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45 S.D. 216

Adams v. Morehead

South Dakota Supreme Court

Decided February 16, 1922

South Dakota Supreme Court · decided 1922-02-16

Action 'by B. A. Adams, against G. A. Morehead, to recover an amount claimed for professional services performed; the defense being accord and satisfaction. From a judgment for plaintiff upon directed verdict, and from an order denying a new trial, defendant appeals.

Relies on Qualseth v. Thompson · Hagen v. Townsend & White

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Reversed, and remanded for further proceedings · Decided 1922-02-16

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently February 1976

5 state decisions

30192219301940195019601970decided

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.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

QATK'S, P, J.

¶1Action to recover $140.83 claimed to be the balance due on an account for professional services. Defense: Accord and satisfaction. Defendant wrote plaintiff that his bill was exorbitant, and offered to pay $100 in settlement. Later he sent plaintiff a draft for $100 “to close my account.” Plaintiff in writing acknowledged receipt óf the draft, and asked defendant to promptly sign a note for the balance and send it to him. Plaintiff cashed the draft. Upon the trial both sides moved for a directed verdict. The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion. Defendant appeals.

¶2In Qualseth v. Thompson, 44 S. D. 190, 183 N. W. 116, we held that, by indorsing and 'cashing a check marked “balance for sawing lumber,” and! having knowledge of a real dispute as to the amount due, the plaintiff in that case accepted in writing a part performance of the claimed obligation in satisfaction thereof. Section 787, Rev. Code 1919. The only distinction between that case and this is that here the draft was accompanied by a letter stating that it was “to close my account.” The draft and the letter when read together present the same situation that arose in the Qualseth case, and that case is followed.

¶3In Hagen v. Townsend, 27 S. D. 457, 131 N. W. 512, we said:

*218“There is no evidence to show that such check purported to be in full payment for the wheat; 'but, even if it had such a clause in it, its indorsement by appellant, if construed as an agreement to accept same in full of his claim, would still be without any consideration whatsoever, and not binding upon him.”

¶4This statement was obiter, and is now disapproved. It is clear that a case which otherwise falls under Rev. Code 1919, § 787, is governed thereby regardless of whether the agreement to accept part payment was or was not without a consideration.

¶5The judgment and order appealed from are reversed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings in harmony herewith.

ANDERSON, J., not sitting.
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