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Summary of Opinion: Dennis Sullivan (Plaintiff) v. Ira E. Sparks (Defendant), No. 30109 (St. Louis Court of Appeals, Missouri, Dec. 2, 1958)

Factual and Procedural Background

On October 5, 1956, plaintiff instituted a suit in the Magistrate Court of the City of St. Louis seeking $550 in damages to his truck, allegedly sustained in a July 9, 1956 collision with defendant's car at the intersection of U.S. Highway No. 40 and U.S. Highway No. 79 in St. Charles County, Missouri. Summons was served on the defendant on October 17, 1956. On the return day, October 30, 1956, the defendant appeared, filed an answer denying negligence and asserting the plaintiff's sole negligence, and filed a two-count counterclaim seeking $1,800 for personal injuries (count 1) and $2,200 for damages to his car (count 2). The transcript reflects that the Magistrate Court found a verified counterclaim exceeding the Magistrate Court's jurisdiction had been filed within twenty days after the return date and that the cost of certification had been paid under Section 517.240, RSMo 1949; accordingly the Magistrate Court certified the cause to the Circuit Court for further action.

At the Circuit Court the case remained untried until January 17, 1957, when the plaintiff moved to dismiss the defendant's counterclaim on the basis that the counterclaim had not been verified as required by Section 517.240 (as amended by Laws 1955, p. 311), and therefore the Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. Following a hearing, the Circuit Court sustained plaintiff's motion and dismissed the counterclaim; the record does not show that the case was retransferred to the Magistrate Court. Defendant moved to set aside the dismissal and for rehearing or new trial; that motion was overruled, and defendant appealed to the Court of Appeals.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the defendant's appeal is authorized in the absence of a final judgment disposing of all issues and all parties in the case.
  2. Whether an order dismissing a counterclaim (or cross-claim) is appealable when the plaintiff's original petition remains undetermined in the trial court.

Arguments of the Parties

The opinion does not contain a detailed account of the parties' legal arguments.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
Samuel C. Stout Co., Inc. v. Inter-City Mfg. Co., Inc., Mo.App., 251 S.W.2d 978 The right of appeal exists only as provided by statute; appeals are favored and statutes granting appeal are to be liberally construed, but liberality does not extend absent a statutory basis for the claimed appeal. The court cited this authority to support the proposition that the right to appeal must rest on statutory authorization and that no statutory basis supported the appellant's claimed appeal here.
Hahn v. Hahn, Mo., 297 S.W.2d 559 Recognizes the general rule that appeals from orders or judgments which do not dispose of all issues and all parties are unauthorized under the Code and the Rules of the Supreme Court, unless issues were separately tried and separate judgments rendered. Used as part of a line of authorities establishing that partial dispositions are generally not appealable as final judgments.
Pizzo v. Pizzo, 365 Mo. 1224, 295 S.W.2d 377 Same general rule regarding appealability only from final determinations of the rights of the parties. Queried as supporting the proposition that an appeal must arise from a final judgment disposing of all issues and parties.
Kidd v. Katz Drug Co., Mo.App., 244 S.W.2d 605 Same general rule and also cited in the context that appeal from an order dismissing a counterclaim is premature where plaintiff's petition remains. Cited to show precedent holding such appeals premature and therefore not authorized.
Bennett v. Wood, Mo., 239 S.W.2d 325 Holds that an appeal from an order which dismisses plaintiff's petition but does not dispose of the defendant's counterclaim is premature. Relied upon to show the uniformity of authority that partial dismissals are not appealable.
Deeds v. Foster, Mo., 235 S.W.2d 262 Same as Bennett: an appeal from an order dismissing plaintiff's petition that leaves other claims undetermined is premature. Used to reinforce the rule against appeals from non-final orders.
White v. Sievers, 359 Mo. 145, 221 S.W.2d 118 Same principle — appeals from partial dispositions are premature. Cited along with other authorities to show uniformity of the rule.
State ex rel. State Highway Commission v. Hammel, Mo., 290 S.W.2d 113 An appeal from an order dismissing a counterclaim or cross-claim which does not dispose of the plaintiff's petition is premature. Cited specifically to demonstrate that dismissal of counterclaims, leaving the plaintiff's petition unresolved, is not an appealable final judgment.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Court of Appeals began by addressing plaintiff's motion to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the trial court had rendered no final judgment disposing of all issues in the case. The court noted the governing statutes: Section 512.020 RSMo 1949 (authorizing appeals from final judgments) and Section 511.020's definition of judgment as the final determination of the parties' rights in the action. The court explained the well-established general rule — supported by cited authorities — that appeals lie only from final judgments that dispose of all issues and parties unless the issues were separately tried and separate judgments entered.

Applying that principle, the court observed that neither it nor the appellant identified any authority that would permit the present appeal under the circumstances here, where the Circuit Court had dismissed only the defendant's counterclaim and had not disposed of the plaintiff's original petition nor entered separate judgments. The opinion reviewed multiple precedents holding that appeals from orders dismissing a plaintiff's petition (leaving counterclaims pending) or from orders dismissing counterclaims (leaving the plaintiff's petition pending) are premature. Based on those authorities and the statutory framework, the court concluded there was no statutory or precedential basis to entertain the appellant's appeal.

Holding and Implications

DISMISSED. The court adopted the commissioner's opinion and dismissed the defendant's appeal.

Implications: The direct legal consequence is that the defendant's appeal from the Circuit Court's order dismissing his counterclaim was dismissed for lack of an appealable final judgment. The opinion does not announce or purport to establish a new rule of law; it applies existing statutory definitions and controlling precedents to find the appeal premature. No broader or additional implications beyond the dismissal of this appeal are discussed in the opinion.

Disposition: Appeal of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis dismissed. RUDDY, P.J., and WOLFE and ANDERSON, JJ., concur.

DENNIS SULLIVAN (PLAINTIFF), RESPONDENT, v. IRA E. SPARKS (DEFENDANT), APPELLANT.

DOERNER, Commissioner.

On October 5, 1956, plaintiff instituted in the Magistrate Court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, a suit for damages to his truck in the sum of $550, alleged to have been sustained in a collision with the defendant's car on July 9, 1956, at the intersection of U.S. Highway No. 40 and U.S. Highway No. 79 in St. Charles County, Missouri. Summons was issued and served on the defendant on October 17. Defendant consulted one of his co-counsel, who prepared some pleadings for him. On the return day, October 30, 1956, defendant appeared in the Magistrate Court with his other co-counsel, filed his answer and counterclaim, and paid the clerk of the court the sum of $2, the amount of costs requested.

In the answer filed by him defendant denied the allegations of negligence on his part and charged that whatever damages plaintiff might have sustained to his truck were the result of plaintiff's sole negligence. In the counterclaim, divided into two counts, defendant prayed for damages in the sum of $1,800 for personal injuries in count 1, and in count 2 for the sum of $2,200, because of damages to his car. The transcript shows that on the same day that defendant filed his answer and counterclaim, the Magistrate Court entered the following order:

"October 30 Answer and counterclaim filed.

"It now appearing to the court that a verified counterclaim exceeding the jurisdiction of the Magistrate Court was filed within twenty days after return date of summons on the defendant and that the Cost of certification was paid in accordance with Section 517.240, Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1949 [V.A.M.S.], the Court finds from all of the records that said cause should be certified to the Circuit Court and does hereby certify said cause to the Circuit Court for further action."

The cause was thereupon certified to the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, where it remained untried until January 17, 1957, on which day plaintiff filed a motion to dismiss defendant's counterclaim. In brief, the basis for the motion was that defendant had not complied with the provisions of Section 517.240 as enacted in Laws 1955, p. 311, in that the defendant had failed to verify the truth of the allegations contained in his counterclaim; that the counterclaim accordingly could not be entertained; and that the court was without jurisdiction to hear the same. After a hearing on the motion, including testimony of the plaintiff regarding the circumstances surrounding the filing of the counterclaim and the payment of costs, the Circuit Court sustained plaintiff's motion to dismiss defendant's counterclaim but, so far as the transcript shows, did not order that the cause be retransferred to the Magistrate Court. Defendant thereupon filed what was denominated as a motion to set aside the Court's order and judgment dismissing his counterclaim and to grant defendant a rehearing, or in the alternative a new trial. Upon the overruling of that motion, defendant appealed to this court.

We are met at the outset of this case with a motion by plaintiff to dismiss defendant's appeal on the grounds that no final judgment disposing of all the issues in the case was rendered by the lower court. The motion is well taken, and must be sustained.

In Samuel C. Stout Co., Inc. v. Inter-City Mfg. Co., Inc., Mo.App., 251 S.W.2d 978, 979, this court said:

"It is fundamental that the right of appeal exists only as provided by statute; and while appeals are favored, and statutes granting the right of appeal are to be liberally construed, there is no room for indulging liberality unless there is some reasonable statutory basis for the exercise of the right which is being claimed in the particular case."

Section 512.020 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S., governs who may appeal. The only part which might be applicable here is that "Any party * * * may take his appeal * * * from any final judgment in the case." Section 511.020 defines a judgment as "* * * the final determination of the right of the parties in the action." It is the general rule that appeals from orders or judgments which do not dispose of all of the issues and all of the parties in the case are unauthorized under the Code and the Rules of our Supreme Court, unless the issues were separately tried and separate judgments rendered thereon. Hahn v. Hahn, Mo., 297 S.W.2d 559; Pizzo v. Pizzo, 365 Mo. 1224, 295 S.W.2d 377; Kidd v. Katz Drug Co., Mo.App., 244 S.W.2d 605.

No case has been cited to us, nor have we found any, which supports the appellant's right to appeal under the facts and circumstances which exist in this matter. To the contrary, the authorities are uniform in holding that an appeal from an order which dismisses plaintiff's petition but does not dispose of defendant's counterclaim is premature. Bennett v. Wood, Mo., 239 S.W.2d 325; Deeds v. Foster, Mo., 235 S.W.2d 262; White v. Sievers, 359 Mo. 145, 221 S.W.2d 118. And more to the point, an appeal from an order dismissing a counterclaim or a cross-claim which does not dispose of plaintiff's petition has likewise been held to be premature. State ex rel. State Highway Commission v. Hammel, Mo., 290 S.W.2d 113; Samuel C. Stout Co., Inc., v. InterCity Mfg. Co., Inc., Mo.App., 251 S.W.2d 978; Kidd v. Katz Drug Co., Mo.App., 244 S.W.2d 605.

The Commissioner therefore recommends that the appeal be dismissed.

[9] PER CURIAM.

The foregoing opinion by DOERNER, C., is adopted as the opinion of the court.

The appeal of the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis is, accordingly dismissed.

RUDDY, P. J., and WOLFE and ANDERSON, JJ., concur.

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SULLIVAN v. SPARKS
(Dec 2, 1958)