Wright v. Potomska Mills Corp.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract. The writ, dated June 23, 1883, and returnable to the Superior Court, described the parties as residents of- New Bedford, and stated the ad damnum at $500. At the return term, the plaintiff filed a declaration alleging that the defendant owed her $30, for work and labor; and the defendant filed a motion that the writ be amended by reducing the ad damnum, from $500 to $100, and also a motion to dismiss the action, for want of jurisdiction, on the ground that the debt…
Read the full summary
Contract. The writ, dated June 23, 1883, and returnable to the Superior Court, described the parties as residents of- New Bedford, and stated the ad damnum at $500. At the return term, the plaintiff filed a declaration alleging that the defendant owed her $30, for work and labor; and the defendant filed a motion that the writ be amended by reducing the ad damnum, from $500 to $100, and also a motion to dismiss the action, for want of jurisdiction, on the ground that the debt or damage did not exceed $100. Gardner, J., overruled both motions, as matter of law. Judgment was thereupon entered,…
1Opinion of the CourtMorton, C. J.
The Superior Court has original jurisdiction of actions wherein the debt or damages demanded exceed $100, the statute providing that “ no action shall be commenced in the court wherein the debt or damages demanded do not exceed one hundred dollars.” Pub. Sts. e. 152, § 9. The words “ debt or damages demanded,” as used in the various statutes of this Commonwealth defining the jurisdiction of the courts, have repeatedly been held to refer to the ad damnum of the writ, and not to the amount claimed in the declaration or proved at the trial. Clay v. Barlow, 123 Mass. 378, and cases cited, It is…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Clay v. BarlowMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1877