Law Commons^™

Contracts-Doctrine Of "Commercial Frustration" As Applied To Leases Of Real Property, Margaret Groefsema S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A mushroom crop of litigation has sprung up as a result of wartime governmental restrictions on production and consumption of civilian goods, particularly with respect to regulations of the sale of gasoline, tires, automobiles, and automobile accessories. Numerous problems have confronted the courts involving leases of property for the purpose of selling or servicing motor vehicles, where the lessee has sought to be released from his covenant to pay rent by invoking the so-called doctrine of "commercial frustration."

Mr. Justice William Johnson, Creative Dissenter, A. J. Levin

Michigan Law Review

Until the advent of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the masterful and magnetic figure of Chief Justice John Marshall well-nigh overshadowed the whole field of constitutional jurisprudence. That Marshall made inestimable additions to our ideas of cooperative living at the very beginning of our democracy, and that his repute was well deserved, cannot be gainsaid. But one has good cause to wonder why the name of so distinguished a colleague as William Johnson, who sat on the same bench with Marshal for almost thirty years during that formative period, should have been almost completely obscured all these years. Rare, indeed, is …

Landlord And Tenant-Leases-Option In Tenant To Cancel In Case Of Governmental Interference With Use Of Premises, Margaret Groefsema S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A lease of real property for an automobile service station contained a provision for termination of the leasehold at the option of the tenant in case "the use of the said premises for an oil and gasoline filling station be prevented, suspended or limited by any zoning statute or ordinance, or any other municipal or governmental action." Held, this clause applied to release the tenant when wartime rationing of gasoline and tires made it unprofitable for him to operate the filling station. Mid-Continent Petroleum Corporation v. Barrett, (Ky. Ct. App. 1944) 181 S.W. (2d) 60.

Liberty Under The Fourteenth Amendment: 1943-44, John Raeburn Green

Michigan Law Review

Elsewhere efforts have been made to survey the status of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights with respect to their protection against state abridgment. The decisions of the Supreme Court were examined, from the February term, 1790, through the 1942 term. It was observed that the struggle to obtain for these rights and liberties federal constitutional protection against state abridgment, as well as against federal abridgment, had been almost continuous since the adoption of the Constitution; that Madison had sought, unsuccessfully, to include in the Bill of Rights guaranties against state abridgment for freedom of speech and …

The Venue Of Probate And Administration Proceedings, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

With the division of each state into counties or districts and the creation in each such subdivision of some court for the probate of wills and the administration of estates, it became necessary to designate which of such courts should undertake these functions in a particular estate. It is not the purpose of this study to consider problems arising out of conflicts of jurisdiction as between states insofar as independent determinations of domicile of a decedent may be made. That a decedent died a resident of the state undertaking an administration upon his estate will be assumed; or, if he …

Research In Inter-American Law At The University Of Michigan, Hessel E. Yntema

Michigan Law Review

In the Americas, the historic trade routes have run east and west, more than north and south. Geographic necessity has decreed that, subject to possible reorientation with the future development of aviation, the dominant factor influencing the course of commerce with this hemisphere should be the open sea. Westward across the Atlantic, came the explorers, the conquistadors, the pioneers, succeeded by wave after wave of immigration to the New World, seaborne on argosies that, laden with the fabulous spoils and profits of empire, returned to the homelands the tribute of the New to the Old World. Achievement in the Nineteenth …

Capacity Under The Negotiable Instruments Laws Of The Americas: A Comparative Study, Luis M. Ramirez B.

Michigan Law Review

Closely related to the legal rules that regulate the different aspects and effects of endorsement is the question of capacity to endorse bills of exchange. This forms part of negotiatory capacity in general, which, in a broad sense, may be defined as the faculty of a person to acquire rights and to assume obligations on negotiable instruments.

Law Enforcement In Colonial New York: A Review, Albert J. Harno

Michigan Law Review

This book is a landmark in American legal history. Legal scholars have long lamented the fact that there was no authoritative work on colonial law. Historians have, to be sure, taken excursions into the field, but for the most part this, until the study here reviewed, was virgin territory. The undertaking called for more than the gifts of a historian. It demanded the talents and insight of a legal historian. The authors are legal historians. Professor Goebel particularly is a well-known figure in the field of legal history. The study covers a limited field; it is restricted to criminal procedure …

Sales-Automobile Dealer Financing And The Bona Fide Purchaser, Robert M. Barton S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

With the prospect of increased manufacture of automobiles for civilian use, the problem of financing the dealer and his customers will again loom large. In the past the burden has largely been assumed not by banks, whose credit practices and collection machinery are better adapted to short term, single payment credits, but by the finance or acceptance companies. These organizations mushroomed into prominence after World War I as retail installment selling became more and more prevalent, and with the "easy payment plan" offered by the dealer to the retail buyer, there was produced a corresponding need by the dealer himself …

Insurance-Right Of Insured To Recover Under Disability Clause Of Life Insurance Policy For Self-Inflicted Injury, Robert M. Barton S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A policy of life insurance was issued to one Rice providing for payment of certain disability benefits to the insured if he should "sustain a physical impairment such as . . . the permanent loss of the sight of both eyes." As a proximate result of an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide the insured was blinded. The policy contained no express limitations or restrictions on such self-inflicted injuries but did provide that the insurance company should not be liable for benefits "if the death of the insured resulted from suicide." Rice was apparently sane at the time he attempted to …

Corporations-Where Name Of New Corporation Is The Existing Trade Name Of Another, Robert M. Barton S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1928 plaintiff changed its official corporate name from the "City Fuel Company" to the "Staples Coal Company," but continued to utilize the old corporate name as a trade name in advertising and the retail sale of fuel oil. It made little, if any, use of the new title, since the general public was accustomed to dealing with it under the name it had used for seventeen years. Defendant was incorporated in 1943 as the "City Fuel Company" and began to engage in a similar business in the same general trade area of greater Boston. Plaintiff, fearing deception of the …

Practice And Procedure-Under What Circumstances May Counsel Ask Jurors Regarding Their Interest In Insurance Companies, On Trial Of A Case Against An Insured Defendant, Edwin Boos

Michigan Law Review

From a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in a personal injury action, defendant appeals, alleging as error questions repeatedly asked the jurors in their voir dire examination by plaintiff over defendant's objection. Plaintiff examined the jurors as to their connections, if any, with insurance companies in general and with Lloyd's specifically. All questions were answered in the negative. The argument of the defendant is that an affidavit, which had been previously presented to the court and to the plaintiff by the defendant, showing that no person on the jury list was in any way interested in Lloyd's or any …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Termination Of War Contracts: The Contract Settlement Act Of 1944, David A. Goldman

Michigan Law Review

Enacted with a background of knowledge gained from the termination of more than 25,000 army and navy contracts having an uncompleted value of approximately $17,000,000,000, the Contract Settlement Act of 1944 was the first of the legislative enactments by which Congress seeks to control the possibility of a rising tide of economic difficulties which might otherwise drown the body politic in a flood of cancellation notices. The passage of the act was preceded by extensive public hearings and debates, during which responsible Government officials and leaders of labor and industry expressed their considered opinions. Congress likewise had the benefit of …

The Concept Of "Denial Of Justice" In Latin America, J. Irizarry Y Puente

Michigan Law Review

Much of the credit for the present state of development of the concept of "denial of justice" must go to Latin America. Step by step the efforts of her statesmen, lawmakers and publicists in the spheres of diplomacy, legislation and doctrine, have given the concept a more definite juridical form, and outlined more clearly its frontiers of legitimate action. The concept, far from being now the occasion for diplomatic coercion which it formerly was, is narrowed down to a judicial connotation; and, in this sense, it means that justice has not been done where it should have been.

Its evolution …

Federal Rules Of Criminal Procedure--The Various Drafts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In February 1944 the REVIEW carried an article by Dean Harno of the University of Illinois entitled, "Proposed Rules of Criminal Procedure: Final Draft." In a footnote the draft was referred to as "Final Report ( 1943) ." While that issue of the REVIEW was on the press the Advisory Committee distributed a draft of the rules entitled "Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Second Preliminary Draft." In July 1944 a third printing of the proposed rules was circulated. This printing, labeled "Report," is, according to Mr. Holtzhoff, secretary of the committee, "the Final Draft of the Rules." It thus appears …

Equity - Clean Hands Doctrine - Tradename Infringement - Relief Awarded On Condition That Complainant Cleanse His Hands, Craig E. Davids

Michigan Law Review

For twenty-six years complainant conducted a tailor shop under the name, "Dundee Woolen Mills, Custom Tailors." On the front of the store was the slogan "No Middle Man's Profit," though the shop was neither owned by a woolen mill nor conducted in any manner that eliminated the usual middle man's profit. Defendant for many years operated a nation-wide chain of ready-to-wear stores under the name "Dundee Clothes" and eventually opened an establishment in complainant's locality. Suit was filed in equity to enjoin the defendant from using "Dundee" in his business. The lower court decided that though complainant had come into …

Parties - Whether Action For Money Judgment By Holder Of Unsecured Bonds Constitutes "Class" Suit Binding On All Owners Of That Series Who Did Not Appear, William Houston

Michigan Law Review

The Chicago Board of Education had issued a certain series of refunding bonds, and later defaulted on interest coupons, numbered 16, attached to the bonds. Prior to the present suit a suit in equity had been instituted against the board by some of the owners of these bonds, on behalf of themselves and all other owners of bonds in this series, in which they prayed for judgment for the amount of interest due to each owner, together with costs, and attorney's fees. Defendant made a motion, to dismiss that suit on the ground that such action could not be maintained …

A Further Legal Inquiry Into Renegotiation: Ii, Charles W. Steadman

Michigan Law Review

Several issues concerning constitutionality of the Renegotiation Act were discussed in a previous article. That prior inquiry was, of course, not complete, nor is it possible here to exhaust all of these problems. The changes which the Revenue Act of 1943 made in renegotiation together with the manifest importance of this subject and the national interest which has been created by the challenges made concerning its constitutionality warrant further inquiry into this phase of the act. The issues of delegation of legislative authority, impairment of contracts, due process and judicial review, as well as the nature of renegotiation as a …

The Authority Of The National War Labor Board Over Labor Disputes, Leonard B. Boudin

Michigan Law Review

The National War Labor Board has reached the respectable age of two years. Supported originally only by the President's war powers, it has secured compliance with its orders, has weathered a minor congressional investigation, and has built up a body of decisions whose effect will continue after the war. These facts, as well as certain signs of the conservatism which appears to strike all government agencies at one time or another, entitle the board to a short survey of certain aspects of its jurisdiction and authority.

Evidence - Admissibility Of Age In Hospital Record As Business Entry, Craig E. Davids

Michigan Law Review

Representing his birth date as 1866, deceased purchased from defendant insurance company in 1921 a policy on his life, which provided that in the event of any misrepresentation of age the insured's beneficiary would receive only that amount which a standard policy issued at his true age would stipulate for the premiums paid. In a suit by the beneficiary to recover on the policy, defendant attempted to prove that deceased was born at least as early as 1862. Among other evidence, defendant introduced a hospital record of deceased's visit to a particular institution in 1936 where he represented his age …

Wills - Soldiers And Sailors - Intent Necessary For Validity, Robert M. Barton S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In December of 1941 decedent was a fireman aboard an oil tanker bound for the Dutch West Indies. While discussing the dangers brought about by the war to merchant shipping, he told a shipmate, "Well, if I get lost or anything--I want Mr. Knight and his people to have what I got, insurance and everything." He repeated this desire to his fellow seaman on several other occasions during the course of the voyage. The vessel reached port safely, but several trips later the decedent was drowned when his ship was torpedoed. Knight claimed the estate, alleging that the statement was …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

The Organization Of The Probate Court In America: Ii, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of the discussion which follows to consider how far the court organization in typical jurisdictions is adapted to a differentiation between contentious and noncontentious business. The sharp differentiation in English law will first be pointed out. Then the probate judicial organizations of various typical states will be considered in connection with the questions: How far have they retained the distinction between contentious and noncontentious business emphasized in the English system which served as their model? How far have they developed a basis of differentiation unlike the English model? The answer to these questions will involve some …

Constitutional Law - Court Of Claims - Separation Of Powers, Benjamin M. Quigg, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued the United States Government for breach of its contract for construction of a water supply tunnel, and in 1932 recovered judgment in the court of claims for approximately one-seventh of the amount sued for. Motions for new trial were denied and the Supreme Court refused to grant a writ of certiorari. In 1942 plaintiff secured the passage of a special act of Congress conferring jurisdiction on the court of claims to render judgment on plaintiff's claim in accordance with the mode of calculation set forth therein, waiving any defenses which the government might have in respect thereto, and …

Wills-Testator's Mistake As To Legal Effect, Robert M. Barton

Michigan Law Review

Testator left the residue of his estate in trust for the benefit of his son, payments to be made in the trustee's discretion. No express provision was made for the disposition of the corpus of the trust in case of the son's death. The contestant, who was one of the testator's heirs, claimed the testator never would have executed such a will had his lawyer informed him that the contestant might be excluded from the remainder interest on the son's death under the rule laid down in Clyde v. Lake. Held: The will stands. There was no showing …

Abstracts, Mary Jane Plumer

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

A Further Legal Inquiry Into Renegotiation: I, Charles W. Steadman

Michigan Law Review

Renegotiation has undergone some important changes which call for consideration. Congress .has undertaken to rewrite the Renegotiation Act. Administrative and procedural developments have created new problems. The act is being attacked as unconstitutional. Procedural technique and statutory interpretations have crystallized sufficiently to permit careful scrutiny. And the problems regarding the determination. of excessive profits, questions of taxation, amortization, cost allowances, as well as the constitutionality of the act, are a challenge to a continued study of this law and its administration.

The Place Of Trial Of Criminal Cases: Constitutional Vicinage And Venue, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

In 1909 one Henry G. Connor, presumably Mr. Justice Connor of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, published in the Pennsylvania Law Review an article entitled "The Constitutional Right to a Trial by a Jury of the Vicinage." The question discussed was: May a state constitutionally provide by statute that a crime be tried in a county other than that in which it was committed? Or, putting the question in terms of vicinage as distinguished from venue, may a state constitutionally provide by statute that a crime be tried by jurors summoned from a county other than the county …

The Function Of The States, William B. Cudlip

Michigan Law Review

For the second time in this century, thoughtful men are studying plans for the stabilization of a post-war world, determined to devise a pattern of peace which shall embody new moral and economic standards and the highest ideals of human liberty, intent on fashioning a design for living under which the nations of the world may find freedom, justice, dignity, and prosperity. In this high adventure the United States has a full role to play, for, without our interest and cooperation, there can be no enduring compact. But, important as this quest may be, another task of at least equal …