Ring v. Merchants Broom Co.

Citations

• 68 Fla. 515
• 67 So. 132

Syllabus

<p>Jurisdiction — Dependent on Amount Involved — Attorneys Fees When Part of Amount Involved.</p> <p>Where a promissory note for $400 principal, that expressly promised to pay interest at eight per cent per annum and attorneys fees for collection, was sued upon in the Circuit Court, the declaration specifically claiming such interest and attorneys fees, which, combined with the principal of such note, amounted, according to the verdict’ of the jury trying the case, to the total sum of $528 exclusive of the court costs taxed in the case: Held, That the Circuit Court rightly entertained jurisdiction in such case, the amount involved in the controversy between the parties being over $500, and this in a county where a County Court was established by law, which County Court under the Florida Constitution had exclusive jurisdiction of all suits at law in which the demand or value of the property involved shall not exceed five hundred dollars: Held, further, That attorneys fees being expressly promised in said note and specifically sued for and demanded in the declaration, became as much a part of the amount involved in the suit for the purpose of determining the jurisdiction of the court, as were the principal and interest of said note.</p>