Court Opinion

ID: 9847468
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:00:15.857267+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:14.305757
License: Public Domain

Jordan, Justice,
dissenting. In my opinion the facts and pleadings of this case bring it within the purview of Code Ann. § 81A-119 (a). To avoid a multiplicity of suits and provide a just adjudication of the controversy the defendant Smith should be able to join Foster as a party defendant, or in my opinion bring him in as a third party defendant, the holding in Register v. Stone’s Independent Oil Distributors, 227 Ga. 123, cited in the majority opinion, to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Superior Court of Whitfield County is the proper venue by reason of the defendant Smith’s residence. The defendant Smith’s pleadings are to the effect that he and Foster are partners doing business in Whitfield County; that he had made payments to Foster sufficient to satisfy any claim plaintiff might have against him; and that Foster has assumed all prior indebtedness of his under such agreement. To allow joinder of Foster under these circumstances would not defeat the plaintiffs right of election but merely bring into court all parties necessary to a just adjudication of the controversy, allowing plaintiff to recover under proper proof against either or both of the defendants.
In my opinion this court should re-examine its holding in the Register case, supra, relied on in the majority opinion. This holding has had a chilling effect on the more liberal venue aspects of the Civil Practice Act and third party practice in general. We have recently clarified it to some extent in Shell v. Watts, 229 Ga. 474 (192 SE2d 265). Also, this court in two recent opinions has liberally construed the Long Arm Statutes so as to make *211non-resident defendants more amenable to the courts of this state. Georgia’s hodge-podge constitutional and statutory venue provisions have long needed a revision in the light of modern day requirements. See Venue in Georgia: Problems and Proposals, 9 Ga. State Bar Journal 254, Nov., 1972.