Mavity v. First of Georgia Insurance

MAVITY v. FIRST OF GEORGIA INSURANCE COMPANY

Mavity v. First of Ga. Ins., 156 S.E.2d 191 (Ga. Ct. App. 1967)

Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia · State Appellate Courts
Decided: May 22, 1967
Docket: No. 42794
Judges: Felton
Citations: 156 S.E.2d 191115 Ga. App. 7631967 Ga. App. LEXIS 1245

Cited by 9 1 descriptions by later courts

Opinion of the Court — Felton

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

Felton, Chief Judge.

1. “The principal place of business of a corporation as fixed by its charter is its legal residence and the only place it can be sued in the absence of the application of special statutory provisions. [Cases cited].” Singuefield v. General Oglethorpe Hotel Co., 113 Ga. App. 326, 327 ( 148 SE2d 92 ).

2. The provisions of Code Ann. § 56-1201 (3) (Ga. L. 1960, pp. 289, 500), authorizing venue for actions on any “claim or demand” on insurance companies in any county where the company’s “agent or place of doing business was located at the time the cause of action accrued or the contract was made out of which such cause of action arose” (emphasis supplied), do not apply to tort actions. “The object of the legislation is to fix the venue of actions against insurers on their contracts of insurance.” (Emphasis supplied.) Dependable Ins. Co. v. Gibbs, 218 Ga. 305, 313 (3) ( 127 SE2d 454 ).

3. Tort actions may be brought against any corporation chartered by authority of this State in the county where the cause of action originated only if the corporation has in such county an agent or, if there be none, then an agency or place of business. Code § 22-1102 (Ga. L. 1884-5, p. 99); Tuggle v. Enter *764 prise Lumber Co., 123 Ga. 480 ( 51 SE 433 ); Swift & Co. v. Lawson, 95 Ga. App. 35, 43 (1, a) ( 97 SE2d 168 ) and cases cited.

Hall and Eberhardt, JJ., concur.

Argued May 3, 1967 Decided May 22, 1967. Gearinger & Vineyard, H. H. Gearinger, for appellant. Cumming, Nixon, Eve, Waller •& Capers, Samuel C. Wall&r, Frank M. Gleason, for appellees.

4. “Where lack of jurisdiction appears on the face of the petition, it is proper to take advantage of such defect by demurrer.” Butler v. Winton, 56 Ga. App. 443, 448 ( 192 SE 835 ) and cit.

5. Accordingly, where the petition in this libel action, brought in the Superior Court of Catoosa County, shows that the defendant insurance company’s principal place of business is in Richmond County and that the plaintiff had been an agent of the defendants in Catoosa County at the time the alleged libelous letter was written, but was not their agent at the time the suit was filed, and fails to allege the existence of an agent, or an agency or place of business of the defendants in Catoosa County at the time the action was brought, the jurisdiction and venue of such action was in Richmond County, notwithstanding the service of the defendants by second original. The trial court, therefore, did not err in its judgment sustaining the general demurrer to the petition on the ground of the court’s lack of jurisdiction.

Judgment affirmed.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 1 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

(no insurance venue because case arose out of insurer’s role as employer, not as insurer)

First Am. Title Ins. v. Broadstreet, 580 S.E.2d 676 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003)

Cited by 9 cases

View all citing references →

Relies on it most ⓘ

Patterman v. Travelers, Inc.510 S.E.2d 307 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998)
Travelers, Inc. v. Patterman527 S.E.2d 187 (Ga. 2000)
In re Carmichael Enterprises, Inc.334 F. Supp. 94 (N.D. Ga. 1971)
C. W. Matthews Contracting Co. v. Capital Ford Truck Sales, Inc.254 S.E.2d 426 (Ga. Ct. App. 1979)
Paul Heuring Motors, Inc. v. State Board of Tax Commissioners620 N.E.2d 39 (Ind. T.C. 1993)
Stinnett v. Ellis173 S.E.2d 454 (Ga. Ct. App. 1970)

Most recent

First American Title Insurance v. Broadstreet580 S.E.2d 676 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003)
Travelers, Inc. v. Patterman527 S.E.2d 187 (Ga. 2000)
Patterman v. Travelers, Inc.510 S.E.2d 307 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998)
Paul Heuring Motors, Inc. v. State Board of Tax Commissioners620 N.E.2d 39 (Ind. T.C. 1993)
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Lott271 S.E.2d 833 (Ga. 1980)
C. W. Matthews Contracting Co. v. Capital Ford Truck Sales, Inc.254 S.E.2d 426 (Ga. Ct. App. 1979)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 5

Depth	Case	Cited by
	Dependable Ins. Co. v. Gibbs, 127 S.E.2d 454 (Ga. 1962)	66
	Tuggle v. Enter. Lumber Co., 51 S.E. 433 (Ga. 1905)	27
	Swift & Co. v. Lawson, 97 S.E.2d 168 (Ga. Ct. App. 1957)	18
	Butler v. Winton, 192 S.E. 835 (Ga. Ct. App. 1937)	4
	Singuefield v. Gen. Oglethorpe Hotel Co., 148 S.E.2d 92 (Ga. Ct. App. 1966)	3

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