circuit
• Citation: 163 F.2d 1004
• Parties: WYOMING RY. CO. v. HERRINGTON.
• Docket Number: No. 3480.
• Decision Date: 17 October 1947

163 F.2d 1004 (1947)

WYOMING RY. CO.
v.
HERRINGTON.

No. 3480.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

October 17, 1947.

163 F.2d 1005

A. G. McClintock, of Cheyenne, Wyo. (Ellery, McClintock & Gray, A. G. McClintock, and Norman B. Gray, of Cheyenne, Wyo., on the brief), for appellant.

Pierpont Fuller, Jr., of Denver, Colo. (William V. Webb, of Denver, Colo., on the brief), for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS, BRATTON and HUXMAN, Circuit Judges.

BRATTON, Circuit Judge.

Cass M. Herrington, an attorney at law with offices in Denver, Colorado, instituted in the United States Court for Wyoming this action against Wyoming Railway Company, a corporation owning and operating a railroad between Buffalo, Wyoming, and Clearmont, Wyoming, a distance of approximately twenty-nine miles, and E. V. Kelly, vice-president and general manager of the corporation, to recover judgment for professional services rendered. The cause was tried to the court without a jury. The action was dismissed as to the defendant Kelly, and judgment was entered against the defendant corporation. For convenience, reference will be made to the parties as they were denominated in the trial court.

The jurisdiction of the trial court is challenged. It was alleged in the complaint that plaintiff was a citizen of Colorado;

163 F.2d 1006

that the defendant railway company was a corporation organized under the laws of Wyoming; that the defendant Kelly was a citizen of Wyoming; and that the matter in controversy exceeded the sum of $3,000, exclusive of interest and costs. And it was further alleged that the services rendered were of the value of $5,500; that $500 had been paid thereon; and that the balance due was $5,000, for which judgment was prayed. Section 24 of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S. C.A. § 41, provides in material part that the district courts of the United States shall have original jurisdiction of all suits of a civil nature, at common law or in equity, between citizens of different states where the matter in controversy exceeds $3,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Diverse citizenship is admitted, but it is contended that the claim was merely colorable in amount for jurisdictional purposes. It is the well established rule that the amount claimed in good faith in the complaint is the test for jurisdiction, so far as that is dependent upon the amount in controversy. Groundless or fictitious claims obviously set up for the purpose of swelling the claim on the face of the complaint to an amount within the jurisdiction of the court fail of their purpose. And where it appears to a legal certainty from the face of the complaint that the claim is in reality for less than the jurisdictional amount, the suit does not involve a dispute or controversy properly within the jurisdiction of the court. But the inability of plaintiff to recover any amount adequate to give the court jurisdiction does not show bad faith or oust the court of jurisdiction. Neither does the fact that the complaint discloses upon its face the existence of a valid defense...