Opinion

Scott v. Brown

  • 27 Misc. 203
  • 57 N.Y.S. 763
Court
Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York
Filed
Apr 15, 1899
Status
Published
Author
Leventritt
On the bench
Leventritt, MacLean
Cited by
1 cases
Authority
More cited than 25.3%

The opinion

Leventritt, J. (concurring).

The custom which . the plaintiffs’ invoke was not such a uniform, continuous and general usage that the defendant must be presumed to .have contracted with reference to it. Dickinson v. City of Poughkeepsie, 75 N. Y. 65, 77. It was rather local, partial or personal, having reference to a par- i ticular trade. Such a custom raises no conclusive presumption (Walls v. Bailey, 49 N. Y. 464 ), and it was, therefore, necessary *205 for the plaintiffs to show that the defendant had knowledge of its existence. Harris v. Tumbridge,, 83 N. Y. 92, 100 . Hot only is there no evidence of knowledge, or notice on the part of the defendant, but the latter affirmatively testified that no such custom obtained, and that if it did, he was entirely ignorant of its prevalence. Ho claim is made that the usage was expressly incorporated in the contract.

The court below erred in that it applied the principles appertaining to a general custom, of which no one can be heard to profess ignorance, instead of those relating to a special custom, knowledge, of which must be brought home to the contracting parties. ■ The judgment must, therefore, be reversed.

Judgment reversed, with costs to appellant to abide event.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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