Morrison Drilling Co., Inc. v. Superior Court

GRIFFIN, P. J.

This is a petition for a writ of certiorari to review an order of the respondent superior court staying all proceedings in the trial of an action until plaintifE therein (petitioner here) has brought into the action a party alleged to be indispensable.

Petitioner brought the action in the superior court against certain members of a joint venture to recover for the value of services alleged to have been rendered on behalf of the joint venture. The defendants who had been served in the action demurred on the ground that petitioner had failed to join Batzer Oil Corporation, a Wyoming corporation, as a defendant and that Batzer Oil Corporation was one of the members of the joint venture, a joint obligor, and an indispensable party. By leave of court, petitioner filed an amended complaint naming Batzer Oil Corporation as a party defendant. However, petitioner was unsuccessful in his attempts to serve Batzer Oil Corporation within the State of California and petitioner’s motion to serve Batzer Oil Corporation as a foreign corporation doing business in the state, by service on the secretary of state, was denied because no showing was made that Batzer Oil Corporation had conducted any business

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within the State of California. Thereafter, the petitioner brought this petition for a writ of certiorari.

The complaint alleges that petitioner is a Wyoming corporation and that about August 17,1959, the respondents here and Batzer Oil Corporation entered into a written joint venture agreement whereby they agreed to drill an oil and gas well in Converse County, Wyoming. It is alleged that Batzer Oil Corporation, acting as the agent of the respondents, entered into an oral contract with petitioner in Wyoming whereby petitioner was to supply and did supply services and materials in connection with the drilling of an oil and gas well in Converse County, Wyoming. Petitioner alleges that the reasonable value of the services and materials supplied by it is $11,351.64 and that it has been paid no part of this amount. It is alleged that the respondents and each of them are indebted to petitioner in the amount of $11,351.64.

Appended to the original complaint is a contract between respondents and Batzer Oil Corporation. In this contract, it is agreed that Batzer Oil Corporation owns certain interests in oil leases in Converse County, Wyoming, that the'parties agree to drill a test well on the leased land and that Batzer Oil Corporation shall be the agent of the parties in charge of the actual drilling of the well. It is provided that each of the parties, including Batzer Oil Corporation, shall have either a one-eighth or a one-fourth interest in the proceeds of the joint venture and in its obligations. It does not clearly appear whether this contract was entered into within the State of California. At the head of the contract, or letter purporting to be the contract, is noted “4252 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles 4, California, August 17, 1959.” It is directed to William L. Bush at 3950 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, California and is purportedly signed by all parties on August 18, 1959, including Batzer Oil Corporation by F. G. Batzer, vice president. The complaint does not allege the place where the agreement was executed.