Cupples Company Manufacturers v. Farmers & Merchants State Bank

The appellee Bank agreed to pay checks drawn on it by depositor Trimble in favor of appellant Cupples up to the amount of $10,000. The agreement contained no provision to pay attorney fees upon default. Cupples sold goods to Trimble and presented to the Bank Trimble’s check for $9,903.64. The Bank refused payment.

Cupples’s diversity action against the Bank was dismissed for want of jurisdictional amount. On this appeal Cupples claims that jurisdictional amount is met by the liability of the Bank for attorney fees under Texas law. 1 Attorney fees are includible in the jurisdictional amount in…