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22 Wis. 207

Thomas v. Steele

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Decided September 15, 1867

Wisconsin Supreme Court · decided 1867-09-15

This action was commenced Eebruary 11th, 1867, in justice’s court, for the .wrongful taking and conversion by defendant of plaintiff’s wood. Murphy & Cravath, attorheys-at-law, appeared for the plaintiff, and Page & Montague for defendant, and Mr. Cra-vath made oath that he was authorized by plaintiff to commence the suit. After the pleadings had been made, the cause was adjourned to Eeburary 25th. One Stebhins was examined as a witness for the plaintiff.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1867-09-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently February 1985

8 state decisions

201867187018801890190019101920193019401950196019701980decided

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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DixoN, C. J.

¶1The authority of an attorney-at-law who appears in a court of justice in behalf of a party to an action, is to be presumed. He is an officer of court; and if his authority is denied, the burden of showing that he is unauthorized rests upon the party making the denial. The justice, therefore, erred in nonsuiting the plaintiff on this ground.

¶2Nor do we think that the nonsuit can be upheld on the ground that no evidence had been given of the conversion of the wood by the defendant. The wood being in the possession of the plaintiff on the 9th of February, was found in the unexplained possession of the defendant in his yard two days afterwards. This was sufficient evidence of a conversion, or that the wood was taken and removed by the defendant, provided the court or a jury had so found.

¶3By the Court. — The judgment of the circuit court, reversing the judgment of the justice, is affirmed.

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