Court Opinion

ID: 9610482
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:42:16.70186+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:00.033833
License: Public Domain

WADE, Justice
(concurring and dissenting).
I concur but I am not prepared to hold that the legislature intended by Section 58-2-1, U. C. A. 1943, to exempt from the provisions of that act persons doing business within this State under an assumed name who have no place of business here. I can think of no purpose or reason for requiring the filing of such an affidavit by a person who has a place of business which would not apply with equal force to a person who is doing business in this state without a place of business. If, as stated by the Oklahoma court, as quoted in the prevailing opinion, the chief purpose of such statutes is to inform the opposing parties of the names of *171the persons with whom they are dealing so as to facilitate actions and recovery, the fact that there was no place of business within the state does not seem to be a good reason why an out-of-state firm doing business within this state should not be required to file such affidavit, for a local firm might desire to institute action to enforce an obligation by instituting an action either within or outside of this state in order to reach out-of-state property. Also, a person may own property within this state and may be servable with process here without maintaining a place of business here. So the reasons advanced by the Oklahoma Court for excepting from the provisions of the statute persons without a place of business in the State based on the purposes of the statute seems wholly groundless.
The statute expressly provides that:
“No person or persons shall carry on or conduct or transact business in this state under an assumed name, or under any designation, name or style, corporate, partnership or otherwise, other than the real name or names of the individual or individuals conducting or transacting such business, unless such person or persons shall file”
the required affidavit. There is certainly nothing in this provision which suggests that a person would be exempt from filing such affidavit because he had no place of business within this state. Under that provision, the affidavit is required to be filed by every person carrying on or conducting or transacting business under an assumed name in this state. After that positive requirement that every such person shall file such an affidavit, the statute provides that such affidavit be filed “in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the principal place of business is.” From this, the prevailing opinion argues that the affidavit must be filed only in case there is a place of business within the state. The provision on which the prevailing opinion relies does not deal with the question of who shall file such affidavit but only in which county it shall be filed. In using these words, the legislature obviously overlooked the *172fact that a person or persons might carry on or conduct or transact business in this state without having a “principal place of business” here. While there seems to be some conflict in these two provisions, I do not think it reasonable to construe this statute to mean that only persons who have a place of business within this state must file such affidavit, much less only persons who have a “‘principal place of business.”
It seems to me that the legislature intended just as the statute expressly provides: That no one should carry on or conduct or transact business under an assumed name within this state without filing such affidavit. And where there is a principal place of business within the state, the affidavit should be filed in the county where such place of business is located; otherwise, it should be filed in the county where most of such business is transacted.
I express no opinion on the question as to whether the failure to file such an affidavit would preclude the party from maintaining or defending an action within this state. Here, since the court only awarded nominal damages, I think as a practical proposition it is immaterial what construction we place upon this statute for it does not materially affect the result of this action .
Except as to this point, I concur with the prevailing opinion.