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Kridelbaugh v. Aldrehn Theaters Co., 191 N.W 803 (Iowa)

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Kridelbaugh v. Aldrehn Theaters Co., 191 N.W 803 (Iowa)

Three persons, J.L. Adams, Mrs. J. W. Adams, and W. D. Jamieson, were involved in

operating and promoting theaters in Iowa. They incorporated the Adams Theater Company, and

the plaintiff was employed and compensated for services related to that. It is undisputed that the

services were performed and the expenses were incurred. Besides the request of the promoters of

the defendant corporation, the promoters promised to pay the plaintiff $1500 for his services.

Under these facts, the initial question is whether the corporation was liable to the plaintiff.

The agency doctrine is bottomed on the fiction of the identity of the principal and agent.

There was no principal when the contract in suit was made. Consequently, there was no agency

when the contract in the suit was made. Principal and agent are correlative and coexistent terms.

Promoters are individually liable on their contracts, and this is true whether or not their efforts

and initiative result in a corporation being called into existence. The answer to the question of

whether the corporation was liable is negative. The promoters of a new corporation hired a

lawyer to help them incorporate a business, and the lawyer assisted the promoters in

incorporating but was not paid for his services. I opine that the corporation is liable to the

lawyer.
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References

Kridelbaugh v. Aldrehn Theatres Co., 191 N.W. 803, 195 iowa 147 (1923 ... (n.d.). Retrieved

October 20, 2022, from https://www.quimbee.com/cases/kridelbaugh-v-aldrehn-theatres-co