Law Commons^™

Judgments-Contribution-Res Judcata

Michigan Law Review

Where an action is brought against two persons as joint tortfeasors, and one or both are held liable to the plaintiff, is the judgment res judicata in a subsequent action between the codefendants for contribution?

In American Motorists Insurance Co. v. Vigen, and General Casualty Co. of Wisconsin v. Golob, two persons were sued together as joint tortfeasors in a personal injury action. Judgment was rendered in favor of one defendant and against the other defendant. The unsuccessful defendant paid the judgment and then brought an action against his successful codefendant for contribution, and sought to establish a …

Torts-The Duty To Rescue-"Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Michigan Law Review

A recent case, decided by the Supreme Court of Indiana, and commented upon elsewhere in this issue, involved the interesting question as to the existence of a duty to go to the aid of a person who is in helpless peril through no initial fault on the part of the defendant.

Taxation - Federal Gift Tax - Integration With Income Tax, Katherine Kempfer

Michigan Law Review

Beck in 1935 created an irrevocable funded insurance trust of $172,000 in securities together with seven policies of insurance on his life. The income from the securities was to be applied to pay the premiums on the policies and any surplus was to be distributed to his wife and daughter. At grantor's death the proceeds of the policies were to be added to the corpus of the trust and all income was to go to the same beneficiaries for life with remainders over. There was no possibility of reverter in the grantor and no right to alter, modify or revoke …

The Revenue Act Of 1942: Federal Estate And Gift Taxation, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

The Revenue Act of 1942 marks important changes in the substantive law. Most of these changes have been obscured by the publicity accorded the higher rates and other features that distinguish it as the first great taxing measure borne out of the travail of the present conflict. Yet it is remarkable that despite the urgency of the need for war revenues, time and effort should have been expended by Congressional committees and Treasury officials in working out with care and thought revisions that constitute a notable contribution to the clarification and restatement of the substantive law of federal taxation. Important …

Some Legal Aspects Of Guaranteed War Loans, William B. Cudlip

Michigan Law Review

Of the many innovations in the field of commercial banking since 1933, one of the most important introduced as a result of the war emergency is the "guaranteed" war loan plan which was authorized by the President under Executive Order 9112, dated March 26, 1942. Under the plan any loan made by any financing institution, including specified government agencies, to a borrower engaged in the production of war materials may be guaranteed by the War or Navy Departments or the Maritime Commission of the federal government, in those cases where the borrower is unable to obtain adequate financing without such …

The Validity Of Conditions In Patent Licenses, John Barker Waite

Michigan Law Review

In discussing this subject one can still begin with the premise that in this country a patentee possesses the absolute right to preclude anyone, except the United States government, from making use of his invention.

Conflict Of Laws Relating To Installment Sales, Robert E. Lee

Michigan Law Review

The most perplexing problem in the field of installment contracts probably occurs when property sold by a title-retaining instrument (conditional sale, chattel mortgage, or bailment lease) in one state is removed to another state where rights of creditors of, or purchasers from, the buyer attach. Inasmuch as the possession of the article has been permitted to be in the buyer, so that outwardly, and with nothing more, he is the apparent owner, the important question arises as to whose rights are higher, the secret owner (the conditional seller, the chattel mortgagee, or the bailor) or the creditor of, or purchaser …

Bankruptcy - Voidable Preferences - Transfer Perfected Within Four Months Of Bankruptcy, Elizabeth Durfee

Michigan Law Review

Two recent cases, Adams v. City Bank & Trust Co., and In re Quaker City Sheet Metal Co., both involving section 60 of the Chandler Act, bring to the fore a question of interpretation of that section which has bothered Congress and courts and lawyers for some forty years. The bankrupt executes a mortgage to secure repayment of a present loan, but the recording of the mortgage is withheld until a later date, and finally takes place within four months of bankruptcy. Or, as in the Quaker City case, he assigns a chose in action to the creditor …

Constitutional Law-Saboteurs And The Jurisdiction Of Military Commissions, George T. Schilling

Michigan Law Review

The jurisdiction of military tribunals in the United States has troubled political and legal writers since the days of the Revolution. Decided cases are not numerous. The boundaries separating military and civil jurisdiction are not precise. Observations of the plight of oppressed peoples in other lands as well as the conception of total war and the course of action necessary for survival warrant a reexamination and reappraisal of our constitutional guarantees, which were in part based upon and reflect a fear of tyrannical military rule. A pronouncement of the Supreme Court of the United States in this field is, therefore, …

Constitutional Law-Trial By Jury-Conditions Of Valid Waiver

Michigan Law Review

Until the rendition of the Supreme Court's lengthy opinion in Patton v. United States the consequence of a defendant's waiver of his constitutional right to trial by jury in criminal cases, and his resultant trial without a jury of twelve persons, was matter for vigorous disputation. The decisions from various jurisdictions are conflicting and confused. Some courts have declared flatly that the right cannot be validly waived and that conviction following an attempted waiver is a nullity. But their reasons for so holding are widely variant.

Corporations - Legal Aspects Of Corporation Bonuses, H. Marshall Peter

Michigan Law Review

It would clearly be inaccurate to say that the percentage method of compensation represents a modern idea. Its rationale is so simple that there must have been instances of its utilization in early history. Be that as it may, it is a device which attained little prominence in this country before the beginning of the present century and which has grown since then with amazing rapidity. Along with the growth of bonus plans in some form or another, perplexing problems have arisen economic, social and perhaps even moral as well as legal. The emphasis of this comment will be upon …

Recent Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The recent decisions consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Federal Courts - What Is An Equitable Claim To Real Property Within The Meaning Of Section 57 Of The Judicial Code?, Charles J. O'Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, an Ohio corporation, was the lessee of land in Kentucky. It entered into a contract with defendant lessor, a resident of the District of Columbia, to renew the lease. Defendant failed to carry out his agreement, and plaintiff" sued for specific performance of the contract to lease in the United States District Court for Eastern Kentucky, jurisdiction being based on diversity of citizenship. Plaintiff was unable to obtain personal service upon defendant, but obtained service by publication under section 57 of the Judicial Code, which authorizes the court to take jurisdiction and to allow service by publication in "any …

Joint Adventure - Fiduciary Relation Of Parties Thereto, E. George Rudolph

Michigan Law Review

Defendant corporation and one Goldberger, the testator of the plaintiff, entered an agreement to carry on a trading account in the stock of a certain brewery over a limited period of time. By the terms of the agreement both were to contribute 50,000 shares of the stock, which were to be held by the corporation, and all purchases and sales of the stock by the corporation were to be deemed made in behalf of the account. Defendant corporation was to receive twenty per cent of the net profits for its services and the rest was to be equally divided. During …

Comparative Research And Unification Of Law, Hessel E. Yntema

Michigan Law Review

The current interest in international unification of law as a major objective of comparative legal research is significant testimony, in an era of accentuated nationalism, to the increasing solidarity of the modern world. In the development of this interest, Latin America has played a pioneer role. As early as 1826, the celebrated Congress convened at Panama envisaged in its deliberations what one of its members termed a "System of Public Law" for the Americas. The Congress of Montevideo of 1888-1889, anticipated by the Lima Congress of Jurists of 1878, produced the first substantial and successful codification of private international law, …

If Men Were Angels: A Review, E. Blythe Stason

Michigan Law Review

Occasionally one encounters a new book that is genuinely interesting because of the refreshing vigor with which it attacks an important and timely problem. Such a book is Jerome Frank's new volume, If Men Were Angels. Indeed in some of its chapters its vigor approaches violence, a fact which adds spice to the reading.

Recent Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Labor Law - Coverage Under Fair Labor Standards Act Of Service Employees Of Loft Building Whose Tenants Are Engaged In Commerce, Lee B. Brody

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was a lessor of a loft building, portions of which were occupied by clothing manufacturers who shipped their products into interstate commerce. As part of its obligation under the lease, the defendant offered service and maintenance of the building, employing for that purpose elevator operators, watchmen, firemen, an engineer, a carpenter and his helper, and a porter. Defendant appealed from an injunction prohibiting it from further violating the wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The circuit court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the district court granting the injunction. Held, on certiorari, one justice …

Quasi Contracts - Insurance - Recovery Of Premiums When Parties Mistaken As To Value Of The Subject Matter Of Insurance Contract, Louis C. Andrews, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's intestate, a resident of Georgia, owned items of jewelry which were located in Germany and which were subject to a death tax there, intestate having died in Germany. An appraisal was made by a German court commissioner in assessing the tax and a copy of the appraisal was forwarded to plaintiff executor, who, relying thereon, effected a policy of insurance with the defendant covering all the goods, the principal item being a pearl necklace appraised at $60,000. It was discovered on the safe arrival of the jewelry that the pearl necklace was worth but $60.00, being composed of cultured …

Sales - Transfer Of Possession - Intention Of Parties

Michigan Law Review

Manlove brought an action against Maggart to recover possession of furniture which Manlove asserted belonged to him. He based this claim of ownership upon a written instrument entitled "Conditional sale note" whereby Maggart promised to pay Manlove $150. In the body of this instrument was the statement that "The express condition of the sale and purchase of one eleven piece mahogany dining room suite . . . for which this note is given, is such that the title and ownership of the above described property does not pass from the said Omer S. Manlove . . . until this note …

Recent Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.

Instruments Of Discovery Under Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, Alexander Holtzoff

Michigan Law Review

The elimination of the "sporting theory" of justice, the simplification of procedure, and the prompt disposition of controversies on their merits are the great objectives of the new federal civil practice. One of the principal means for the attainment of these purposes is discovery, by which a disclosure may be obtained in respect to all pertinent information in the possession of any party to a litigation. An exception is, of course, made for privileged matter. It is one of the basic theories of the new procedure that every party to a law suit is under a duty to reveal to …

Corporate Proxies: Ii, Leonard H. Axe

Michigan Law Review

The first installment of this article discussed the historical development of the right and power to vote by proxy, and examined the cases dealing with the regulation by by-law of the right to vote by proxy, who may act as proxy holders, and the form of the proxy. Emphasis was placed upon the practical aspects of the execution of proxies and the duties of inspectors of elections. The present installment will take up the persons entitled to appoint proxy holders, the right to examine proxies, the scope of authority conferred and exercise of power, circumstances under which a stockholder is …

Annuities - Right Of Legatee, For Whose Benefit The Purchase Of An Annuity Is Directed, To Receive The Principal In Lieu Thereof, Raymond R. Allen

Michigan Law Review

The rule has become well established in England that, where a testator bequeaths an annuity for life to his beneficiary and directs his executor or trustee to purchase the annuity with assets of the estate, the annuitant has an option to demand the purchase money in lieu of the annuity. The direction to purchase the annuity is clothed by the courts with a power to change the mere gift of an annuity into a gift in the alternative of the principal or the annuity. This direction indicates the will of the testator that a fund representing the principal of the …

Federal Courts - The Scope Of The Review Of Interlocutory Orders And Decrees Under Section 129, As Amended, Of The Federal Judicial Code, Gerald M. Lively

Michigan Law Review

In early English appellate practice, the appealability of orders and decrees from a court of equity turned upon a single arbitrary test-whether or not they were enrolled. If an order or decree of the chancellor was enrolled, an appeal could be taken. But in the United States the case was different. In considering whether or not an order or decree could be appealed from, the appellate court looked to see whether it was interlocutory or final, and it was only the latter which could be appealed. Thus in the United States if it is found desirable to have an appeal …

Powers - Rights Of Donees' Creditors Against Property Subject Thereto When The Power Is General And Is Exercised By Will, Charles Wright, Ill

Michigan Law Review

In general it is said that the majority of jurisdictions in the United States allow creditors of the donee of a general power of appointment, exercisable by deed or will, or by will only, to reach the appointive property when the power is exercised by will, if the donee's personal estate is insolvent and if the appointment is to a volunteer. It would appear from a survey of the authorities dealing with the question that only twenty states have spoken on the subject at all. Of that number only sixteen have decisions which can, by any stretch of the imagination, …

Torts - Recovery For Mental Anguish In Unauthorized Autopsy Cases, Brooks F. Crabtree

Michigan Law Review

In the cases involving autopsies which are unauthorized, consent for their performance not having been obtained prior to their execution, the courts are fairly well committed to the proposition that a cause of action to recover for the mental anguish caused by the autopsy exists in favor of some person closely connected to the deceased. However, the grounds upon which this recovery has been based are varied, and not altogether consistent; and it is the purpose of this comment to discuss these several grounds and to attempt an evaluation of them, in the hope of arriving at some conclusion as …

Powers - Excluding Creditors Of The Donee Of A General Power By Express Provisions By The Donor, S. W. Boyce, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

There is very little authority upon this subject; lawyers seemingly assume that the picture is complicated enough without venturing into new fields. In only two jurisdictions are there actual reported cases where the donor has tried by specific provisions to restrain creditors of the donee.

Constitutional Law - Impairing The Obligation Of Contracts - New York Decedents' Estate Law, Robert Walsh

Michigan Law Review

By a premarital agreement executed in 1922 the wife of decedent waived all rights in his estate. The waiver was signed but not acknowledged. In August, 1930, decedent executed a will leaving $2,000 to his wife. In September, 1930, there went into effect an amendment of the Decedents' Estate Law of New York, which gave to a widow an election to take under or against the will of her husband and provided that such election could be waived only by an instrument signed and acknowledged. The statute applied only to wills executed after September, 1930. The decedent executed a codicil …

Recent Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The abstracts consist merely of summaries of the facts and holdings of recent cases and are distinguished from the notes by the absence of discussion.