Sunday, November 24, 2013

Kupferman v. Consolidated Research & Manufacturing Co. case brief

Kupferman v. Consolidated Research & Manufacturing Co. case brief summary
459 F.2d 1072 (2d Cir. 1972)


CASE SYNOPSIS
Appellant, former director of a corporation, appealed an order of the United States District for the Southern District of New York, which denied his motion to vacate a 1962 judgment awarding damages against the corporation in favor of appellee, receiver of an underwriting company.

CASE FACTS
The trial court entered a judgment in 1962, awarding damages to appellee, receiver of an underwriting company, against the corporation for the corporation's breach of an agreement to file a post-effective amendment with respect to shares issuable to the underwriting company if the underwriting was successfully completed. The corporation did not appeal the 1962 judgment. Pursuant to an action on a related matter against appellant, a former director of the corporation, appellant sought to vacate the 1962 judgment on the ground that the trial court would not have entered it if it had been aware of a release executed by the underwriting company in favor of the corporation, which was known to appellee's attorney but not to the corporation's. The trial court denied the motion.

DISCUSSION

  • The court affirmed the trial court's order, holding that the strong policy in favor of the finality of judgments justified the trial court's refusal to grant appellant's motion. 
  • The court ruled that since appellant had not initiated an independent action for fraud inter partes, he could only prevail upon a showing that appellee's attorney practiced fraud upon the trial court by not disclosing the release.
CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the trial court's decision, denying appellant former director's motion to vacate a 1962 judgment in favor of appellee receiver. The court ruled that since appellant had not initiated an independent action for fraud inter partes, he could only prevail upon a showing that appellee's attorney practiced fraud upon the trial court by not disclosing the release.

Recommended Supplements for Civil Procedure

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Evolution of Legal Marketing: From Billboards to Digital Leads

https://www.pexels.com/photo/coworkers-talking-outside-4427818/ Over the last couple of decades, the face of legal marketing has changed a l...