Gardner v. Rule

Plaintiff Gardner, payee in a cognovit note of defendant Rule, the maker, brought this action against the latter and recovered judgment upon it. There was no service of summons on the defendant, and he did not appear in the case in person or by an attorney of his own selection. Acting upon the authority conferred by the cognovit instrument, an attorney at law, selected by the plaintiff not the defendant’s attorney, appeared in the action and confessed judgment on the note in favor of the plaintiff. Seasonably, and within a short time after the defendant first learned of the existence of this…