Brady against The Supervisors of the City and County of New-York

Brady against The Supervisors of the City and County of New-York. A claim for services rendered as counsel for the board of supervisors of a county is a county charge. No action for the recovery of a county charge can be maintained against a county, or the board of supervisors. The supervisors of a county, as such, are not a body corporate, and possess no powers as a corporation. Assumpsit, commenced in the superior court of the city of New-York in 1847, to recover compensation for services as counsel for the defendants during the three years next preceding the commencement of the action. The plea was the general issue. Upon the trial, before referees, it was contended on the part of the defence that the action, being in form against the county, could not be sustained, because the services, if any, were a county charge, and because the remedy in such cases, is pointed out by statute (1 R. S., 385, §§ 1, 2, 3, 4; Id., 418, § 4, subd. 2); and that such a claim must be presented to the board of supervisors, who are empowered to settle it, and who act, in the exercise of this power, as a judicial body. The referees decided, however, that the action was maintainable, and reported in favor of the plaintiff for the sum of $2475. This report was set aside on motion at general term, and the plaintiff appealed. James T. Brady, appellant, in person. N. Hill, Jr., for the. respondents. [MAJORITY] The judgment of the superior court was affirmed here for the reasons given in that court by Oakley, Ch. J., and reported 2 Sandf. S. C. R., 460.