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92 Wis. 267

Gianella v. Bigelow

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Decided January 28, 1896

Wisconsin Supreme Court · decided 1896-01-28

<p>Appeal from an order of the circuit court for Milwaukee county: D. H. Johnson, Circuit Judge.</p>

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““. . . it is obvious that the section was amended for the very purpose of restricting appeals. The right formerly ex isted from an order striking out a demurrer on motion as frivolous, independent of the right from the order sustaining or overruling the demurrer. Therefore, though the effect of the two orders is substantially the same, if the issue is brought to a hearing on regular notice for the first day of the term, general or special, an appeal may be taken from the order sustaining or overruling the demurrer. Tf a party sees fit to resort to the more summary method, by motion to strike out as frivolous, the order entered thereon will not be appealable.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including First Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee v. Carpenter

Relies on Western Union Railroad v. Dickson

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Dismissed · Decided 1896-01-28

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently April 1935

5 state decisions

2018961900191019201930decided

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 →

Maeshall, J.

¶1Defendants interposed a demurrer to plaintiff’s complaint, which, on motion, was struck out as frivolous, and from the order entered on such motion this appeal was taken.

¶2The date of the appeal is not later than. the 23d day of May, 1896. That is the date of the bond. The notice of appeal is not dated, nor does it appear when it was served.

¶3The right of appeal is purely statutory. Western U. R. Co. v. Dickson, 30 Wis. 389. So, unless the statute gives *268such right from an order striking out a demurrer as frivolous, it does not exist. Prior to ch. 212, Laws of 1895, subd.. 4, sec. 3069, S. & B. Ann. Stats., covered the subject, under ■which the right was clearly given in the following language: An order may be carried to the supreme court on appeal, “ when it involves the merits of the action or some part thereof; when it orders-judgment on application therefor, on account of the frivolousness of a demurrer, answer or reply, or strikes off such demurrer, cmsw&r or reply, on account of the frivolousness thereof.” But by ch. 212, referred to, which became a law April 12, 1895, sec. 3069 was amended by dropping out the whole of subd. 4 as it had theretofore existed, so that at the time this appeal was taken, the right in such cases did not exist.

¶4It is argued that, inasmuch as the motion to strike out under the practice established in this state brings the demurrer up for a hearing on the merits to all intents and purposes the same as if the issue was brought up for a hearing on regular notice of argument, the order should be held to be appealable, under subd. 3 of the revised section, which gives the right of appeal from an order overruling or sustaining a demurrer; but it is obvious that the section was amended for the very purpose of restricting appeals. The right formerly existed from an order striking out a demurrer on motion as frivolous, independent of the right from the order sustaining or overruling the demurrer. Therefore, though the effect of the two orders is substantially the same, if the issue is brought to a hearing on regular notice for the first day of the term, general or special, an appeal may be taken from the order sustaining or overruling the demurrer. If a party sees fit to resort to the ■ more summary method, by motion to strike out as frivolous, the order entered thereon will not be appealable.

¶5It follows that the appeal must be dismissed.

¶6By the Court.— The appeal is dismissed.

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