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120 Mass. 548

Walling v. Beers

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided September 16, 1876

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1876-09-16

<p>A. bill in equity, filed in this state against a person residing in another state, seeking relief only against him personally, was served on the defendant by leaving a subpoena at his last and usual place of abode in that state. He appeared specially “ for the purpose of excepting to the jurisdiction of the court,” and moved that an injunction against him should be vacated. This motion was overruled. He then filed an answer to the bill, not waiving the objection to the jurisdiction of the court. There was no other or formal motion to dismiss the bill. The court afterwatds ordered the injunction to be dissolved on the defendant filing a stipulation to abide the decree of the court in the case. The defendant filed the stipulation, and a decree was entered against him. Held, that the court had not acquired jurisdiction over the defendant; and that his acts did not amount to a waiver of the abjection of the want of jurisdiction.</p>

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1876-09-16

How this case has been cited

Cited by 11 later decisions — most recently April 2006

11 state decisions

4018761880189019001910192019301940195019601970198019902000decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Ames, J.

¶1The decree sought for was to operate upon the defendant personally, and it was therefore necessary that he should be personally brought within the jurisdiction of the court. The service which was attempted to be made upon him, by a copy left at his last and usual place of abode in New York, would not have that effect. Spurr v. Scoville, 3 Cush. 578. Moody v. Gay. 15 Gray, 457.

¶2It is true that he was served with a notice to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not issue as prayed for in the bill, and that, upon his failure to appear, such an injunction was granted. And, at a later stage of the case, this injunction was dissolved upon his filing a written stipulation to fulfil and promptly comply with any decree of the court in favor of the plaintiff, if there should be any such decree. But, although the case was tried, upon issue joined upon the answer, the objection upon the ground of want of jurisdiction was seasonably taken. There was no formal motion that the bill should be dismissed, but it is sufficient that, by the form of his appearance, the objection was brought to the attention of the court. The defendant, by proceeding to trial afterwards, does not lose the right to say that he did not thereby withdraw his protest against the jurisdiction of the court. Bill dismissed, with costs.

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