Law Commons^™

How To Beat The Rule Against Perpetuities, John R. Rood

Articles

Many people seem to think that the lawyer's problem is not so much to know what the law is as to know how to get all they want while obeying the law to the letter. In the case of perpetuities the history of nearly a thousand years of our law shows an almost unbroken series of disastrous failures of the best-laid schemes to violate the public policy of freedom of alienation.

The New Federal Equity Rules, Robert E. Bunker

Articles

On November 4, 1912 the Supreme Court of the United States, by formal order, adopted and established a code of rules for the courts of equity of the United States, which should take the place of all rules theretofore prescribed by the Supreme Court and then in force. Rule 81 provides: "These rules shall be in force on and after February 1, 1913, and shall govern all proceedings in cases then pending or thereafter brought, save that where in any then pending cause an order has been made or act done which cannot be changed without doing substantial injustice, the …

The Lien Or Equitable Theory Of The Mortgage--Some Generalizations, Edgar N. Durfee

Articles

The question is--What is the nature of the rights of a real property mortgagee in those jurisdictions which adopt the lien or equitable theory3 of the mortgage? In one sense this question calls for a full statement of the law of mortgages but that, of course, is not the sense in which the writer puts it. He means by it to put a broader and more scientific question--a question, be it at once confessed, of jurisprudence--yet a question which has an important bearing on, if it is not in fact conclusive of, several specific problems in the law, which will …

Pleading Estoppel, W. Gordon Stoner

Articles

No subject is fraught with more difficulties for the pleader than that of estoppel. The problems of "when" and "how" to plead seem never so perplexing as when they arise in connection with this subject. That these problems are not confined to any day or age is evidenced by the reports from the time of Lord COKE down to the latest advance sheets of the present day reporter systems, and the lawyers of no generation have been wholly agreed on their solution. No system of pleading yet established has been free from these questions and with each general change in …

Influence Of Social And Economic Ideals On The Law Of Malicious Torts, W. Gordon Stoner

Articles

"The existence and the alteration of human institutions," says DICEY, "must in a sense, always and everywhere depend upon the beliefs or feelings, or, in other words, upon the opinion of the society in which such institutions flourish."1 Undoubtedly, law, as much as any other human institution, has felt this influence of public opinion. The political, economical and ethical ideals of a people find expression in their laws. True it is that public opinion is usually, if not always, in the lead, but in a truly happy and contented society the distance is never great. As MAINE says, in progressive …

The Struggle For A Perpetuity, John R. Rood

Articles

It is natural for us moderns to conceive of the right to alienate as an inseparable incident of ownership, since we have known no other condition; and in the modern books and decisions the subject is generally disposed of with the curt statement as if it were a truism. It is believed that to such as are not familiar with the history of that doctrine a review of the struggle through centuries, by which it was finally established on its present firm foundation, would not be devoid of interest.

New Doctrine Concerning Contracts In Restraint Of Trade, Jerome C. Knowlton

Articles

Is a covenant in restraint of a particular trade and unlimited as to space against public policy and therefore void and unenforceable? Long ago an English judge, in speaking of the making of contracts, protested against arguing too strongly upon public policy. "It is a very unruly horse, and, when once you get astride it, you never know where it will carry you."1 Right he was and is, and the judge who would keep his saddle must be a good rider, for the horse shies badly on the way at every new condition in trade and commerce, occasioned by recent …

Some Difficulties Of Code Pleading, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

The common law system of pleading was founded upon the theory that issues of fact, representing the gist of the controversy between the contending parties to a suit, should be developed by the pleadings. In practice this was not always realized, for many fictions and legal conclusions obtained recognition as legitimate allegations, and upon them issues were formed which satisfied the courts. The most striking and familiar instance of this is found in the common counts. Here there is an allegation of indebtedness, which is a mere legal conclusion, and with this as a consideration a promise to pay is …

English Law As An Exponent Of English History, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

It is not my purpose to unduly emphasize the light which the study of the laws of a people throws upon its character and development. The teaching of history should be broad enough to recognize the importance of all sides of national life. But I believe there has never been a sufficient appreciation of the real wealth of suggestive and illuminating material which is contained in the history of English law. For the English have been pre-eminently a legal race. In the study of Roman History Roman Law has always occupied a prominent place. The Romans made their reputation, so …

Process, Edson R. Sunderland

Book Chapters

Professor Sunderland's chapter on Process: "Process, in the sense in which it is employed in the present title, means the writ, notice, or other formal writing, issued by authority of law, for the purpose of bringing defendant into a court of law to answer plaintiff's demands in civil action, although in a more technical and limited sense the term is frequently applied only to those writs or writings which issue out of a court." The chapter features an 8-page outline introductory.

Surface Water In Cities, John R. Rood

Articles

It is evident that no one hard and fast rule could be applied to all cases, either in city or country, without producing injustice and impolitic results. The needs and conditions in city and country are different. They usually differ widely in different parts of the same city. These considerations have induced the Supreme Court of New Hampshire to adopt the flexible rule, that: "In determining this question all the circumstances of the case would, of course, be considered; and among them the nature and importance of the improvements sought to be made, the extent of the interference with the …

Statute Of Uses And The Modern Deed, John R. Rood

Articles

To what extent does the modem conveyance of estates in land in the United States by deed derive its validity from the English Statute of Uses, 27 Hen. 8, c. IO? No doubt the student, and especially the teacher, is inclined to magnify the importance of mere matters of history, because it is so much easier to understand or explain many of the terms and doctrines of real property law by approaching them historically, and, indeed, many of them cannot otherwise be understood at all. And yet we all have this constant, serious, and often difficult task, of separating matter …

Exit Of Doctrine Of Situs, John R. Rood

Articles

A decision rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States on the 8th day of last May seems to mark the elimination of the doctrine of situs as a jurisdictional question in garnishment and attachment proceedings in the United States.

Freedom Of Contract, Jerome C. Knowlton

Articles

The liberty mentioned in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution "means not only the right of the citizen to be free from the mere physical restraint of his person, as by incarceration, but the term is deemed to embrace the right of the citizen to be free in the enjoyment of all his faculties; to be free to use them in all lawful ways; to live and work where he will; to earn his livelihood by any lawful calling; to pursue any livelihood or avocation, and for that purpose to enter into all contracts which may be proper, necessary …

Some Legal Aspects Of Special Assessments, Frank L. Sage

Articles

Taxes have been defined as "the enforced proportional contributions from persons and property levied by the state by virtue of its sovereignty for the support of the government and all public needs." The essential elements that we will notice particularly are two; first, that the contributions are proportional, that is, levied upon all in the same class according to some impartial standard, and second, that taxes can be levied for public purposes only.

Foreign Voluntary Assignments For The Benefit Of Creditors, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

AlI laws concerning property rights are based upon the broad - doctrine that every person who owns property may dispose of the same as he sees fit. The right of disposal of property is inseparably united to the right of property itself, and indeed is an essential element of the concept of property. It might even serve as a definition of property, viewing property as that which one may dispose of,-a definition too general, it is true, for practical purposes, but undoubtedly a correct and valuable metaphysical theorem

Does The Power To Alienate In Fee Simple Defeat An Executory Devise?, Bradley M. Thompson

Articles

Under the common law one who held an estate in lands in fee simple absolute was the sole owner of such lands, and his right to enjoy the estate and exercise all the powers and privileges incident thereto could not be restricted by the devisor or grantor. The rights and privileges incident to an estate in fee simple constituted the estate-they were all essential, they were its bone, sinew and blood, and in the absence of any one of them the estate was regarded as less than a fee simple. Among those essential rights were the right of possession, the …

Ratification By An Undisclosed Principal, Edwin C. Goddard

Articles

Omnis ratihabitio retrotrahitur, et mandato priori aequiparatur. Every ratification relates back, and is equivalent to a prior authority, is the second great maxim of agency, and has been said to be as well established and as simple of application as the first and fundamental one, qui facit per alium, facit per se. It was as well recognized in the Roman law, as it is in the common law. Whether the maxim ratihabitio mandato comparatur of the Roman lawyers and the early English cases is identical in meaning with the dogma ratihabitio mandato acquiparatur of Lord Coke, and of all English …

Does The Power To Alienate In Fee Simple Defeat An Executory Devise?, Bradley M. Thompson

Articles

Under the common law one who held an estate in lands in fee simple absolute was the sole owner of such lands, and 1hisright to enjoy the estate and exercise all the powers and privileges incident thereto could not be restricted by the devisor or grantor. The rights and privileges incident to an estate in fee simple constituted the estate-they were all essential, they were its bone, sinew and blood, and in the absence of any one of them the estate was regarded as less than a fee simple.

The "Law Reports", Nathan Abbott

Articles

The period between the years 1860 and 1870 marks an interesting stage in the history of law reporting. Within this period a system of reporting that had existed for upward of three centuries came to an end, and an experiment was begun whereby it was hoped to produce reports not merely in a new way, but reports that were to be materially different in form and substance from those of the previous system. The conception of the enterprise and its successful accomplishment is due to the energy and discretion of one man, whose history of the affair, after twenty years …

Local Government In Great Britain, Thomas M. Cooley

Book Chapters

Professor Cooley's brief overview of the subject as context for his editing of the Commentaries: "As the local institutions of Great Britain have very largely been remodeled in our day, it seems desirable to give some brief account of them, as they exist at the present time..."

The British Colonial System, Thomas M. Cooley

Book Chapters

Regarding the subject, Professor Cooley writes: "In a note to the first book of these Commentaries (p.109), the Colonial System of Great Britain is spoken of as the grandest in extent and power that the world has ever known. A more detailed account of the system, and of the countries and places embraced within it, than was given in the place referred to, will justify the statement there made, and at the same time will give us particulars of British Colonial government in all its varieties."

Local Government In The United States, Thomas M. Cooley

Book Chapters

Professor Cooley offers the readers of the Commentaries a brief statement regarding laws of the United States in local jurisdictions: "To present completely local government as it exists in the United States would require a volume.... What we shall say, therefore, will be aimed at an explanation of certain general features, which are to be met with in all the states, and of some of the most important peculiarities."

Sarony V. Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co., Henry W. Rogers

Articles

Commenting in the Federal Reporter on this Opinion, Professor Rogers considers at length this case bearing on definitions of copyright and artistic properties. "This was an action at law for the violation of the plaintiff's copyright of a photograph of Oscar Wilde, which the defendant had copied by the process known as chromo-lithography.... A jury was waived, and the case was argued upon questions of law only, which appear in the opinion."

"The contention of the defendant, briefly stated, is this: That there was no constitutional warrant for this act; that a photographer is not an author, and a photograph …

The Right Of A Bona Fide Occupant Of Land To Compensation For His Improvements, Henry W. Rogers

Articles

It may be observed, in the first place, that the civil law afforded protection to the bona fide occupant of land, who had made useful or permanent improvements on the land, believing himself to be the true owner. The civil law never permitted one who was in the possession of land in good faith, to be turned out of his possession by the rightful owner, without any compensation for the additional value he has given to the soil by the improvements he had made; but it allowed him to off-set the value of his improvements to the extent, at least, …

Title To Lands Under Fresh Water Lakes And Ponds, Thomas M. Cooley

Articles

In the Northwestern States there are innumerable lakes and ponds, which are largely resorted to for pleasure, and for the opportunities they furnish for the taking of game and fish. The scenery about them is, in most cases, picturesque and inviting, and they become favorite locations for residence. On some the navigation is valuable for business purposes; others are navigated for pleasure only. In surveying the public domain for the purposes of sale, the government caused all that were too large to be embraced within a single subdivision of a section, to be meandered at the water line, and the …

Materials Of Jurisprudence, James V. Campbell

Articles

This period is marked by rather more strenuous efforts than have been made before in this country, to solve the problem of condensing and simplifying the law. Our own day is peculiar in the endeavors we have seen to evolve what is claimed to be a science of jurisprudence. Some admirable writers have succeeded in dividing the domain of law into its larger or smaller fields, and have shown with more or less fulness the relative positions of these, and their mutual dependence. This is a valuable service; for all lawyers know that, without a reasonably clear perception of the …

Limits To State Control Of Private Business, Thomas M. Cooley

Articles

The present purpose is to inquire whether, in the matter of the regulation of property rights and of business, legislation has not of late been occupying doubtful, possibly unconstitutional grounds. The discussion in the main must be limited to fundamental.-principles, aided by such light as legal and constitutional history may throw upon them, since the express provisions of the constitutions can give little assistance. They always contain the general guaranty of due process of law to life, liberty, and property, but in other particulars they for the most part leave protection to principles which have come from the common law. …

Incidental Injuries From Exercise Of Lawful Rights, Thomas M. Cooley

Articles

In the present paper those cases will be considered in which one person suffers an injury in consequence of the exercise by another person of his legal rights. Many such cases occur in which, although the injury may be severe, the law will award no compensation, there being no tort in the case because there is an absence of that wrong the concurrence of which with damage is essential to an action. Negligence might supply the wrong, but we now speak of cases of which that is not an element.

Incidental Injuries From Exercise Of Lawful Rights, Thomas M. Cooley

Articles

In the present paper those cases will be considered in which one person suffers an injury in consequence of the exercise by another person of his legal rights. Many such cases occur in which, although the injury may be severe, the law will award no compensation, there being no tort in the case because there is an absence of that wrong the concurrence of which with damage is essential to an action. Negligence might supply the wrong, but we now speak of cases of which that is not an element.