Law Commons^™

Eminent Domain - Procedure - Relation Of Judge And Jury In Michigan Condemnation Proceedings, John H. Jackson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The relationship of judge to jury in Michigan condemnation proceedings presents in many ways a merger of some of the problems and questions contained in the relationship of judge to jury in civil trials, and of court to tribunal in administrative law. Theorists as well as the practicing lawyer in Michigan and some other states" may well find in the development of the Michigan condemnation proceeding an interesting example of the growth of a procedure for adjudication, in a context of cross-fire between legislative ideas and judicial interpretation of a constitutional provision.

Cml Procedure - Mandamus - Application To Erroneous Refusal To Dismiss On The Ground Of Forum Non Conveniens, George E. Parker Iii

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner railroad, defendant in a suit brought in Illinois under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, moved to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens. The accident occurred in New Mexico, and none of the parties or witnesses was a resident of Illinois. The railroad, however, did business in Illinois as well as in other states, and had its principal offices and legal staff in Chicago. Upon denial of the motion to dismiss, the railroad, on original petition to the Supreme Court of Illinois, sought a writ of mandamus to compel dismissal. Held, writ denied, two justices dissenting. Mandamus …

Civil Procedure - Forum Non Conveniens - Judicial Adoption Of Doctrine When Statue Of Limitations Has Run Elsewhere, Jerome S. Traum

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Missouri resident, brought suit in Arkansas against defendant, a Missouri corporation authorized to do business in Arkansas, for injuries received in an accident in Illinois. Plaintiff had filed and dismissed an action in Missouri, and the statute of limitations had run in Illinois. Defendant's motion for dismissal on grounds of forum non conveniens was granted by the trial court. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded, one justice dissenting. Although the trial court could in its discretion refuse jurisdiction on the grounds of forum non conveniens, there was insufficient evidence in this case upon which a dismissal could …

Guided Tour In A Civil Law Library: Sources And Basic Legal Materials In French Civil And Commercial Law, G. M. Razi

Michigan Law Review

Lawyers everywhere rely upon their books with eagerness and confidence. The larger their libraries, the better equipped they feel to answer the questions of their clients. The composition of an average library differs somewhat in France and in the United States. In this country the law reports, in their familiar, substantial and elegant bindings, are displayed on the prominent shelves, while in Europe, the law reports-often merely paper bound-are relegated to some corner. The front place is reserved for the leather bindings and the gilt letters of the treatises bearing the names of outstanding authors in the various fields of …

Civil Procedure - Process - Immunity From Service Of Nonresident Entering State To Discuss Settlement Of A Dispute, Edward M. Heppenstall

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a resident of Idaho, leased a service station in Idaho from plaintiff, a Utah corporation. Plaintiff's attorney travelled to Idaho to attempt settlement of difficulties which had arisen concerning the lease. When the Idaho negotiations failed, plaintiff invited defendant to make further attempts at settlement in Utah. Defendant accepted the proposal and, when the Utah negotiations proved unfruitful, defendant was served with process in Utah at plaintiff's request. It was undisputed that defendant went to Utah solely to effect settlement, returning directly to Idaho after cessation of negotiations. On appeal from the trial court's denial of defendant's motion to …

Civil Procedure On The American Frontier, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

The Treaty of Greenville (1795) by which Indian tribes of the Northwest Territory ceded to the United States the eastern and southern parts of the area which later became the state of Ohio, provided that certain small areas north and west of the treaty line should also be ceded.

Regulation Of Business-Civil Actions Under Section 3 Of The Robinson-Patman Act, Richard E. Day S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In Nashville Milk Co. v. Carnation Co. plaintiff sought to recover treble damages and asked injunctive relief, claiming defendant had sold filled milk at unreasonably low prices for the purpose of destroying competition by plaintiff in its sale of a like product in violation of section 3 of the Robinson-Patman Act. In affirming an order dismissing the complaint, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a private action may not be maintained for a violation of section 3 of the Robinson-Patman Act. That very same week, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reached a contrary …

Calamandrei: Procedure And Democracy, Charles Alan Wright

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Procedure and Democracy. By Piero Calamandrei.

Chafee, Jr.: The Blessings Of Liberty, Nathaniel Nathanson

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Blessings of Liberty. By Zechariah Chafee, Jr.

Schwartz: The Code Napoleon And The Common Law World, J. G. Castel

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Code Napoleon and the Common Law World. Edited by Bernard Schwartz.

Lawson: A Common Lawyer Looks At The Civil Law, F. S. C. Northrop

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Common Lawyer Looks at the Civil Law. By F. H. Lawson.

Family Responsibilty Under The American Poor Laws: Ii, Daniel R. Mandelker

Michigan Law Review

No substantive statutory provision fulfills the purpose for which it was enacted unless fair and efficient procedures are provided for its enforcement. Under the Elizabethan family responsibility law, enforcement was confined to the parish justices of the peace, who at that time exercised both administrative and judicial functions. The blending of administrative and judicial functions no longer being the rule in American local government, practically all of the American family responsibility statutes provide for some judicial procedure by which the support duty may be enforced. The basic issue with which the courts have been concerned in applying these statutory remedies …

Constitutional Law - Civil Rights Acts - Civil Liability Of State Officials Acting Withing Their Discretionary Powers, Charles B. Renfrew S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was adjudged mentally ill by a county probate judge and ordered committed to a state mental hospital in November 1950. The commitment was made pursuant to a petition made out by the county deputy sheriff on the recommendation of a local attorney. In August of 1952, plaintiff was released from the state mental hospital. He then filed an action in the county circuit court to test the validity of his commitment. The circuit court found that the commitment was void, because of a failure by the authorities to comply with the applicable statutory requirements, and granted a permanent injunction …

Real Property - Water Rights - Liability For Discharge Of Surface Water, Robert E. Hammell

Michigan Law Review

In 1950 the corporate defendants purchased a forty acre tract of farm land lying north of plaintiffs' golf course and restaurant. Drainage from this tract had always flowed in a natural course southerly through plaintiffs' land. The defendant corporations constructed a subdivision of 169 homes on the tract. This change aggravated the discharge of surface water onto the land of the plaintiffs, increasing the run-off some 350 percent and, in times of heavy rains, producing flood conditions. Plaintiffs were awarded damages and an injunction by the trial court. On appeal, held, reversed. In respect to 30 acres of defendants' …

Antitrust Administration And Enforcement, John T. Chadwell

Michigan Law Review

The importance of the nation's antitrust policy requires that administration and enforcement powers and techniques be equal to the huge task of effectively safeguarding competition. The recommendations of the Attorney General's Committee represent a statesmanlike effort to balance the need for effective enforcement with the need for the preservation of fairness and the conservation of time and resources in antitrust litigation. Some of the recommendations will undoubtedly engender heated controversy; others seem relatively uncontroversial.

Many individual topics are dealt with in the Report of the committee and space does not permit comment upon all of them. The following discussion is …

Civil Procedure - Process - Amendment When A Partnership Is Served As A Corporation, Donald W. Shaffer

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff instituted a negligence action for personal injuries by serving a summons and complaint on one Moriarty as an officer of Moriarty Manufacturing Company, intending thereby a substituted service on this company. Plaintiff believed the named firm to be a corporation, but it was in fact a partnership of which Moriarty was a member. There was no appearance or answer. Two and one-half years after the initial service, an amended summons and complaint were served on all of the partners. In answer, defendants pleaded a two-year statute of limitations and moved for a summary judgment, which was granted. On appeal, …

Federal Procedure - Juries - Attacking Release For Fraud In Action At Law, James W. Beatty S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action to recover damages for personal injuries. Defendant filed an answer and asserted that plaintiff had executed a release in full for all claims against the defendant. In his reply plaintiff admitted that he had executed the release, but claimed that it was obtained by fraud on the part of the defendant. The district court granted defendant's motion to deny a jury trial on the ground that the matter of determining the validity of a release was properly cognizable in equity and that therefore plaintiff was not entitled to a jury trial on this issue. On appeal …

Civil Procedure - Venue - Forum Non-Conveniens, Richard S. Weinstein S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, an Indiana corporation not authorized to do business in New York, brought an action in New York, aided by attachment, against Indiana residents on a contract that was made, was to be performed, and allegedly was breached in Indiana. On the basis of the doctrine of forum non conveniens the defendants moved to vacate the warrant of attachment and to dismiss the complaint. The lower court denied the motion. On appeal, held, reversed. Under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, the lower court should have exercised its discretion to refuse to entertain the action. Central Pub. Co. vs. …

Real Property-Easements By Prescription-Use Of Presumption, Robert B. Olsen

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs sought to enjoin defendants from using a driveway located on plaintiffs' property. Defendants counterclaimed to have an easement by prescription declared. The parties occupied adjacent city lots. Defendants' predecessor began using the driveway in 1920 without seeking permission from plaintiffs' predecessor. The respective predecessors were on friendly terms at the inception of the user. Defendants and their predecessors made minor repairs to the driveway and claimed at the trial that they had constantly used it as their own. In 1936, two years after plaintiffs acquired full title to their lot, their predecessor executed an abortive quit-claim deed to the …

Civil Procedure - Judgments - Res Judicata Effect Of Declaratory Judgments, Robert G. Russell S.Ed..

Michigan Law Review

In a former action brought pursuant to the Colorado Declaratory Judgment Act, plaintiff was declared to have the right to use a certain roadway as dedicated and defendant was enjoined from interfering with or obstructing plaintiff's use of the same. Thereafter, plaintiff brought the present action to recover damages allegedly resulting from defendant's blockading of the road prior to the bringing of the former action. On appeal from a judgment for plaintiff, held, reversed. Where, as here, the damages were antecedent and might with propriety have been determined in the same proceeding in which the declaratory judgment alone was …

Civil Procedure - Compensation Of Witnesses In A Civil Action, David W. Belin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

As the amount and complexity of litigation has increased, there have been corresponding increases in demands for added compensation of witnesses. Like the juror, the witness often receives the time-honored answer that he cannot be heard to complain that his compensation is inadequate; the administration of justice is a mutual benefit to all members of the community, and each is under a public duty to further it.

At common law witnesses received no compensation. Time spent in testifying was held to be claimed by the public as a tax, paid by the witness to the system of law which protected …

Civil Procedure - Service Of Process Under Nonresident Motorist Statute - Effect Of Death Of Nonresident Defendant, Warren K. Urbom S.Ed..

Michigan Law Review

A wife sued for the wrongful death of her husband, which was allegedly caused by a nonresident defendant's negligent operation of his automobile on a Wisconsin highway while the plaintiff's husband was a passenger therein. Service of process was made on the Commissioner of the Motor Vehicle Department in Wisconsin, and copies of the summons and complaint were mailed to defendant in Illinois in accordance with the Wisconsin nonresident motorist statute. Shortly thereafter, before a judgment was rendered, defendant died. Plaintiff sought to revive the action against defendant's administrator by serving notice of the filing of a petition for revival …

Corporations - Shareholders - Right To Bring Derivative Action For Treble Damages Under Antitrust Laws, William K. Davenport S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, owner of 50 percent of the stock in a theater corporation, brought a derivative action in federal court for treble damages for loss of profits allegedly suffered from defendant's violation of the antitrust laws. The district court sustained defendant's motion to dismiss. On appeal to the court of appeals, held, reversed and remanded. Under the new federal rules, a stockholder may bring a derivative action for treble damages under the antitrust laws. Fanchon & Marco, Inc. v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., (2d Cir. 1953) 202 F. (2d) 731.

Soviet Civil Law: A Review, Roscoe Pound

Michigan Law Review

Here is an excellent and much needed book. Although the enthusiastic wishful thinking about things Russian, fashionable not so long ago, has for the most part abated, the rise of a new social and economic order on a great scale must call for careful study by lawyers and law-makers no less than by historians and economists and students of politics. Now that a generation has been at work constructively since the destructive era of militant communism after the revolution, we need accurate and objectively presented and interpreted information as to how the administration of justice goes on under "the dictatorship …

Insolvent Decedents' Estates, Kurt H. Nadelmann

Michigan Law Review

The problems of insolvent decedents' estates have created special difficulties in all legal systems. Two unrelated fields of the law are involved: decedents' estates and insolvency. Treatment of the topic in works on one or the other field is often scanty and few studies exist which deal exclusively with insolvent decedents' estates law. Research in the conflicts problems of the field has led the writer to investigate the differences in the treatment of insolvent decedents' estates in this country, other common law countries, and countries of the civil law. Results of this study are used to discuss problems of the …

Partnership--Partner's Right To Compensation For Services To Partnership As A Going Concern, C. E. Lombardi, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant bought a fishing boat, which they operated in partnership for a number of years, under an agreement embodied in a series of informal letters. Both plaintiff and defendant at times ran the boat, but apparently they never operated it together. The partner in charge received the customary share of the crew's two-thirds of the "catch," plus compensation for services rendered as captain; each of them received half of the ''boat's share" of the catch. Defendant bought materials for some special nets, which he designed and constructed; he informed. plaintiff that he was doing so, and that it …

Partnership--Partner's Right To Compensation For Services To Partnership As A Going Concern, C. E. Lombardi, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant bought a fishing boat, which they operated in partnership for a number of years, under an agreement embodied in a series of informal letters. Both plaintiff and defendant at times ran the boat, but apparently they never operated it together. The partner in charge received the customary share of the crew's two-thirds of the "catch," plus compensation for services rendered as captain; each of them received half of the ''boat's share" of the catch. Defendant bought materials for some special nets, which he designed and constructed; he informed. plaintiff that he was doing so, and that it …

Libel And Slander-Necessity For Allegation Of Special Damages For Defamation Not Shown Libelous Per Se, John J. Gaskell S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, the deacons, pastor, and clerk of the Gallatin Baptist Church, published to the church membership a letter to the plaintiff, an ordained minister of the Baptist Church, and a member of the Gallatin Church, requiring him to report and show cause why the hand of fellowship should not be withdrawn from him because of heresy. The plaintiff's complaint for libel set out the letter published, but a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action was sustained by the circuit court on the grounds that there was no allegation of special damages to the plaintiff. On …

The Privy Council And Private Law In The Tudor And Stuart Periods: I, John P. Dawson

Michigan Law Review

It has been often said that the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries in England were pre-eminently the age of conciliar government. The activities of the Tudor Privy Council extended into every phase of national life and were responsible, more than any other single factor, for the effective organization of an English national state. These activities continued under the first two Stuarts, with no break in institutional development, though they widened the gulf between Crown and people and hastened a revolution.

Alternative Pleading: I, Roy W. Mcdonald

Michigan Law Review

The present series of articles seeks to test the extent to which the dictates of this common professional experience have influenced the statutes, rules, and precedents which govern our civil practice. As a background for a review of procedures typical of the code and federal practice within the United States, it will be useful initially to consider briefly the English practice during the past century and a half. The English procedures, as they existed at the end of the eighteenth century, though everywhere locally modified and simplified in some respects, formed authoritative guides for the practices of most of the …