Brown v. First Nat. Bank

Citations

• 132 F. 450
• 66 C.C.A. 293
• 1904 U.S. App. LEXIS 4339

Syllabus

<p>1. Practice — Splitting Cause of Action Bars.</p> <p>One who avails himself, by action or by defense to an action, of a part of an indivisible claim or cause of action, thereby estops himself from again maintaining an action or defense founded upon it One may not split his cause of action.</p> <p>2. Res Adjudicata — Failure to Interpose Defenses.</p> <p>Judgment in an action in which the defendant fails to interpose purely defensive matters renders such matters res adjudicata, and estops him from obtaining any relief on account of them.</p> <p>8. Same — Failure to Interpose Facts Constituting Affirmative Action.</p> <p>The failure by a defendant to interpose before judgment facts which constitute both a defense to the action and an affirmative cause of action against the plaintiff does not estop him from enforcing the latter.</p> <p>4. Same — Defendant has Option to Use Such Facts as Defense or Affirmative Cause.</p> <p>A defendant who has a claim which constitutes a defense to the action, against him and an affirmative cause of action against the plaintiff has the option to use it for defense or for attack, but he cannot do both. If he avails himself of any part of it in defense of the action against him, he is thereby conclusively estopped from subsequently maintaining an action against the plaintiff upon any portion of it, and he loses the excess.</p> <p>B. Collateral Security-Wrongful Surrender by Pledgee.</p> <p>The wrongful surrender by a pledgee, either intentionally or through culpable negligence, of collateral security, furnishes the pledgor with a cause of action against him in tort or upon contract, at his option, for the value of the securities thus surrendered.</p> <p>6. Same — Defense by Sureties — Wrongful Surrender by Pledgee.</p> <p>The wrongful surrender of collateral securities by a creditor, without the knowledge of sureties, for the payment of the debt, discharges them from liability therefor, either entirely or pro tanto, according to the va