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98 N.Y. 458

Nichols v. . MacLean

New York Court of Appeals

Decided March 10, 1885

New York Court of Appeals · decided 1885-03-10

This was a motion to dismiss an appeal because of a failure to give an undertaking as required by the Code of Civil Procedure (§ 1334), and because of a failure to notice the appeal for argument and put case on calendar. An undertaking was given, signed by the appellant and the Fidelity and Casualty Company, with no other surety.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1885-03-10

How this case has been cited

Cited by 8 later decisions (2 by the Supreme Court) — most recently December 1967

5 state decisions

30188518901900191019201930194019501960decided

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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Rapallo, J.

¶1 The Code of Civil Procedure (§ 1334) requires that an undertaking on appeal to this court be executed by at least two sureties. The appellant cannot himself sign as a surety. (Morss v. Hasbrouck, 10 Abb. N. C. 407.)

¶2 The act of 1881 (chap. 486) does not repeal section 1334 of the Code, and is not inconsistent with it. That act applies only to bonds or undertakings which are to be accepted or approved by a head of department, surrogate, judge, sheriff, district attorney, or other officer, and it merely authorizes any officer who is required to approve any such bond or undertaking, to accept and approve the same, in his discretion, when its conditions are guaranteed by a duly incorporated guaranty company.

¶3 The undertaking on appeal in this case is not one whose-sufficiency is made to depend upon the approval of any judge or officer. On the contrary, it does not even require approval (Code, § 1335), and the approval of' a judge cannot be substituted for the two sureties required by law. If it could, then the act of 1881 would be applicable and would authorize the judge to give the approval; but there is no law which declares either the approval of a judge or the guaranty by a corporation, equivalent to two sureties. We, therefore, conclude that the undertaking before us, being executed only by the appellant and the Fidelity and Casualty Company, with no other surety, is insufficient.

¶4 The second ground upon which the motion to dismiss is founded (viz., want of prosecution) is untenable. The appellant is bound only to file the return and serve the printed cases. The respondent, if he wishes to expedite the ease, can himself put it upon the calendar and give notice of argument.

¶5 The motion to dismiss the appeal should be granted, unless *460 within thirty ¿ays the appellant files a proper undertaking and pays the costs of this motion.

All concur.

¶6 Ordered accordingly.

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