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55 N.H. 443

Stevens v. Fuller

Supreme Court of New Hampshire

Decided March 12, 1875

Supreme Court of New Hampshire · decided 1875-03-12

This action was entered in the circuit court for the southern district of this county at the November term, 1874. At the same term, the defendant’s counsel filed a motion, supported by affidavit, to dismiss said action, for the reason that the writ was made and indorsed by George W. Silver as attorney; that said Silver is not an attorney of said court, nor of any court in this state, and is not a person authorized to use the processes of said court in said action.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1875-03-12

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently June 1890

4 state decisions

20187518801890decided

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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¶1I think a writ bearing the teste of the chief justice, and authenticated by the seal and manual signature of the clerk, must be treated as legal process of the court from which it issues.

¶2I am of opinion, however, that the clerks should be directed not to issue blank writs thus authenticated to persons who are not attorneys, except as required by the statute. An abuse of legal process is an unmitigated evil at any time and under any circumstances: there may be times when such abuse would become an evil of serious and alarming magnitude. If the process of the court be only entrusted to the parties entitled by law to its use, and to officers of the court who may at any time be called to a summary account for its abuse, there is little danger of substantial grievances arising from this cause.

¶3I think the present motion must be denied, but that the clerks should not hereafter deliver blank writs with their signature and the seal of the court upon them to any but attorneys of the court and to parties and their regularly constituted attorneys, to be used by them in cases of their own.

¶4CUSHING, C. J., concurred.

¶5Motion denied.

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