Law Commons^™

Federal Courts-Choice Of Law-Refusal To Apply State Limitation To Federally-Created Right, Paul Tractenberg

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, two corporations and a joint venture, brought suit in a federal district court in California for damages arising from alleged unfair labor practices by defendant unions. Jurisdiction was based primarily on section 303(b) of the Labor-Management Relations Act which creates a private right of action in persons injured by unlawful secondary boycott activities. Defendants moved to dismiss, contending that the action was barred by the applicable statute of limitations, which, in the absence of any federal limitation specifically pertaining to actions under section 303, was the appropriate California statute. Plaintiffs, on the other hand, maintained that the pervasiveness of …

Federal Courts - Choice Of Law Application Of Federal Law To Government Subcontract In Federal Diversity Case, H. C. Snyder Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant obtained a government missile contract, and plaintiff was subcontracted to manufacture containers for the missiles. When certain changes in elements of the containers were ordered by the Government, plaintiff demanded an "equitable adjustment" from defendant pursuant to the terms of the subcontract. Defendant paid only the costs of effecting the necessary changes. Plaintiff instituted this suit in federal district court alleging diversity of citizenship and demanding that the adjustment include, as allowed by California law, compensation for overhead losses caused by a partial work stoppage during the delay in effecting the changes. The district court characterized the contract as …

State Control Of Radiation Hazards: An Intergovernmental Relations Problem, Samuel D. Estep, Martin Adelman

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this article is to set forth the nature of the intergovernmental problem. This involves an analysis of the extent and limitations of federal power, a determination of congressional intent on the issue of federal pre-emption, and an appraisal of the steps now being taken by the Atomic Energy Commission to turn over part of the radiation safety regulatory program to the states.

Constitutional Law - Commerce Clause - Local Smoke Control Ordinance Not An Undue Burden On Interstate Commerce, John M. Niehuss

Michigan Law Review

In accordance with a scheme of federal ship inspection, appellant possessed certificates which permitted its ships to operate on the Great Lakes and which specified the type of boiler which might be used. While two of its ships were docked in Detroit, smoke was emitted from their boilers in violation of the minimum density and duration requirements of the Detroit Smoke Abatement Code. The equipment which appellant was then using made compliance with the ordinance impossible. When criminal proceedings were instituted against appellant, it brought an action to enjoin the City of Detroit from enforcing the ordinance on the theory …

Conflict Of Laws-State Cession Of Territory-Effect Of Exclusive Jurisdiction By Federal Government On State Law, William R. Nicholas

Michigan Law Review

County welfare board refused claimant, a civilian resident on a federal military reservation, assistance under a state aid program for needy disabled on the ground she did not satisfy the requirement of residence within the county. The state had ceded the reservation land to the federal government giving it "exclusive jurisdiction for all purposes whatsoever," reserving to the state only the right to serve civil and criminal process. On appeal, the State Board of Public Welfare found claimant qualified and ordered payment. In a declaratory judgment sought by the welfare board, the state district court held the claimant met the …

Conflict Of Laws-Law Applicable In Federal Courts-Federal Law Applied To Contractual Relations Of Admiralty Lawyer, Robert E. Thorne S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff attorney was retained by a Spanish seaman to prosecute personal injury claims under the Jones Act and the general maritime law. Defendant shipping company induced the seaman to fire his lawyer and to recover instead under his Spanish employment contract. Plaintiff sued the shipping company in tort for interference with contractual relations. In a federal diversity suit, held, for plaintiff. Federal common law should be applied to determine the validity of the contract and the claim of tortious interference with it. Greenberg v. Panama Transp. Co., 185 F. Supp. 320 (D. Mass. 1960).

Conflict Of Laws - Release In A Tort Action - Effect Of Lex Loci Delicti And Contractus, Stanley A. Williams

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, defendant, and a third party were involved in a three-car collision in Virginia. Plaintiff settled an action against the third party's estate by executing a release, entered into in New York, in which plaintiff reserved any claims which he might have against the defendant. He then sued defendant, a resident of Pennsylvania, in a federal district court in Pennsylvania. The lower court, applying Virginia law to determine the effect of a release of one joint tortfeasor, dismissed plaintiff's action. On appeal, held, affirmed. The law of the place of the tort governs the effect of a release, not …

The Lex Fori - Basic Rule In The Conflict Of Laws, Albert A. Ehrenzweig

Michigan Law Review

The following summary of this thesis will show its essential connection with the progressing reform of the law of jurisdiction.

Ehrenzweig: Conflict Of Laws Part One Jurisdiction And Judgments, Charles D. Kelso

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Conflict of Laws Part One Jurisdiction and Judgments. By Albert A. Ehrenzweig

International Conflict Of Laws - Title To Chattels "Act Of State" Doctrine, John C. Peters S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In order to clarify the use of terms, a "confiscation" when used in this comment will mean an expropriation by a foreign state without compensation. This writer will not go into the question of what is considered fair compensation in international law. Nor will the present comment consider confiscations made in time of war or the question of extraterritorial expropriations.

Conflict Of Laws - Custody Decrees - Jurisdiction To Modify And Effect In Sister States, Donald R. Jolliffe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Husband and wife were divorced in Wisconsin in 1956 by a judgment which awarded alimony, custody of the children, and support money to W. The custody decree provided that W be permitted to remove the children to California but that they be allowed to visit H each summer. While H was visiting California in October 1957, he was served in an action commenced by W seeking absolute custody. H returned to Wisconsin and on November 5 asked the Wisconsin court to modify its divorce judgment by awarding custody of the children to him. That court set a hearing and …

Conflict Of Laws - Tort - Lex Loci Or Lex Domicilii To Determine Interspousal Capacity To Sue?, E. Roger Frisch S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Husband and wife, Wisconsin domiciliaries, were involved in an automobile accident in Illinois. W brought suit in Wisconsin against H's insurer for alleged injuries resulting from the accident. The trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that Illinois law was applicable and did not give one spouse a cause of action against the other for tort. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, held, reversed, one judge dissenting. The Illinois Married Women's Act should be strictly construed as destroying only the remedy in the Illinois courts, but not the substantive right to relief; hence, the Wisconsin …

Conflict Of Laws- Foreign Executors And Administrators - Constitutionality Of Nonresident Motorist Statute Providing For Jurisdiction Over Personal Representatives, Thomas E. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Decedent was killed when his car collided with another on a Missouri highway. Both the driver of the second car and its owner, residents of Nebraska, were also killed. Decedent's widow brought a wrongful death action. in Missouri against the Nebraska-appointed adminstratrixes of the estates of the driver and the owner of the second car. Summonses were served on the Secretary of State of Missouri in compliance with the Missouri Long Arm Statute which specifically provides for service upon and jurisdiction over the administrators of the estates of nonresident motorists. The trial court overruled defendants' motions to quash: On petition …

Conflict Of Laws - Status Of Foreign Statute - Non-Recognition Of Support Obligation, David C. Berg S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The State of California, Department of Mental Hygiene, brought suit in Texas against defendant, a California resident until his removal to Texas in 1954, to recover money expended by the state in support of defendant's mother, an incompetent inmate of a California state institution since 1944. California law requires an adult son to contribute to his parents' support while a similar provision of the Texas law imposes such an obligation on a parent but not on a child. In accordance with the applicable California statute of limitations, the state sued for the monthly payments which had accrued during the four-year …

Torts In English And American Conflict Of Laws: The Role Of The Forum, S. I. Shuman, S. Prevezer

Michigan Law Review

''Private international law owes its existence to the fact that there are in the world a number of separate territorial systems of law that differ greatly from each other in the rules by which they regulate the various legal relations arising in daily life." Where the systems are those of member states of a federal union, there should be less difference in their laws than where they are those of sovereign nations divided by strong cultural, social and political barriers. Interstate conflicts and international conflicts are likely to give rise to somewhat different considerations and rules, and it is surely …

Conflict Of Laws - Estoppel - Extra-Territorial Effect Of Probate Decree, Thomas A. Hoya S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Testator, domiciled in California, by his will created a charitable trust of his residuary estate which included lands located in North Dakota. Under California law, the charitable bequest was valid to the extent of only one-third of the residuary estate. Upon distribution of the trust estate by the California court, the charity appeared and received its one-third of the entire residuary property. The trustee then filed with the North Dakota court, asking that the North Dakota land be distributed in accord with the California decree. Since there was no limitation on the validity of the charitable bequest in North Dakota, …

A New Deal For Fiduciaries' Stock Transfers, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

For nearly one hundred years, executors and administrators have been struggling with the excessive documentation which corporations demand as a condition of recording stock transfers. For almost as long, legislatures have been passing laws in the hope-generally vain-of alleviating the burden.

In 1957, at least three states (and possibly four) opened a door through which estate representatives can emerge from their long bondage. For the first time, identical acts were passed in different states, and interstate recognition of simplification measures began. For the first time acts were passed which get to the root of the transfer agent's problem.

Limitation Of Actions- Substantive And Remedial Statutes - Extension Of Statutory Period For Fraud, Max H. Bergman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action under the Federal Employers' Liability Act to recover damages from the defendant employer for an industrial disease allegedly contracted more than three years prior to bringing suit. Plaintiff alleged that defendant misrepresented the time within which this action could be brought and thereby tolled the three-year statute of limitations in the FELA. Held, defendant's motion to dismiss granted. The time limitation is an integral part of the statute creating a substantive right and is not extended by fraud or misrepresentation. Glus v. Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, (S.D. N.Y. 1957) 154 F. Supp. 863.

Conflicts Of Law - Extended Application Of Res Judicata In Administration Of Decedents' Estates, Norman A. Zilber S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to examine the existing law and its rationale, and to see in which situations res judicata could beneficially be applied.

Conflict Of Laws - Torts - Proper Party Plaintiff In Wrongful Death Actions, John M. Webb

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to examine the differing solutions and determine the vitality of the common law rule in wrongful death actions.

Conflict Of Laws--Effect Of Forum's Statute Of Frauds On Foreign Oral Contract To Bequeath Property, David D. Dowd, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action in New York for specific performance of an oral agreement allegedly made by testator in Florida not to change his will without plaintiff's consent. Defendant's motions for dismissal of the complaint and summary judgment were dismissed. The appellate division on reargument entered orders reversing the lower court. On plaintiff's appeal to the court of appeals, held, affirmed. The New York Personal Property Law, which states that oral contracts to bequeath property are void, is controlling, regardless of whether this section of the statute of frauds is procedural or substantive. If the section is procedural, the …

Federal Procedure-Venue-Use Of State Nonresident Motorist Statute To Imply Waive, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

An Illinois corporation brought suit based on diversity of citizenship in a United States district court in Kentucky against a resident of Indiana, alleging a cause of action arising from a collision which occurred on a Kentucky highway. Plaintiff secured personal jurisdiction over defendant by serving process upon the Secretary of State of Kentucky who in tum gave notice to the defendant in accordance with the Kentucky nonresident motorist statute. Defendant entered a special appearance and moved that the case be dismissed on the ground of improper venue. The motion was overruled and the Court of Appeals for the Sixth …

Conflict Of Laws - Brokerage Contracts - Out-Of-State Broker Denied Commission Because Of Isolated Acts Within Forum, Richard J. Riordan S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was a Massachusetts real estate broker, not licensed to do business in New York. Defendants, who resided in New York, owned real estate in Massachusetts and executed a brokerage contract there with the plaintiff. The real estate was leased to a Massachusetts corporation through plaintiff's efforts. All of plaintiff's services, with the exception of several important conferences in New York, were performed in Massachusetts. On plaintiff's suit for unpaid commissions, held, for defendant. The New York brokerage laws prohibit recovery in a New York court by brokers, unlicensed in New York, who perform any brokerage services within the …

Conflict Of Laws - Full Faith And Credit - Exclusive-Remedy Provision Of Foreign Workmen's Compensation Law, Morton A. Polster S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a resident of Missouri, entered into an employment contract there with a Missouri painting company. He was injured while working in Arkansas on a job his employer had subcontracted from the defendant, a Louisiana contractor. The Missouri employer's insurer voluntarily began weekly payments to the plaintiff pursuant to the Missouri workmen's compensation law, although there had been no formal proceeding or award. Payments under the Missouri act were exclusive of all other rights and remedies. After receiving thirty-four payments, the plaintiff sued the defendant for negligence in the Arkansas courts. The defendant had the case removed to the federal …

Rationale Of Valuation Of Foreign Money Obligations, Charles Evan

Michigan Law Review

What then should a creditor of a foreign money obligation collect where there was a delay in payment? When are damages for depreciation of foreign money recoverable? As of what time and in what currency are they to be computed? How is the value of a foreign money obligation to be measured where no damages may be had? The answers to these and other incidental questions require a thorough analysis of certain features peculiar to the law of money.

It is the purpose of this article to clarify these problems, to sum up the primary principles by which they are …

Conflict Of Laws - Contracts - Enforcement Of Foreign Contract Though Contrary To State, William G. Cloon, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of Texas, obtained from the defendant an insurance policy which was written and delivered in Texas. The defendant agreed to pay for any damages to plaintiff's truck caused by fire, but stipulated that any dispute over the amount of the loss should he determined by arbitration proceedings in accordance with the terms of the contract. The truck was damaged by fire in Arkansas and a dispute arose over the amount of the loss. Plaintiff refused to submit the question to arbitration and brought this suit in the Federal District Court for Arkansas. Defendant argued that the action …

Conflict Of Laws - Due Process And Full Faith And Credit - Direct Action Statute, Harvey A. Howard S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant issued a liability insurance policy to the manufacturer of a hair-waving product, an Illinois subsidiary of a Delaware corporation having its headquarters in Massachusetts. The policy, issued in Massachusetts and delivered in Massachusetts and Illinois, was to protect the insured against damages that might be suffered by users of the product anywhere in the United States or Canada. It contained a "no action" clause enforceable under Massachusetts and Illinois law prohibiting direct actions against the insurer until final determination of the insured's liability, either by judgment or agreement. Alleging injuries sustained in Louisiana where the product was bought and …

Conflict Of Laws -- Escheat Of Intangible Property To The State Of Situs, John F. Dodge, Jr S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The intestate died domiciled in California leaving no known heirs or next of kin. In addition to property in California adequate to pay his debts, the deceased left deposits in three New York banks. The domiciliary administrator, acting as ancillary administrator in New York, received the proceeds of the bank accounts, petitioned for judicial settlement, and requested payment of the ancillary estate to himself as domiciliary administrator. Held, the money should be paid to the Comptroller of the State of New York as abandoned property. In re Menschefrend's Estate, 283 App. Div. 463, 128 N.Y.S. (2d) 738 (1954).

Federal Supremacy And State Anti-Subversive Legislation, Alan Reeve Hunt

Michigan Law Review

State legislatures have been prompted by international tensions of recent years to enact new and stringent anti-subversive laws, thus adding to an already large body of statutes directed against various forms of subversion. Many of these statutes are open to serious objection on constitutional ·grounds. The purpose of this article is to examine those objections which are based upon the notion either that federal power in the area is exclusive or that Congress, expressly or by necessary inference, has pre-empted the field.

Conflict Of Laws - Penal Provisions In Foreign Law - Liability Of Shareholders In De Facto Corporation, James M. Potter S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, residents of Tennessee, while attempting to form a corporation under the laws of Arkansas, inadvertently failed to file the articles of incorporation with the county clerk, although they were filed with the Secretary of State of Arkansas. The resulting business association was an Arkansas de facto corporation. Under Arkansas law the shareholders of a de facto corporation are personally liable for the debts of the corporation. Plaintiff, a creditor who dealt with the corporation, sued in a Tennessee court and asked that the Arkansas rule be applied. The trial court refused to do so on the ground that it …