152 Iowa 559 | Iowa | 1911
The defendant, John E. Wilson, filed a statement of general consent to the sale of intoxicating liquors in Iowa county, which statement was held sufficient by the board of supervisors. An appeal was taken from such finding, and Wilson was made a party appellee and filed a bond, as required by section 2450 of the Code. Wilson, the plaintiff, and eleven others, were financially interested in sustaining the statement óf general consent, and, after the appeal had been taken from the action of the board and after Wilson had filed his bond, they all signed a written agreement to “jointly and severally . . . bear and pay, 'share and share alike,” all of the costs, expenses, and ’attorney’s fees incurred in sustaining said statement on the appeal. Wilson was by the writing appointed a committee of one to look after the interests of all and to collect and disburse for them. The litigation that followed was expensive, and the plaintiff herein was- called upon, from time to time, for his contri
We can readily see how there may have been a misunderstanding between the plaintiff and Mr. Sullivan, and we think the whole record fairly shows that there was one. All of the parties to the written agreement were directly interested in the result of the litigation over the statement of consent, and, so far as the record shows, the interest of all of the others was as great as that of Wilson. The plaintiff herein had paid his assessments, as they were -made, and there is no showing that he had ever attempted to escape from his share of the burden of the
It is evident that Wilson and the plaintiff are on the same footing as to their liability under the contract, and a judgment in favor of Wilson that compels the plaintiff to pay more than his share of the expense is inequitable and unjust, and, as we understand the record, that is the effect of the judgment against the plaintiff. Bor the reasons stated, we think the trial court erred in not vacating the judgment. The judgment is therefore reversed.