Digital Commons Network^™

Corporations-Dissolution-Distribution Of Assets Between Preferred And Common Stockholders

Michigan Law Review

The Commonwealth Hotel Construction Co. became insolvent, and, after the creditors had been paid in full, the preferred and common stockholders disagreed to the distribution of the remaining assets. The articles of incorporation provided that the holders of preferred stock should be entitled to dividends at the rate of seven per centum per annum which should be cumulative "so that, if dividends for any past dividend period at the rate of seven per centum per annum shall not have been paid thereon or set apart therefor, the deficiency shall be fully paid or set apart, but without interest, before any …

Crimes-Reasonable Doubt-Necessity Of Defining-Definition

Michigan Law Review

In a criminal case, the defendant requested an instruction defining the term "reasonable doubt." The court refused the request and the defendant excepted. Held, the instruction should have been given. State v. Vukich (Wash. 1930) 290 Pac. 992.

Marriage-Validity Of Marriage Terminable At Will Of The Parties Under Soviet Law

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner married the respondent in Moscow, in 1924, the parties being the domiciled in the Soviet Union. By Soviet law a divorce could be secured upon the registration of both parties of their desire to terminate the marriage, or upon the application of one of them to a court which had no discretion but to dissolve the union. The petitioner filed a bill for separation in England, and an issue was directed in the lower court to determine whether the parties had ever been husband and wife. The court held the marriage invalid, but on appeal it was held the …

Quasi-Contracts--Duress--Economic Pressure-Adequacy Of Legal Remedies

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff deposited funds with the defendant, a stock-broker, as security for his margin account. The defendant without authority sold short on the plaintiff's account a large number of shares of stock and threatened to use the plaintiff's deposits to cover the sale unless the plaintiff would authorize a purchase for that purpose. The plaintiff under protest authorized the defendant to purchase the stock, which in the meanwhile had increased in value. The plaintiff then brought suit to recover the difference between the sale and the re-purchase prices plus the defendant's commissions and transfer taxes. Held, on demurrer that …

Quasi-Contracts--Duress--Tort Action For

Michigan Law Review

The court in the instant case implied by way of dictum that the plaintiff could have recovered if duress had existed. Perhaps as to the commissions sufficient benefit was conferred upon the defendant to form the basis of quasicontractual liability. WOODWARD, LAW OF QUASI-CONTRACTS, sec. 211; Astley v. Reynolds, 2 Strange 915; Darling-Singer Lumber Co. v. Oriental Navigation Co., 127 Or. 655, 272 Pac. 275.

Wills-Loose Sheets As A Will

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix's will contained twenty-eight sheets of correspondence paper, each complete in itself and not physically bound together. When presented for probate, the last sheet held only an attestation clause and the signatures of testatrix and witnesses; each of the others was, signed by testatrix; and the whole group were consecutively numbered. The attesting witnesses, employed at the bank with which testatrix did business, identified the writing on all twenty-eight sheets as that of testatrix, but could not say that these very sheets were present when the last was executed. They testified there was a bundle of similar sheets, and one …

Some Legal Problems Connected With Stock Market Transactions, S. Ashley Guthrie, Henry F. Tenney

Michigan Law Review

If any one were asked what was the most dramatic event of the last year, he probably refer at once to the collapse of the great Bull Market on the New York Stock Exchange. This was not only a dramatic event, but it was literally a tragedy for hundreds of thousands of people. Securities shrank to less than half their former inflated values and hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and paper profits were lost over night, or possibly we should say over two nights, for the crash occurred in two stages, one in October and one in November, …

The Supreme Court's Construction Of The Self-Incrimination Clause, Edward S. Corwin

Michigan Law Review

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution reads as follows: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized." The so-called "self-incrimination clause" of Amendment V reads as follows: "No person * * * shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."

Aliens-Right To Hold Propsrty-Effect Of Statutes

Michigan Law Review

An alien testator devised land to her son, which property was seized during the World War by the defendant Alien Property Custodian as belonging to an alien enemy. Von Zedtwitz v. Sutherland, 58 App. D. C. 153, 26 F.(2d) 525. The plaintiffs sued the son in Kentucky, where part of the land was located, and the Alien Property Custodian in this suit to recover the property on the theory that after the eight-year period which the laws of Kentucky allowed the alien heir in which to dispose of the realty, the title vested in them as next of kin …

Corporations - Directors - Power Of Shareholders To Fill Vacancies

Michigan Law Review

One of a directorate of three having resigned in the middle of his term, a special stockholders' meeting was called to fill the vacancy, and defendant was elected to finish the term. The relator, a stockholder and director, brought a writ of quo warranto to oust the defendant on the ground that the Corporation Act (ch. 32, sec. 21, par. 5, Ill. Rev. Stat. Cahill, 1929) provided that "the directors shall fill all vacancies which may happen in the board * * * by death, resignation, or otherwise, until the next annual meeting of the stockholders," and that therefore the …

Garnishment-Foreign-Double Liability

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a resident of New York, obtained a judgment in Connecticut against El Saieh, a resident of Haiti, the court in that action obtaining jurisdiction by garnishment of a debt owed El Saieh by defendant, a Connecticut corporation, which was served with garnishment process, and admitted an obligation to El Saieh based on a policy of fire insurance issued through its agency in Haiti on a stock of goods located there. Plaintiff then sought to enforce the judgment against the defendant garnishee, which set up a defense of double liability, contending that under the laws of Haiti it was absolutely …

Trusts-Apportionment Of Extraordinary Dividend From Sale Of Property By Realty Company Between Life Tenant And Remainderman

Michigan Law Review

After death of the testator, leaving his wife shares in a realty company as part of the residue of his estate in trust to receive the rents, profits, and income of the same for her natural life, the company sold the greater portion of its property and declared a cash dividend of 100 per cent. Held, that it belonged to the remainderman and not the life beneficiary. In re Jackson's Will, 239 N. Y. S. 362.

Replevin-Defense Of Paramount Right To Possession In A Third Person

Michigan Law Review

Courts are often heard to say, as does the Wisconsin court in a recent case, that an action of replevin may be defeated by proof of title paramount in a third person, even though the plaintiff has shown a right to possession as against the defendant sufficient to support an action of trespass. This seems so anomalous, so opposed to our notion of other possessory actions, for example, trespass, and even trover, where the plaintiff need show only a better right to possession to recover, that we are led to wonder how such a doctrine ever obtained a foothold in …

Fraudulent Intent In Trade Mark Cases, Grover C. Grismore

Michigan Law Review

One of the troublesome questions which confront the trade mark lawyer is that as to the extent to which a fraudulent intention is an essential element in trade mark litigation. Must a plaintiff who is seeking injunctive relief, or damages, or an accounting against a defendant who", it is alleged, has simulated his trade mark, trade name or other identifying device, show that the latter has consciously sought to mislead the purchasing public? Judges and legal writers leave the matter in doubt. It is the purpose of this paper to discover, if possible, how this doubt has arisen and to …

The Criminal's Right Of Privacy

Michigan Law Review

The dissent of Mr. Justice Brandeis in the famed wire tapping case has been of especial interest to those who are acquainted with his article in the Harvard Law Review in 1890 on "The Right of Privacy." The law has witnessed few more fascinating developments than the engrafting of this latter concept into the formula of justice, few more conspicuous examples of creative juristic effort. Concerning it Dean Pound has said: "What may almost be called the classical example (of creative activity) is the paper on the Right of Privacy in which Mr. Justice Brandeis, then at the bar, was …

Marriage-Annulment For Fraudulent Misrepresentation As To Intent To Cohabit

Michigan Law Review

An interesting problem as to what constitutes fraud sufficient to invalidate a marriage is raised by the recent Illinois case of Bielby v. Bielby. 165 N.E. 231. The husband asked annulment on the ground of the wife's misrepresentation as to her intent to cohabit. The evidence as to the wife's intent and as to whether the marriage was actually consummated was undecisive, the wife testifying that it was and the husband that it was not. However, he did not testify that he had ever requested consummation or that she had ever refused it. It was held there could not …

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Law School Announcement 1929-1930 And Catalogue Of Students 1928-1929, University Of Michigan Law School

Law School Announcement and Bulletins

History and Organization; Library; Summer Session; Directions to Candidates for Admission; Foreign Students; Requirements for Admission; Requirements for Graduation: Degrees; The Law Curriculum; Seminar Courses; Special Courses; The Practice Court; Fees and Expenses; The Lawyers' Club; Michigan Law Review; Fellowships, Scholarships, and Prizes; Order of the Coif; Additional Information; Students' Physical Welfare; The Michigan Union; Summer Session; Requirements for Admission; Credit; Fees; Free Lectures; Schedule of Work for 1929; Additional Information; Graduates of 1928; Students; Summary of Students;

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Right Of Holders Of Preferred Stock To Participate In The Distribution Of Profits, Jay Finley Christ

Michigan Law Review

When, in the management of the affairs of corporate enterprises, a surplus is available for the payment of dividends, the question often arises, "In what proportions is this fund to be distributed, as between holders of common stock and holders of preferred stock?" When the contract, whether in the by-laws, the subscription agreement, the certificate, or any other form, makes clear the intent of the parties, one way or another, such intent is, of course, controlling. But the intent of the parties may not always be clearly expressed, and in the latter event the rights of the parties are determined …

When Is A Treaty Self-Executing, Leslie Henry

Michigan Law Review

A self-executing treaty is a treaty which of its own force furishes a rule of municipal law for the guidance of municipal courts in deciding cases involving the rights of individuals.

Ordinarily treaties are simply agreements or contracts between two or more sovereignties, obligating them to carry out the mutual promises contained therein. But under our Constitution a treaty is of greater force. It may operate as a law, just like an act of Congress. But the constitutional provision is not mandatory. Not every treaty provision is necessarily a law. For example, a promise to secure the passage of legislation …

The Illinois Appellate Courts-Are They Satisfactory?

Michigan Law Review

The instantaneous answer of "Yes" to this question was given by every Illinois attorney the writer asked while gathering material for this article, and undoubtedly that would be the answer of an overwhelming percentage of the Illinois Bar. In the Constitutional Convention of 1920 in Illinois, not one of the fifty odd lawyer members ever questioned their expediency in all the debates on the judiciary article. And much can, of course, be said in their favor. They relieve the supreme court of a great burden of work. They are closer at hand than the supreme court to most of the …

Mortgages - Equity Jurisdiction - Personal Decrees Against The Mortgagor

Michigan Law Review

The Michigan supreme court recently held that the jurisdiction of equity in proceedings for the foreclosure of mortgages is governed by statute, and that equity can only render a personal decree against the mortgagor where the statute expressly permits it. This view, if correct, must be recognized as an exception to the well settled doctrine that a court of equity which has obtained jurisdiction of a controversy on any ground or for any purpose, may retain such jurisdiction for the purpose of administering complete relief. Michigan has repeatedly affirmed this general doctrine.

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

The Fifteenth Century-The Dark Age In Legal History, Joseph F. Francis

Michigan Law Review

Everywhere during the last few decades there has been a revolution in the thinking of educated men. I refer to the revolution in logical method and thought that had its impetus first in the non-Euclidian mathematicians. was then carried on by the logicians and philosophers and finally culminated in the startling conclusions announced by Einstein. This revolution has been an attack on absolutism and on the metaphysical nonentities that pervade all man's learning. The attack is not new, it is only new in vigor, in scope, and in promise.

Fire Insurance-Is "Double" Payment Necessarily Overpayment?

Michigan Law Review

A recent Wisconsin case, Ramsdell v. Insurance Co., presents a novel and interesting situation. The lessor and lessee of business property each insured the property in separate companies, the lessor for $3,000 and the lessee for $7,500. The lease contained no provisions as to insurance, repairing, or rebuilding and there was no contract between any of the parties which could affect the situation that arose. A loss of $4,246 occurred in June. After lengthy negotiations had proved fruitless, the lessee rebuilt the premises and sued his insurer. At the same time the lessor sued on his policy. The lessee …

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

When The Importer Is A State University, May The Government Collect A Duty?, Sweinbjorn Johnson

Michigan Law Review

The Tariff Act of 1922 has raised a question which may turn out to be one of great importance as well as one of unusual interest. It appears that in previous acts exemptions were granted, more or less general, in favor of schools, libraries and educational institutions with the result that on imports for their use no duties were levied or collected. In the law of 1922, however, no such exemptions appear, and the customs officers throughout the country have required state universities to pay a duty when the title passed abroad and the articles imported by them were intended …

Crimes-Alibi-Instructions As To Particular Evidence

Michigan Law Review

In a prosecution for robbery the defendants introduced evidence as to an alibi and requested a charge which contained the proposition that the evidence on this point had merely to raise a reasonable doubt as to their presence at the scene of the crime to entitle them to an acquittal. The court refused this request, but had previously instructed the jury that the burden rested with the state to prove the guilt of the. defendants beyond a reasonable doubt. Held, that it was reversible error to refuse the charge requested. People v. Vasquez (Cal. App. r928) 26g Pac. 549.