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60 How. Pr. 308

Livermore v. Berdell

New York Court of Common Pleas

Decided January 15, 1881

New York Court of Common Pleas · decided 1881-01-15

Edward Livermore, Henry Clews and J. Livermore, stockbrokers, brought a suit in April, 1877, in the court of common pleas, against Robert H. Berdell, formerly president of the Erie Railway Company, to recover a balance of account, as his broker, upon stock transactions between November, 1876, and April, 1877.

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently May 1900

1 state decisions

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1881-01-15

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J. F. Daly, J.

¶1As defendant has interposed a counterclaim, it is not a matter of course that plaintiff shall be allowed to discontinue, but the order is discretionary. Plaintiff’s object in discontinuing is to commence a new action and obtain a new order of arrest, this order of arrest in this action having been vacated. Leave to discontinue should not be granted for that reason. The courts are opposed to arresting a defendant twice for the same cause of action (See Wright agt. Rutterman, 1 Abb. [N. S.], 428, 431, 432; Enoch agt. Ernst, 21 How. P. R., 96). If the plaintiff’s action were not maintainable, he should be allowed to discontinue, and a new order of arrest for a new action might be granted (People agt. Tweed, 63 N. Y., 202). But.if the second action be brought merely for the purpose of arresting defendant, after plaintiff has failed through his own fault to sustain the first arrest, the proceedings in the second action might well be regarded as intended onlj to vex and harass defendant.

¶2The motion to discontinue must be denied, with ten dollars costs.

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