# Dempsey v. Board of Trustees of the Boston Public School Teachers' Retirement Fund

> Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division · October 27, 1938 · 3 Mass. App. Div. 383

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9294047

## Case

- **Full name:** NELSON W. DEMPSEY v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS' RETIREMENT FUND
- **Court:** Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division
- **Decided:** October 27, 1938
- **Citations:** 3 Mass. App. Div. 383
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion of the court by Bolster
- **Judges:** Bolster
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9294047

## Opinion text

Bolster, C. J .
The original writ described the defendants only by the above title. There is at law no such legal person. The named defendant, so-called, is neither a natural person, nor a corporation, nor an association as defined in G. L. (Ter. Ed.) Ch. 182, sec. 6, cf. Bouchard v. First People’s Trust, 253 Mass. 351 , nor is the writ a writ in rem. No valid judgment could be entered upon such a writ nor could any execution be effectively served. The fact that counsel assumed to accept service “for the de *384 fendants” cannot give jurisdiction where there is none, and the court must take notice of the limitations upon its own power. This writ is void. Since the plaintiff does not wish to amend, we do not decide whether such a writ is amendable. The case cited appears to ' indicate that it is.
Action dismissed.

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9294047. Public record. Not legal advice.