O'BRIEN v. Hessman

The appellant contends that the disposition of the 1952 action does not preclude the present litigation. The respondent maintains that the judgment dismissing the 1952 complaint on its merits is a bar to the present action.

Generally, a prior adjudication is a bar to a subsequent action involving the same parties and the same cause of action. This is the doctrine of res judicata. See Will of Nunnemacher (1939), 230 Wis. 93, 283 N. W. 326, and Rahr v. Wittmann (1911), 147 Wis. 195, 132 N. W. 1107. See also Restatement, Judgments, p. 191, sec. 48, and Charles, Res Adjudicata and Estoppel by…