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Common rule books contain a record of common rules (or orders) by the court, entered by the clerk on notice given or on filing of a judgment by an attorney for the winning party. Common rules were granted as a matter of course. Examples of common rules relating to a defendant's appearance and the subsequent pleadings are: order to defendant to plead; order to enter appearance of defendant; order to plaintiff to answer the defendant's plea (or vice versa); order to plaintiff to declare; order to discontinue a case; order to a party to join in demurrer There are also numerous rules relating to judgments and executions and to appealed cases. Common rules concerning change of venue or to commissions for the taking of testimony from material witnesses were technically special rules based on nonenumerated motions. These rules are more often found entered in the minute books.
Each entry in the common rule books contains the title of the cause, the name of the attorney seeking the rule, and the rule granted. The first party in the title may be either the plaintiff or the defendant, depending on which was granted the rule. If it is the plaintiff, the form is William Jones vs. John Smith. If it is the defendant, the form is John Smith ads. William Jones (ads. stands for ad sectam, "at the suit of"). The entries are alphabetical by the initial letters of the attorneys' names, then chronological. Each volume contains two sections, back-to-back, with different initial letters on the two covers. The common rule books are not indexed. The clerks of the Supreme Court of Judicature were directed to keep common rule books by order of the court in April term, 1796. Rule 64, adopted in 1829, continued this requirement.
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| J1165 |
Common Rule Books (Albany), 1797-1849. 101 vols.
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| J2165 |
Common Rule Books (Utica), 1804-49. 90 vols.
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| J0167 |
Common Rule Books (Geneva), 1829-47. 79 vols.
The clerk at Geneva also kept subsidiary common rule books for judgments obtained by plaintiffs on default during the years 1829 through 1839, series J2167, and for return of writs of capias ad respondendum for the years 1839 through 1847, series J1167.
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| J1167 |
Common Rule Books for Returns of Writs of Capias (Geneva), 1829-39. 10 vols.
The volumes in this series contain common rules ordering the appearance of defendants served with writs of capias ad respondendum. The rule was entered on notice by the plaintiff's attorney. If the defendant was not required to file special bail, another rule enters the appearance (the defendant's endorsement of the writ served and returned by the sheriff).If bail was required and the arrested defendant failed to put in special bail within twenty days, the plaintiffs attorney obtained a common rule directing the sheriff to arrest the defendant again.
Each entry in these books gives the case title, the rule entering the defendant's appearance or directing the sheriff to make a second arrest, the sheriff's fee in each case, and the name of the plaintiffs attorney. In place of a rule the entry may simply state that the defendant was arrested (and that he put in bail), or that he was not found. All rules for a particular county are found together in one book, and there are two sections in each book. Individual entries are grouped together under each court term, and similar rules are placed together. There are no indexes. Rules for the return of writs of capias are also found occasionally in the main series of Geneva Common Rule Books, J0167. The writs of capias ad respondendum are found in J0028.
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| J2167 |
Common Rule Books for Judgments on Default (Geneva), 1837-47. 9 vols.
The volumes in this series contain common rules for interlocutory or final judgments, in cases where a defendant failed to enter a plea to the plaintiffs declaration and therefore was in default. Most of the rules grant the plaintiff an interlocutory judgment and direct a county clerk to assess and report the damages due him. The same rule or a separate one gives final judgment to the plaintiff. Occasionally a common rule directs a sheriff or coroner to return a writ of inquiry with an inquisition by a jury into the amount of damages or debt due the plaintiff. In some instances the rule simply grants the plaintiff a final judgment for the amount claimed in his declaration, on default of the defendant. In actions of ejectment the judgment award is possession of and title to the premises in dispute.
Each entry in these books gives the case title, the rule granting the plaintiff interlocutory or final judgment, the amount of award if determined, and the name of the plaintiff's attorney. The entries are alphabetical under the first letter of the plaintiff's attorney's last name, then chronological. Similar rules are placed together. There are no indexes to these books, but J0138. Transcripts of Docket of Judgments (Geneva) indexes losing parties. For rules entering judgments on default prior to October 1837, see the Geneva common rule books, J0167.
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