Law Commons^™

A Tax Formula To Restore The Historical Effects Of The Antitrust Treble Damage Provisions (An Open Letter To The Senate Antitrust And Monopoly Committee), L. Hart Wright

Michigan Law Review

Following the well-publicized criminal conviction of a major segment of our electrical equipment industry for conspiring to fix and maintain prices, terms, and conditions of sales made to both private industry and the government, almost 2,000 private antitrust treble damage suits were brought against those convicted. In July, 1964, when at least 1,500 of these suits were still pending, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue publicly announced that amounts paid or "incurred" by the defendants in those actions to private plaintiffs, either pursuant to judgment or by way of settlement, together with legal expenses pertaining thereto, were deductible as ordinary and …

Attorneys--Self-Incrimination--The Attorney's Privilege Against Self-Incrimination In A Disbarment Proceeding, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A state court has jurisdiction to deal with the alleged misconduct of attorneys practicing before it either explicitly by statute or by ' virtue of its power to control the conduct of its own affairs. Indeed, it can suspend or disbar an attorney who fails to maintain the standard of conduct established for members of the legal profession. One aspect of such a standard is that an attorney is bound not to obstruct the administration of justice, a duty which imposes upon him an affirmative obligation to cooperate with the courts. The question frequently arises whether, in order to satisfy …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Fiduciary Ideology In Transactions Affecting Corporate Control, Victor Brudney

Michigan Law Review

The fiduciary role in which corporate insiders are cast in their dealings with, or affecting, their corporations embraces a multitude of parts. Hence the range of restrictions on their conduct varies from inhibitions as rigorous as those imposed on express trustees to limitations almost as flexible as those governing arm's length dealings among strangers. As has often been pointed out, the characterization of a corporate officer, a director, or a person controlling the corporation as a "fiduciary" does not define his status with precision; rather, it sets a tone to his role and suggests the existence of obligations and of …

One Civil Libertarian Among Many: The Case Of Mr. Justice Goldberg, Ira H. Carmen

Michigan Law Review

It is common knowledge that in recent times the constitutional issues of greatest magnitude and of greatest public interest lie in the area of civil liberties. These cases almost always call for the delicate balancing of the rights of the individual, allegedly protected by a specific clause in the Constitution, and the duties that state or federal authority can exact from citizens in order that society may maintain a minimum standard of peace and security. It follows, therefore, that it is these often dramatic decisions which will largely color the images we have of participating Justices. Assume a free speech …

Habeas Corpus--Custody And Release From Custody Requirements Of Habeas Corpus--Viability Of Mcnally V. Hill In The Moden Context, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Section 2241 of Title 28 of the United States Code requires that a petitioner for a writ of habeas corpus be "in custody." As a corollary of the "custody" requirement, the common law tradition required that the effect of the writ must be the petitioner's "release from custody.'' Because the United States Constitution and the federal habeas corpus statutes guarantee the availability of the writ in general terms, it is to the common law that the courts have consistently turned for the definition of these terms and for the restrictive effect of these requirements on the availability of the writ …

The Comity Doctrine, Hessel E. Yntema

Michigan Law Review

The doctrine of comity, as developed in the Netherlands during the last quarter of the Seventeenth Century, for the first time posed in stark simplicity the basic dilemma of conflicts law in modem times to mediate between the pretensions of territorial sovereignty and the needs of international commerce. As Ulrik Huber, the most influential exponent of the doctrine, observed: "Exempla, quibus utemur, ad juris privati species maxime quidem pertinebunt, sed judicium de illis unice juris publici rationibus constat, & exinde definiri debent.'' ["The examples which we shall use belong principally to the category of private law but their treatment …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

The Effect Of Misunderstanding On Contract Formation And Reformation Under The Restatement Of Contracts Second, George E. Palmer

Michigan Law Review

The presence of misunderstanding at the time of an apparent agreement creates difficult problems in the law of contract formation and equally difficult problems when the apparent agreement is in ·writing and reformation is sought. The rules formulated in the original Restatement of Contracts are unsatisfactory in both areas. The preparation of the Restatement Second, which is now under way for contracts, includes changes in the rules of contract formation but the changes emerging are no more satisfactory than the original rules. The current version of the Restatement Second, contained in Tentative Draft No. 1, accepts the …

Motor Vehicles--Legislation--The Michigan Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

With the adoption of the Michigan Act, Michigan has become the fifth state to adopt a comprehensive program utilizing both the insurance and the fund approaches. Moreover, the Michigan Act, apparently inspired by its Ontario prototype, contains some elements which were previously unknown in United States legislation. Consequently, it may prove enlightening to examine the scope and purpose of the Michigan Act, and to compare it with similar legislation in other states.

The Comity Doctrine, Introduction, Kurt H. Adelmann

Michigan Law Review

Hessel Yntema's Essay on the Comity Doctrine, published in a Festschrift in Europe, deals with the origin and the meaning-or meanings-of a doctrine which has had a truly extraordinary impact on American conflicts law. For this reason and because of the stature of the author, the Essay is entitled to a special place in our literature on the Conflict of Laws. The Michigan Law Review has decided, as a memorial to the great Michigan Scholar, to reprint the Essay so that it may be more easily accessible.

Written for other purposes, the Essay does not discuss the place which the …

Unemployment Compensation For Employees On Required Vacation Without Pay, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Social Security Act of 1935 created a federal-state system of unemployment compensation which permits the states to establish their mvn standards of qualification for unemployment benefits. All states have enacted statutes pursuant to this system and have established three basic conditions which a claimant must meet before he is entitled to benefits. First, he must be unemployed. Second, he must remain able to work and available for work. Third, he must be free from disqualification for such acts as voluntarily leaving work without good cause attributable to the employer or employing unit, discharge for conduct connected with the work, …

The Longshoremen's And Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Of 1927: Half-Way Protection For The Stevedore And The Longshoreman, Robert E. Gilbert

Michigan Law Review

The law relating to longshoremen's remedies abounds with surprising anomalies, hyper-technical distinctions, and bits and pieces of judicial legislation. This situation stems largely from deficiencies in the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act of 1927, an inherently inadequate statute greatly distorted by recent judicial interpretation. This Comment undertakes an examination of the act's most salient shortcomings with a view to suggesting possible guidelines for what is believed to be necessary corrective legislation.

Divestiture Of Illegally Held Assets: Observations On Its Scope, Objective, And Limitations, William T. Kerr

Michigan Law Review

"Divestiture has been called the most important of antitrust remedies. It is simple, relatively easy to administer, and sure." This observation was made with reference to an order requiring divestiture of illegally held stock. In the context of the divestiture of illegally held assets, however, the statement is an oversimplification of myriad complex problems. This Comment will examine the difficulties encountered in eliminating the anticompetitive effects of a fully consummated merger found to have violated section 7 of the Clayton Act. No attempt will be made to assess the substantive doctrine upon which the violation in any instance was based, …

Recent Books, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A List of Books Received by Michigan Law Review

Representing The Consumer Interest In The Federal Government, Esther Peterson

Michigan Law Review

In 1964 President Johnson established both the President's Committee on Consumer Interests and the position of Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs. The President declared that he was "taking action to assure that the .voice of the consumer will be loud, clear, uncompromising, and effective in the highest councils of the Federal Government." Never before had the consumer been expressly represented on so high a level. The Committee on Consumer Interests was given a unique task. "The value of our society," the President said, "cannot be measured in the mass, but in the condition of each individual." The …

Products Liability--Some Observations About Allocation Of Risks, Page Keeton

Michigan Law Review

Virtually all of the activities of mankind involve the use of some product. Consequently, nearly all losses in the nature of physical damage to persons or things, and a great deal of the economic losses flowing from inferior or unfit products, are factually caused by characteristics or conditions of products, or at least occur during the use of products. Therefore, when fault, in the sense in which fault has been used in the Anglo-American law of torts (a usage which frequently results in the imposition of liability without personal fault), is abandoned as a basis for shifting or allocating losses, …

Foreword, Frank R. Kennedy

Michigan Law Review

As will be evident by the time this symposium on consumer protection appears in print, not all the proposals that have been made on behalf of the consumer will pass this year; some, perhaps, will never be enacted in anything like their present form. However, both opponents and proponents of this spate of legislative proposals should recognize the timeliness and importance of the discussions presented in this issue of the Michigan Law Review.

Disclosure Of Finance Charges: A Rationale, Robert L. Jordan, William D. Warren

Michigan Law Review

One wonders whether in all of the talk generated about disclosure in the past few years the purposes of disclosing finance charges to consumers have not been somewhat obscured. This article is an attempt to examine the subject of disclosure from the standpoint of the function it performs in consumer credit transactions. We shall discuss the various methods of computing finance charges in the different segments of the finance industry, the functions of disclosure of finance charges and the feasibility of using different computational methods in each category of consumer transactions. The problems involved in requiring the disclosure of finance …

The Contractual Aspect Of Consumer Protection: Recent Developments In The Law Of Sales Warranties, William C. Pelster

Michigan Law Review

As might have been expected, the courts have not confined their efforts in updating the law of products liability to fostering innovations in that segment dealing with warranties. The struggle to impose strict tort liability upon a manufacturer for harm caused by his defective products has made significant advances and is continuing: However, the citadel has yet to be taken. Indeed, even the California Supreme Court, which may be considered the leading proponent of this strict tort theory, has limited its availability so that only those seeking redress for harm to person or property may invoke the doctrine; thus, a …

Can Federal Legislation Affecting Consumers' Economic Interests Be Enacted?, Philip A. Hart

Michigan Law Review

Assume there is a definite need for legislation which centers on the economic-not the health or safety-interests of consumers. Can such a bill be enacted? If history, as Francis Bacon claims, does indeed "make a man wise," then a wise man would not even advocate such a bill, no matter how persuasive the evidence. Although government exists to protect the public interest, a look at history shows that the public--or the consumer-generally has not fared as well as many other special interests.

Products Liability--The Expansion Of Fraud, Negligence, And Strict Tort Liability, John A. Sebert Jr.

Michigan Law Review

While judicial acceptance of this concept of strict tort liability has been proceeding apace, far less dramatic but equally significant developments have been occurring with respect to both negligence and fraud liability. The possibility of recovering for a seller's misrepresentations concerning his product has been enhanced by a plaintiff-oriented judicial redefinition of two elements of a cause of action for fraud: defendant's knowledge of the falsity of his representation and plaintiff's reliance upon the deception. At the same time, negligence liability has often come to resemble liability without fault as courts continue to deemphasize, as a prerequisite to the application …

Products Liability Based Upon Violation Of Statutory Standards, Joseph H. Ballway Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Regulatory enactments controlling production and distribution can give rise in several different ways to civil liability on behalf of persons injured by non-conforming merchandise. For instance, if a statute codifies existing common-law rules of negligence, its effect is merely to place the weight of legislative authority behind ordinary negligence principles. Since an injured party's recovery under such a provision still depends largely upon his proving in the traditional manner that a defendant failed to exercise due care, this kind of statute merits no further discussion. On the other hand, if particular legislation expressly states that a violator may be subjected …

Government And The Consumer, Richard J. Barber

Michigan Law Review

This article takes up four major topics. First, the principal characteristics of governmental action with respect to consumer protection are reviewed, with emphasis on developments during the past thirty years. Second, the traditional pleas for consumer protection are examined with a view toward determining the inadequacies in governmental action. Third, the problems of the consumer are studied in the context of oligopolistic industrial markets in which nonprice competition accentuates the place of advertising and severely restricts the dissemination of factual information that is essential to enlightened purchase decisions. Fourth, the ingredients of a meaningful consumer protection program are outlined and …

Industrial Self-Regulation And The Public Interest, Harper W. Boyd Jr., Henry Claycamp

Michigan Law Review

As the affluence of the American society grows, a concern about such matters as health, education, and welfare has also become more apparent. Some concern derives from technological breakthroughs which require control, such as the development of aircraft for mass transportation. In other cases, increased recognition of serious threats to public health and safety has led various groups of aroused citizens to advocate governmental control. Today, growing numbers of individuals and organizations believe that the consumer's health and safety are not being adequately protected in at least two areas-cigarettes and automobiles. Thus, the following discussion is directed to the vital …

Federal Trade Commission Regulation Of Advertising, Earl W. Kintner

Michigan Law Review

The success of an economic democracy, no less than that of a political democracy, depends upon informed, intelligent choice. Thus, the widespread dissemination of information with respect to alternatives is imperative; otherwise, choices would be made in a vacuum and would become meaningless, if not plainly capricious. However, there is no paucity of information in our contemporary society; the so-called "mass media" ensure that. Indeed, modern man can hardly escape, even if he should so desire, the constant bombardment of information from television, radio, newspapers, billboards, and other sources.

Toward Uniform Guardianship Legislation, William F. Fratcher

Michigan Law Review

The Model Probate Code, part IV of which covers guardianship of the persons and property of infants and mental incompetents, was published in 1946 under the auspices of the University of Michigan Law School. It was prepared for the Probate Law Division of the Section of Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law of the American Bar Association by its Model Probate Code Committee in cooperation with the research staff of the Law School. No state has adopted the Model Probate Code in its entirety, but parts of it have been enacted in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, …

The Accumulated Earnings Tax And The Problem Of Diversification, James C. Westin

Michigan Law Review

While diversification is now considered a legitimate corporate need authorizing the accumulation of earnings and profits, the present standards of the Regulations under section 531, which, in general, test the reasonableness of corporate accumulations by the requirement of "specific, definite, and feasible plans" for use of the funds, seem too restrictive in terms of the problems of diversification as outlined above. In light of this criticism and of recent developments, the purposes of this comment are (1) to indicate the basic principles of section 531, an understanding of which is vital to corporations anticipating retention of funds for the purpose …

The Relative Priority Of Small Business Administration Liens: An Unreasonable Extension Of Federal Preference?, Ronald L. Olson

Michigan Law Review

During the past three decades, the priority of the federal government as against state and private creditors competing for the assets of debtors has been greatly strengthened. In terms of relative growth, the expansion of federal priority has been comparable to the increased commercial involvement of the United States. In more recent years, Congress and the judiciary have recognized that this increased governmental commercial activity necessitates a restriction in sovereign prerogatives. However, contrary to this general trend toward the contraction of sovereign prerogatives and for reasons appearing unsatisfactory to most commentators, the "sovereign prerogative" of priority to the assets of …

Hessel E. Yntema, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Memorial Tribute for Hessel E. Yntema