Eberhardt v. Harkless

Citations

• 115 F. 816
• 1902 U.S. App. LEXIS 4974

Syllabus

<p>1. Attorneys at Law — Liability for Negligence — Inappropriate Action for Breach of Contract.</p> <p>A verbal contract, made by agents of a corporation in its bebalf, to employ plaintiff either so long as the agents should remain with the company or so long as the company should continue in business, was not one for such a definite term that attorneys employed by plaintiff to enforce his rights thereunder after his discharge were guilty of 'negligence because they brought an action to recover wages at the contract rate to the time of its commencement, instead of one to recover full damages for its breach.</p> <p>2. Same — Action for Damages.</p> <p>Plaintiff sued to recover damages alleged to have been sustained through the negligence of defendants as attorneys. The petition alleged that plaintiff had a contract with a corporation for his employment at stated wages during his natural life; that on his discharge he employed defendants to prosecute his claim against the company; that through negligence or gross ignorance of the law they brought an action to recover wages under the contract to that date,' and recovered, but that such recovery operated as a bar to any subsequent action, because the damages for breach of the contract were indivisible, and that a second suit brought by defendants failed for that reason. Plaintiff’s testimony on the stand failed to support his allegation as to the contract. He stated that certain agents representing the corporation agreed to employ him so long as they should be with the company, and again that they agreed that he should be employed so long as the company was in business. Neither did his evidence sustain the claim that his second suit failed because of the former recovery, but the record showed that it was dismissed because of his failure to comply with an order requiring him to give security for costs, after he had been granted leave to amend his petition. Held that, assuming that plaintiff stated his case to defendants