Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 30 of 34
Full-Text Articles in Law
From The Wrong End Of The Telescope: A Response To Professor David Bernstein, Margaret A. Berger, Aaron D. Twerski
From The Wrong End Of The Telescope: A Response To Professor David Bernstein, Margaret A. Berger, Aaron D. Twerski
Michigan Law Review
On the pages of this law review, in an article entitled Uncertainty and Informed Choice: Unmasking Daubert, the authors argued for the recognition of a new product liability cause of action when drug companies fail to warn about uncertain risks attendant to the use of non-therapeutic drugs whose purpose is to enhance lifestyle. We noted that in the post-Daubert era, plaintiffs have faced increasing difficulty in proving that a given toxic agent was causally responsible for the injuries suffered after ingesting a drug. That plaintiffs cannot overcome the barriers to proving injury causation does not mean that defendants have met …
Learning The Wrong Lessons From "An American Tragedy": A Critique Of The Berger-Twerski Informed Choice Proposal, David E. Bernstein
Learning The Wrong Lessons From "An American Tragedy": A Critique Of The Berger-Twerski Informed Choice Proposal, David E. Bernstein
Michigan Law Review
Margaret Berger and Aaron Twerski are among the leading scholars in their respective fields of Evidence and Products Liability. I have benefited from their work on many occasions. Precisely because of the deserved respect and esteem in which Berger and Twerski are held-not to mention the prominence of their forum, the Michigan Law Review-their proposal to create a new "informed choice" cause of action in pharmaceutical litigation is likely to receive sympathetic attention. Because I believe that their proposal is ill-conceived and dangerous, I feel compelled (with some trepidation) to write this response. Berger and Twerski propose that courts recognize …
Labor Law-Prima Facie Tort Doctrine Bars Unreasonable Deprivation Of Union Membership-Hurwitz V. Directors Guild Of America, Inc., Michigan Law Review
Labor Law-Prima Facie Tort Doctrine Bars Unreasonable Deprivation Of Union Membership-Hurwitz V. Directors Guild Of America, Inc., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In July 1965 the officers of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and the Screen Directors International Guild (SDIG) concluded a merger agreement which provided that DGA was to be the surviving union and SDIG members were to become members of DGA automatically upon signing the DGA non-Communist loyalty oath. Although the SDIG membership ratified the merger agreement by a majority vote, six members steadfastly refused to sign the oath and as a result were not admitted to membership in DGA. They thereupon brought a diversity suit in a New York federal district court: and moved for a preliminary injunction …
Antitrust-Venue-Time Of Venue Under Section 12 Of The Clayton Act Refers To Time When Action Accrued-Eastland Construction Co. V. Keasbey & Mattison Co., Michigan Law Review
Antitrust-Venue-Time Of Venue Under Section 12 Of The Clayton Act Refers To Time When Action Accrued-Eastland Construction Co. V. Keasbey & Mattison Co., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
In 1964, plaintiff brought a treble damage suit under the Clayton Act in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that defendant had violated the antitrust laws while doing business in that district. Defendant, a Pennsylvania corporation which formerly had conducted a portion of its business in California but which had ceased all activities there in 1962, moved for dismissal, arguing that venue was improper because it was not transacting business in the Northern District of California at the time suit was instituted. On appeal from a ruling by the district court granting the motion for …
The Qualitative Governmental Interest Analysis: New York's Conflict Of Laws Rules In Transition-George V. Douglas Aircraft , Co., Michigan Law Review
The Qualitative Governmental Interest Analysis: New York's Conflict Of Laws Rules In Transition-George V. Douglas Aircraft , Co., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The traditional choice of law rule for torts is that the law of the place of wrong is determinative of all substantive issues. This rule has been frequently criticized and has been rejected by the Restatement (Second), Conflict of Laws, and by a few courts, particularly those of New York. The successor to the traditional approach, however, has not been determined. Under the view of the Restatement (Second), the applicable substantive law is that law of the state which has the most significant relationship with the occurrence and with the parties. Although a qualitative approach would seem possible under …
Federal Civil Procedure-Existence Of Federal Cause Of Action For Abuse Of Federal Process, Laurence D. Connor
Federal Civil Procedure-Existence Of Federal Cause Of Action For Abuse Of Federal Process, Laurence D. Connor
Michigan Law Review
Petitioner was served with a subpoena ordering him to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He subsequently brought an action in federal district court asking for damages and injunctive relief and praying that the subpoena be declared void and of no effect. He alleged it had been signed in blank by the Committee chairman and that respondent, an investigator for the Committee without delegated subpoena power, had filled in petitioner's name without authorization and caused it to be served on him at his place of employment. Petitioner also alleged that respondent intended to subject him to public shame …
Civil Procedure- Venue-Effect Of Contract Provision Fixing Venue As To Future Litigation, Robert C. Bonges
Civil Procedure- Venue-Effect Of Contract Provision Fixing Venue As To Future Litigation, Robert C. Bonges
Michigan Law Review
Defendants, residents of Harris County, Texas, executed in Harris County a conditional sale contract to purchase a food freezer from plaintiff's assignor. One of the contract provisions was that any suit on the contract was to be tried in Travis County, Texas. Plaintiff subsequently brought an action on the contract in Travis County, and defendants, contrary to their agreement, requested the trial court to transfer the action to a court of proper jurisdiction in Harris County, which was the proper county for suit under the applicable venue statute. In response, plaintiff argued that, since the contract created an obligation performable …
The New Michigan Pre-Trial Procedural Rules-Models For Other States?, Robert Meisenholder
The New Michigan Pre-Trial Procedural Rules-Models For Other States?, Robert Meisenholder
Michigan Law Review
The new Michigan procedural laws are embodied in a revised set of statutes and court rules which became effective January 1, 1963, after a long period of study by a Joint Committee on Michigan Procedural Revision. They abolish an anachronistic distinction between procedures in law and equity, abrogate a scattered, disorganized set of rules and statutes, and create a unified, coherent procedural system.
Attorney And Client- Attorney's Rights Under Contract Of Partial Assignment-Effet Of Premature Termination Or Settlement Of Action, Charles Frederickson S.Ed
Attorney And Client- Attorney's Rights Under Contract Of Partial Assignment-Effet Of Premature Termination Or Settlement Of Action, Charles Frederickson S.Ed
Michigan Law Review
In an action for personal injuries, defendant caused a subpoena to be served upon plaintiff requiring him to appear to give his deposition. Plaintiff wholly failed to appear, and no cause was shown for such failure. Defendant then filed a motion for dismissal of the suit pursuant to subsection (c), 215a, of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and notice thereof was served upon plaintiff. Although plaintiff again made no appearance, his attorneys moved to intervene, asserting the contingent interest in the cause of action acquired by their contract with plaintiff. The trial court denied the motion for intervention and …
Declaratory Judgments-Avoidance Of Peril-Refusal To Adjudicate Rights Of Will Beneficiary Under No-Contest Clause-Testator, Burton L. Raimi S.Ed
Declaratory Judgments-Avoidance Of Peril-Refusal To Adjudicate Rights Of Will Beneficiary Under No-Contest Clause-Testator, Burton L. Raimi S.Ed
Michigan Law Review
Testator, plaintiff's father, acquired property in the joint names of himself and his wife by using money belonging to his wife. At her death testator claimed sole ownership of the property as the survivor. Plaintiff agreed not to probate his mother's will if testator would bequeath the property to his children. Also, testator agreed that if he should remarry he would, by a prenuptial agreement, make it possible to carry out the plan. The agreement was not reduced to writing. Testator remarried and shortly thereafter executed a will in which he disregarded the verbal agreement and left a substantial part …
Workermen's Compensation-Third-Party Actions-Employer's Recovery On An Implied Warranty, Philip Sotiroff
Workermen's Compensation-Third-Party Actions-Employer's Recovery On An Implied Warranty, Philip Sotiroff
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff seeks to recover the amount of a workmen's compensation award paid to his employee as a result of injuries received when an exhaust valve malfunctioned causing a press which the employee was operating to double-trip. Defendant, an independent parts supplier who had sold plaintiff the valve, moved to dismiss the complaint because of insufficiency of evidence to sustain the verdict and plaintiff's legal incapacity to sue. On appeal from an order denying the motion to dismiss, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. Plaintiff has two independent causes of action, one against the manufacturer on an assigned negligence theory, and …
Contacts - Subrogation - Partial Subrogation Of A Cause Of Action For Personal Injuries, Jerome M. Salle
Contacts - Subrogation - Partial Subrogation Of A Cause Of Action For Personal Injuries, Jerome M. Salle
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff, an incorporated home for the aged, provided all essential medical care to one of its residents under the provisions of a life-care contract between it and the resident. On the basis of a contract clause which purported to subrogate plaintiff to the right of the resident to recover medical expenses caused by the negligence of third parties, plaintiff brought an action to recover certain medical expenses incurred from the party who was allegedly responsible for the injuries and death of the resident. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the complaint for failure to state a cause of action …
"Federal Question" Jurisdiction -- A Snare And A Delusion, Ernest J. London
"Federal Question" Jurisdiction -- A Snare And A Delusion, Ernest J. London
Michigan Law Review
Poorly defined criteria in the area of jurisdiction are especially wasteful, generating as they often do expensive and protracted litigation over threshold issues, rather than promoting the speedy determination of lawsuits on their merits. One of the most perplexing exercises in American law practice is the effort to define with certainty the original jurisdiction of the lower federal courts in matters where there is no diversity of citizenship. Although this general head of federal jurisdiction has persistently and pervasively been characterized as "federal question" jurisdiction, it is doubtful whether there is, in fact, original jurisdiction in the lower federal courts …
Attorney And Client - Scope Of Attorney's Authority - Client Bound By Wrongful Settlement Of Claim, Robert M. Vorsanger
Attorney And Client - Scope Of Attorney's Authority - Client Bound By Wrongful Settlement Of Claim, Robert M. Vorsanger
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff hired an attorney to prosecute a claim for damages resulting from the alleged negligence of defendant, a chiropodist, in the treatment of plaintiff's wife. Three years after the institution of the suit plaintiff discovered that his attorney had agreed with defendant to settle the suit and had forged plaintiff's name to a release and to a bank draft given by defendant in settlement of the claim. Plaintiff immediately instituted action to have the settlement stipulation deleted from the record and to have the case reinstated for hearing. On appeal from the trial court's decision for plaintiff, held, reversed. …
The Union Of Law And Equity, Charles W. Joiner, Ray A. Geddes
The Union Of Law And Equity, Charles W. Joiner, Ray A. Geddes
Michigan Law Review
This paper was prepared for the guidance of a Committee on Michigan Procedural Revision jointly created by the Michigan Legislature, the Supreme Court of Michigan, and the Michigan State Bar to recommend revision of Michigan statutes and rules. Toe need for the joinder of law and equity procedure was thought to be so fundamental that this paper was prepared as a basic study for the committee. In it an attempt is made to bring to the attention of the Michigan lawyers, judges, and legislators an analysis of the Michigan Constitution, statutes, and cases and the experience of other states that …
Civil Procedure - Splitting Cause Of Action - Voluntary Settlement Of Part Of Cause Of Action As Bar To Suit, James F. Hillis
Civil Procedure - Splitting Cause Of Action - Voluntary Settlement Of Part Of Cause Of Action As Bar To Suit, James F. Hillis
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff suffered bodily injury and damage to his automobile from a single negligent act of defendant. By voluntary agreement the parties settled plaintiff's claim as to the property damage only. Thereafter plaintiff instituted this action to recover damages for his personal injuries. Defendant pleaded the property settlement as a bar to the action, and the trial court awarded judgment to defendant. The intermediate appellate court affirmed. On appeal to the state supreme court, held, affirmed. A single wrongful act which inflicts personal injury and property damage gives rise to one cause of action, and a prior judgment for the …
Husband And Wife - Right Of Wife To Sue For Loss Of Consortium Due To Negligent Injury To Husband, James M. Porter S.Ed.
Husband And Wife - Right Of Wife To Sue For Loss Of Consortium Due To Negligent Injury To Husband, James M. Porter S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff brought an action for loss of consortium with her husband, allegedly due to defendant's negligent injury of the husband. In a prior suit the husband's cause of action against the defendant had been settled and dismissed with prejudice. The trial court dismissed the present suit for failure to state a cause of action. On appeal, held, reversed. The wife has a valuable property right of consortium. Iowa statutes pertaining to the rights of married women clearly indicate the intent of the legislature to remove the common law bar of coverture that prevented a wife from maintaining an action …
Limitations Of Actions - Conversion, Irving L. Halpern
Limitations Of Actions - Conversion, Irving L. Halpern
Michigan Law Review
Defendant purchased and went into possession of land in 1944 at which time a logging donkey was upon the land. The donkey had been on defendant's land without having been moved or used since 1942. From 1944 to 1952 defendant made numerous inquiries as to the ownership of the donkey without success. Through various conveyances, beginning in 1946, and without any transfer of possession, plaintiff acquired title to the donkey in 1952. In May 1952, in order to further develop his land, defendant sold the donkey. In a suit by plaintiff for conversion of the donkey, the lower court ruled …
Civil Procedure-Statute Of Limitations-Possibility Of Service Under Nonresident Motorist Service Act As Preventing Tolling Of Statute, James H. Loprete S.Ed.
Civil Procedure-Statute Of Limitations-Possibility Of Service Under Nonresident Motorist Service Act As Preventing Tolling Of Statute, James H. Loprete S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiffs, while riding as passengers in defendant's automobile, were injured in an accident in Iowa. Two of the four plaintiffs brought suit in Kansas against defendant, a citizen of Kansas, but their suits were dismissed upon the sustaining of demurrers. The four then sued defendant in Iowa, obtaining service upon him under the nonresident motorist service act Defendant pleaded the statute of limitations, and plaintiffs countered with the tolling statute. Issue was raised over the interpretation to be given the word "nonresident" in the tolling statute. Plaintiff contended it was to be given a literal interpretation, that is, that the …
Conflict Of Laws-Torts-Choice Of Law In Multiple State Defamation, Peter Van Domelen S.Ed.
Conflict Of Laws-Torts-Choice Of Law In Multiple State Defamation, Peter Van Domelen S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff, a Connecticut corporation engaged in business throughout several Eastern states, brought an action for an injunction and damages arising from alleged defamatory statements broadcast over defendant's radio network. Defendant's broadcast originated in New York and was heard by listeners from Maine to North Carolina and as far west as Pennsylvania including the area in which plaintiff was carrying on its business. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted. To rule on this motion, it was necessary to choose the appropriate governing law. Held, the law of New …
Courts-Validity Of Contracts Restricting Venue In Actions Under The Federal Employers' Liability Act, John C. Walker S. Ed.
Courts-Validity Of Contracts Restricting Venue In Actions Under The Federal Employers' Liability Act, John C. Walker S. Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Petitioner suffered injuries in the course of his duties as an employee of respondent railroad. Subsequently, respondent advanced money to petitioner and the latter agreed in writing that if his claim could not be settled he would sue only in the county or district where he resided at the time of the injury, or in the county or district where the injury was sustained. This agreement restricted petitioner's choice of venue to either a state or federal court sitting in Michigan. Ignoring the contract, petitioner sued in an Illinois court. Respondent then brought suit in the Michigan courts to enjoin …
Right Of Privacy-Status Of The Law In Michigan-Liability For Commercial Use Of Photograph, Thomas L. Waterbury
Right Of Privacy-Status Of The Law In Michigan-Liability For Commercial Use Of Photograph, Thomas L. Waterbury
Michigan Law Review
Defendant published plaintiff's photograph in connection with a cosmetics advertisement in a Detroit newspaper. Plaintiff sought damages, alleging that she neither knew of nor assented to the publication of the photograph, that the publication constituted an invasion of her right to be free from offensive publicity, and that she had suffered consequential damages. The trial court sustained defendant's motion to dismiss on the ground that the complaint stated no cause of action. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded. Plaintiff stated a cause of action for invasion of her right of privacy. Pallas v. Crowley, Milner & Co., 322 …
Required Joinder Of Claims, William Wirt Blume
Required Joinder Of Claims, William Wirt Blume
Michigan Law Review
There are three principal reasons for requiring the joinder of claims: (1) To prevent the evils of a multiplicity of suits. (2) To eliminate the possibility of more than one recovery on one liability. (3) To make possible the ranking of claims and a pro rata distribution of property. In this paper the writer will undertake a brief survey of the common situations in which joinder of claims is or may be required, with the object of indicating the extent to which the practice is bottomed on the principle of preventing unnecessary suits.
Death By Wrongful Act-Effect Of Double Death On Recovery Under Minnesota "Death" And "Survival" Statutes, Robert K. Eifler
Death By Wrongful Act-Effect Of Double Death On Recovery Under Minnesota "Death" And "Survival" Statutes, Robert K. Eifler
Michigan Law Review
Recovery was sought by the surviving spouse and next of kin against the estate of a negligent driver where both the passenger and the driver were fatally injured and died "in the same traffic accident." Held, where both the injured person and the wrongdoer die, an action survives against the personal representatives of the wrongdoer. Kuhnle v. Swedlund, 220 Minn. 573, 20 N.W. (2d) 396 (1945).
Corporations - Rights Of Action By The Representative Of Corporate Creditors - Effect Of Corporate Assent, Edward W. Adams
Corporations - Rights Of Action By The Representative Of Corporate Creditors - Effect Of Corporate Assent, Edward W. Adams
Michigan Law Review
By various acts the directors and officers of a corporation--its agents for the conduct of corporate business--may wrong the corporation or make possible a wrong to the corporation or to the body of corporate stockholders. When the corporation becomes involved in insolvency proceedings, in order to make available to creditors as many assets as possible, the receiver or trustee in bankruptcy determines whether some cause of action will lie to recover damages or property, or whether he may successfully defend to preserve assets. If the corporation itself could have been successful in the litigation, the solution would be easy because …
Municipal Corporations - Waters And Watercourses - Eminent Domain - Pollution Of Water As A "Taking" Of Private Property, Brooks F. Crabtree
Municipal Corporations - Waters And Watercourses - Eminent Domain - Pollution Of Water As A "Taking" Of Private Property, Brooks F. Crabtree
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff sued defendant city for damages caused his land by the continual discharge of raw sewage into the river about one-half mile above plaintiff's land. The pollution rendered the water of the river unfit for domestic use and deleterious to health. Held, that although the plaintiff failed to allege the necessary elements for a tort action against a municipality, under the Washington statute, he stated a valid cause of action for damages under article I, section 16 of the Washington Constitution which states that "No private property shall be taken or damaged for public or private use without just …
Injunctions - When Enforcement Of Judgment Will Be Enjoined For Fraud Consisting Of Perjury, Michigan Law Review
Injunctions - When Enforcement Of Judgment Will Be Enjoined For Fraud Consisting Of Perjury, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction against the procurement by defendant. of a judgment upon a workmen's compensation award, on the ground that defendant had obtained the award through the perjured testimony of himself and his witnesses. The false testimony was claimed to be a fraud upon the department of labor and industry as well as upon the plaintiffs. The lower court dismissed the bill as failing to state a cause of action. Held, dismissal affirmed since perjury is an intrinsic fraud, and equitable relief will not be given. Fawcett v. Atherton, 298 Mich. 362, 299 N. W. 108 …
Restitution - Effect Of Illegality - Right Of Person Not A Party To The Illegal Transaction To Invoke Defense Of Illegality, Alfred I. Rothman
Restitution - Effect Of Illegality - Right Of Person Not A Party To The Illegal Transaction To Invoke Defense Of Illegality, Alfred I. Rothman
Michigan Law Review
In an action for conversion of stock, plaintiff alleged that her intestate was the actual owner of the capital stock of a brewing corporation. Intestate had in fact furnished the consideration for the stock, but it was issued in the name of one Vogel as his dummy and agent. After the death of intestate, the defendant, with knowledge of plaintiff's interest, acquired the stock from Vogel by means of a pretended purchase and converted it to his own use. As a defense to the conversion action, defendant interposed a plea of illegality, alleging that the capital stock was issued to …
Marriage And Divorce - Gross Neglect Of Duty As A Ground For Divorce - Wife's Separate Employment Causing Neglect Of Household Duties, Oscar Freedenberg
Marriage And Divorce - Gross Neglect Of Duty As A Ground For Divorce - Wife's Separate Employment Causing Neglect Of Household Duties, Oscar Freedenberg
Michigan Law Review
The husband, plaintiff in a divorce action, alleged that his wife's employment, against his will, caused her to become irritable, unpleasant and quarrelsome and to neglect her household tasks. Held, that the petition states a cause of action on the ground of gross neglect of duty or extreme cruelty under the Ohio statute, but that the proof fails to bear out the plaintiff's allegations. Winnard v. Winnard, 62 Ohio App. 351, 23 N. E. (2d) 977 (1939).
Death By Wrongful Act-Prior Death Of Wrongdoer, Michigan Law Review
Death By Wrongful Act-Prior Death Of Wrongdoer, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiff sued for her intestate's death and conscious suffering negligently caused by defendant's intestate in an auto collision in New York. The trial judge directed a verdict for defendant on the theory that there was no evidence that defendant's intestate was still alive at the moment plaintiff's intestate was injured, and therefore no evidence of any cause of action, arising against the former in his lifetime, which could survive his death. Held, exceptions to the directed verdict overruled since the applicable New York death and survival statutes do not provide for the continuance of a cause of action which …