Balconades Ballroom, Inc. v. Superior Court

NOURSE, P. J.

This is an original proceeding in

mandamus

to require the respondent court to proceed with the trial on its merits of an action instituted in that court by petitioner. The respondent has appeared by demurrer and answer, but has submitted the latter without proof, hence we may confine our discussion to the points of law involved.

Petitioner is a Nevada corporation incorporated in that state on May 14, 1928. On that date certain individuals residing in California delivered to petitioner at Lovelock, Nevada, a written assignment of personal property including a chose in action. On October 8, 1928, the petitioner duly qualified under the laws of this state to do corporate business in California. On May 24, 1929, it commenced an action in the Superior Court in and for the City and County of San Francisco to recover upon the chose in action above mentioned. The cause was set for trial before a jury and after the plaintiff had presented a portion of its evidence the defendants moved to dismiss the action upon the grounds that the court was without jurisdiction and that the plaintiff did not have legal capacity to sue. The motion was granted on the first ground only and, lest it be argued that the order is good if supported by either ground, it is sufficient to say that the petitioner concededly qualified to do business in this state long prior to the commencement of the action and, as assignee of the claim, manifestly had legal capacity to sue on it.

[614]

On the question of jurisdiction the plaintiff raised a wholly false issue. It was their claim that the assignment was void because made prior to the time when the corporation qualified to do business in the state. But the assignment was executed and delivered in another state—delivered to a corporation which admittedly was qualified to receive ■ it. Hence the assignment was not void when made and delivered to the Nevada corporation. If it became unenforceable in this state at some future date because held by a corporation which may have thereafter run afoul of some of the laws of this state, that is precisely the question which the superior court would and should have jurisdiction to determine.

Thus, a court may find that a claim is barred by the statute of limitations, and if that defense is raised, judgment must go for defendant; it may find that a sale of corporation property was made in violation of the Corporate Securities Act (Stats. 1917, p. 673), or that an attempted sale of realty was in violation of law and hence unenforceable, but no one would contend that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear and determine those issues.