Law Commons^™

Corporations - Stockholders - Effect Of State Constitutional Provisions On Liabilty To Creditors For Unpaid Subscriptions, Douglas Peck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Basset and Company, an Oklahoma corporation, issued stock to defendant for which defendant never paid. The sum due was carried on the corporate books as "subscriptions receivable." The corporation became bankrupt and the trustee brought suit in the federal district court to recover the amount due on the subscriptions. Held, judgment for the defendant. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, where stock is issued for consideration which is less than par value, the issue is void. The stock certificate cannot serve as a consideration to support the would-be stockholder's promise to pay for the stock, and no liability attaches to the …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Conflict of Laws--Torts--Choice of Law Required by Federal Tort Claims Act

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Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Exemption of Veterans from Payment of Hunting and Fishing Fees

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Constitutional Law--Separation of Powers--Procedure for Removal of Judge an Interference with Judicial Process

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Constitutional Law--State Police Power--Restriction of Competition among Employment Agencies

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Contempt of Court--Summary Punishment of Direct Contempt--Attorney's Absence from Court

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Corporations--Inspection of Books and Records--Right of Former Director

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Criminal Law--Lotteries--Necessity of Consideration

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Domestic Relations--Alimony--Fixed Payments to Wife until Her Death or Remarriage as Basis of Claim against Husband's Estate

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Domestic Relations--Divorce and Alimony--Award of Alimony …

Joint Tortfeasors In Tennessee And The New Third-Party Statute, Robert W. Sturdivant

Vanderbilt Law Review

Chapter 145 of the 1955 Public Acts' enacted by the Tennessee Legislature, purporting in some degree to permit a third-party action, has evoked considerable interest among members of the Tennessee Bar and liability insurance carriers.

The act provides that when a defendant deems some other party primarily liable to the plaintiff, then the defendant may file a cross action against the third party. It will be recalled that when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were first promulgated, Rule 14 provided that a defendant, deeming a third party liable to himsel for to the plaintiff, could make such third party …

Damages: Limitations In Recovery On Lost Profits In Indiana

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Liability For Aircraft Damage To Ground Occupiers-A Study Of Current Trends In Tort Law

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Torts, John W. Richards

Washington Law Review

Covers laws on public nuisances.

Torts -- 1955 Tennessee Survey, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

The decision of whether a defendant is negligent is normally for the jury to decide. This year, as in other years, the Tennessee courts have taken frequent opportunity to emphasize this,' though a directed verdict is proper when the jury could reasonably reach only a single result. The negligence issue is submitted to the jury in terms of the usual standard--whether the defendant acted as a reasonable prudent person would have acted under the same or similar circumstances. At times some of the circumstances may be more specifically adverted to in the instructions. Thus, under the "emergency", or "sudden peril …

Book Reviews, Clyde L. Ball, Walter Probert, Harry L. Snead Jr., Oliver C. Schroeder Jr., James M. Nabrit Jr., Roger A. Cunningham, Max P. Rapzcz, Robert J. Fower, L. J. Johns, Claude H. Brown, John T. Mcnaughton

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Restitution - Election Of Remedies - Action In Quasi-Contract Against Joint Tortfeasor As Barring Fraud Action Against Other Joint Tortfeasors, Douglas Peck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for fraud, alleging that defendant engraving companies secretly agreed with an agent of the plaintiff to give the agent a commission in return for which the agent was to contract for engraving work to be done by the defendants for plaintiff at a rate in excess of the fair market price for such work. Upon discovery of the fraud and prior to the commencement of this action, plaintiff had instituted an action in a state court against its agent for money had and received, and had obtained an attachment. Upon defendants' motion to dismiss the fraud action, held …

An Inquiry Into The Principles Of Municipal Responsibility In General Assumpsit And Tort, George K. Gardner, Leslie M. Geller, John F. Mcgrory, William B. Shaffer Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

This paper is written in the conviction that the world is governed by natural law. It is our ambition to describe an analytical method by which the true responsibility of a municipality in respect to any given claim in general assumpsit or tort may be ascertained. It is not pretended that the method which we shall offer will yield a result in harmony with every reported judicial decision and statute, nor even that it may not differ rather widely from the system of legal rules prevailing currently in many states. It is our hope to present an exposition of basic …

Contributory Negligence - Duty Of Pedestrian To Look While Crossing Intersection With Light, Harvey A. Howard S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff was crossing a busy intersection in reliance on a green traffic light in his favor when he was struck by defendant's automobile. Testifying in his own behalf, plaintiff said that he waited until the light changed to green and traffic on both sides stopped before proceeding to cross the street. He further stated that he was hit just before reaching the other side of the street. He did not see defendant's automobile before it struck him. At the conclusion of this testimony defendant moved for a directed verdict on the ground that plaintiff had failed to show freedom …

Husband And Wife -- Personal Tort Actions Between Spouses -- Statutory Construction, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Following an interlocutory divorce decree, and while the parties were living apart from one another, defendant allegedly assaulted the plaintiff. The trial court dismissed her complaint on the ground that no action could be brought by one spouse against the other for personal torts committed during coverture. On appeal, held, reversed, three judges dissenting and one concurring. The Judicial Code and the Husband and Wife Statutes of Utah, when considered together, entitle a married woman to maintain an action against her husband for injuries intentionally inflicted upon her. Taylor v. Patten, 2 Utah (2d) 404, 275 P. (2d) …

Torts - Fraud And Deceit-Inspection By Vendee As Bar To Recovery, Richard H. Lewis

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Torts - Plaintiff's Violation Of Municipal Ordinance As Contributory Negligence, Cecil W. Johnson

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Torts, James A. Furber, Robert E. Dixon

Washington Law Review

Covers cases on limitation of actions in malpractice suits, on the extent of liability for ultrahazardous activities (Furber), and on defenses available to the tortfeasor in wrongful death actions (Dixon).

Federal Procedure - Jurisdiction - Suit Under Direct Action Statute Where There Is Diversity Of Citizenship Between Claimant And Insurer But Not Between Claimant And Wrongdoer, William R. Jentes

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of Louisiana, was injured in an automobile accident allegedly caused by the negligence of another citizen of Louisiana. Defendant insurance company, an Illinois corporation, had issued a public liability policy insuring the latter against claims arising from the negligent operation of his car. Pursuant to a Louisiana statutory provision that "the injured person or his or her heirs, at their option, shall have a right of direct action . . . against the insurer alone or against both the insured and the insurer, jointly and in solido,'' respondent brought an action against the petitioner alone in the …

Negligence - Duty Of Landlord Toward His Own Social Guest Injured On A Common Stairway, Lawrence Sperling

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was co-owner of an apartment house and occupied one of the apartments. Plaintiff, his invited social guest, was injured while descending the common stairway because of defendant's negligence in failing to provide adequate lighting. A directed verdict for the defendant was affirmed by the appellate division on the ground that plaintiff as a social guest of the landowner was only a licensee. On appeal to the supreme court, held, reversed, three judges dissenting. A social guest of the landlord is an invitee while on the common stairway and therefore may recover for injuries sustained due to negligent maintenance …

Sales - Conditional Sales - Punitive Damages For Forcible Repossession Of Chattel, William G. Cloon, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff purchased a truck under a conditional sales contract which was assigned to the defendant finance company. He drove the truck to the place of business of the defendant to adjust differences between the two parties, but when he attempted to leave after no agreement had been reached, he discovered that the keys had been removed from the truck. When informed that the truck had been repossessed, the plaintiff produced another set of keys but was unable to leave with the truck. The testimony of the plaintiff that an agent of the defendant seized his hand to prevent the unlocking …

Agency—Suit By Wife Against Negligent Husband’S Employer, Arnold Lieberman

Buffalo Law Review

May v. Palm Beach Chemical Co., __ Fla. __, 77 So. 2d 468 (1955).

Bills And Notes—Liability For Negligent Payment Of Altered Checks, David Abbott

Buffalo Law Review

Stella Flour and Feed Corp. v. National City Bank, 285 App. Div. 182, 136 N. Y. S. 2d 139 (1st Dep't 1954).

Workmen's Compensation - Traumatic Neurosis Without Physical Injury, Irving L. Halpern

Michigan Law Review

Appellee and his co-worker attempted to lower a suspended scaffold on which they were standing, whereupon the scaffold gave way and the coworker fell to his death. Appellee suffered only slight bruises on his leg, but as a result of seeing his fellow employee fall to his death, he sustained severe fright and shock which resulted in a traumatic neurosis preventing him from engaging in the normal duties of his occupation. The lower court awarded appellee judgment for permanent partial disability under the Texas Workmen's Compensation Law. On appeal, held, reversed. Appellee's condition was a mental disease and compensable …

Torts—Recovery For Death From Fright Without Impact, John P. Macarthur

Buffalo Law Review

Williams v. State, 204 Misc. 843, 126 N. Y. S. 2d 324 (Ct. Cl. 1953), aff'd per curiam 284 App. Div. 1027, 134 N. Y. S. 2d 857 (4th Dep't 1954).

Book Reviews, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

Cogitations on Torts

By Warren A. Seavey.

Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1954. Pp. 72. $2.00

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Selected Topics on the Law of Torts

By William L. Prosser

Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1953. Pp. xi, 627.

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 …

Contracts And Torts Should Be Merged, Thomas A. Cowan

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Defamation--Jurisdiction Of Equity To Enjoin, C. B. F.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Negligence - Res Ipsa Loquitur - Application To Multiple Defendants In The Alternative, Edward H. Hoenicke

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, a minor, was injured by the explosion of an "aerial bomb" which he found on a county fair ground. Two of the defendants admitted having brought aerial bombs to the fair but each entered evidence which if believed would show that he had not left the article which injured the appellant. These two defendants were completely independent of each other and it was admitted that both could not be responsible for the injury to the child. The lower court instructed the jury that if they could not determine which of the two defendants was actionably negligent, they were compelled …

An Outline Of The Law Of Libel In Washington, Thomas J. Brennan

Washington Law Review

For legal writers, the law of defamation has provided one of the fairest targets for criticism. It is an area of law which in many respects is extremely anomalous and confused. The Washington law in this respect is no different from that of other jurisdictions. But in reading over the cases it seemed that, rather than criticise or discuss the problems to any great extent, it might be helpful to those concerned with the subject to provide an outline and citations which would serve as a starting point and guide for further research. This is the purpose of this article.

Torts—Contribution Among Tortfeasors Where The United States Is A Party, Alice D. Johnson

Washington Law Review

United States v. State of Arizona, 214 F.2d 389 (9th Cir. 1954), highlights the recurring problem of contribution between the United States and another joint tortfeasor. In the original case here involved, P sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injury resulting from an exploding shell picked up on a supposedly dedudded artillery range which had been deeded by the United States to the State of Arizona. The United States brought a third-party complaint against the State of Arizona as a joint tortfeasor, and it is the action on this third-party complaint which is involved in …

Negligence - Breach Of Duty - Standard Of Care Required Of Infant Defendants, Dale Van Winkle

Michigan Law Review

One of the defendants, a child four years and eight months of age, while playing with infant plaintiff, threw a stone which struck a bottle near where plaintiff was standing. A chip of glass Hew from the bottle into the eye of plaintiff, resulting in injury. The action was brought by infant plaintiff's father individually and as guardian ad litem against infant defendant's father individually and as guardian ad litem. The trial court denied infant defendant's motion for summary judgment. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded with directions to dismiss the complaint as to infant defendant. The authorities do …