Holder Turpentine Co. v. M. C. Kiser Co.

Citations

• 68 Fla. 312
• 67 So. 85

Syllabus

<p>1. A plea in abatement that the plaintiff foreign corporation had not complied with Chapter 5717, Acts of 1907, by filing its Charter, etc., is subject to demurrer when it does not in effect aver that the foreign corporation plaintiff was not doing business in this State when the pleaded statute was enacted.</p> <p>2. A judgment by default operates to deprive a defendant of substantial rights in contesting the liability alleged against him by the plaintiff’s declaration; and such consequences are lawful only when the defaults are duly authorized.</p> <p>3. In our law the authority to enter default judgments is regulated by statute, though rules of court may prescribe further regulation to make the statutory provisions effective; but such rules should not be inconsistent with the statutes on the subject.</p> <p>4. The statutes authorize the entry of default judgments in law actions “if the defendant shall fail to appear, * * * or shall fail to plead or demur, at the time heretofore provided” thus showing the word “plead” has reference to the plea. required by a previous section.</p> <p>5. Buies of court relative to entry of default should be construed with reference to the statutory provisions authorizing judg- ' ments by default. Thus construed the Circuit Court Rules on the subject do not authorize the entry of a default without notice for failure to file, within the terms fixed by the rules, a rejoinder to a replication that requires an answer, there being no order of the court with reference to filing the rejoinder.</p> <p>6. The court is not authorized to enter a default without notice for failure to file within the time fixed by Circuit Court Rule 20, a rejoinder to a replication that requires an answer, there being no order of the court with reference to filing the rejoinder.</p> <p>7. Tinder Chapter 5960, Acts of 1909, when attorney fees are recoverable in actions on notes, the reasonableness of the fees should be adjudged by the court.</p>