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Michigan Law Review

1951

Articles 1 - 30 of 183

Full-Text Articles in Law

Conflict Of Laws-The Nature Of Statutes Of Limitation, Nancy J. Ringland S. Ed. Dec 1951

Conflict Of Laws-The Nature Of Statutes Of Limitation, Nancy J. Ringland S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Several recent cases have again focused the attention of the courts on the nature of statutes of limitation; the question is whether they are procedural or substantive. For purposes of the conflict of laws this distinction is important, for it is universally agreed that in conflicts cases the substance of the cause of action is governed by the law of the place where it accrued, and the procedural aspects are governed by the law of the forum. There is no doubt that the theory which holds the usual statutes of limitation procedural in nature prevails in this country today, but …

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Conflict Of Laws-Enforcement Of Foreign Claims For Taxes And Workmen's Compensation Premiums, C. J. Rice S. Ed. Dec 1951

Conflict Of Laws-Enforcement Of Foreign Claims For Taxes And Workmen's Compensation Premiums, C. J. Rice S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

By reason of work done in Ohio, defendant-employer came within the provisions of that state's compulsory workmen's compensation law. The State of Ohio sought to collect insurance premiums due the state fund by an action brought in a Kentucky court. Defendant demurred on the ground that the claim was in the nature of one for taxes, and hence unenforceable extraterritorially. On appeal from an order sustaining the demurrer, held, reversed. Regardless of whether or not the claim for premiums can be classified as one for taxes, Kentucky courts may act as forums for the collection of foreign tax claims. …

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Federal Procedure-Mandamus-Use To Prevent Change Of Venue, Richard J. Darger S. Ed. Dec 1951

Federal Procedure-Mandamus-Use To Prevent Change Of Venue, Richard J. Darger S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners instituted a suit in the District Court for the Southern District of California seeking damages for alleged patent infringement. That court ordered the case transferred to the District Court for the District of Delaware on the ground that venue was not properly laid in the Southern District of California. Then petition was made to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for mandamus to compel the judge of the lower court to withdraw the order of transfer. Held: petition denied. Mandamus will issue to prevent a transfer of a case to the district court of another circuit …

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Trusts And Estates - Relationship By Affinity-Meaning Of The Word "Stepchild" In A Tax Statute, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed. Dec 1951

Trusts And Estates - Relationship By Affinity-Meaning Of The Word "Stepchild" In A Tax Statute, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A widower with two children married Sarah Bordeaux and predeceased her. A child of the marriage died in infancy. The two children were raised by Sarah as if she had been their natural mother. A strong filial relationship developed, and at the death of Sarah in 1949, the bulk of her property passed to the two children by will. The inheritance tax division of the tax commission contended that the relationship by affinity had been terminated and that the children, no longer being "stepchildren," were not entitled to the lower tax rates under Class A of the inheritance tax statute …

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Fiduciary Administration-Fraud In Securing Probate-Constructive Trust Imposed On Devisee, Patrick J. Ledwidge S. Ed. Dec 1951

Fiduciary Administration-Fraud In Securing Probate-Constructive Trust Imposed On Devisee, Patrick J. Ledwidge S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's complaint contained the following allegations: that plaintiff was the daughter and defendant the son of the decedent; that defendant had fraudulently destroyed written acknowledgements of the decedent that plaintiff was his daughter; that defendant had falsely secured the probate of decedent's purported will, in which the plaintiff was in no way mentioned. The complaint sought the recovery of the value of a one-half interest in the estate. The trial court sustained a demurrer to the complaint. On appeal, held, reversed. The complaint stated a cause of action entitling plaintiff to the imposition of a constructive trust on the …

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Constitutionality Of Marketable Title Acts, Ralph W. Aigler Dec 1951

Constitutionality Of Marketable Title Acts, Ralph W. Aigler

Michigan Law Review

In recent years several states in that part of the United States commonly identified as the "Middle West" have enacted comprehensive legislation that is hoped will simplify land title transactions. These statutes, though varying in detail, have a common objective-the extinguishment in favor of certain persons of claims against, and interests in, land, which claims and interests arose out of events and transactions that occurred many years ago, unless such claims or interests have been preserved by the recording of a preserving notice within that period of time. A comparatively short period is prescribed for such recording as to old …

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Evidence-Privileged Communication-Extension Of The Privilege To Communication Involving Agents, C. J. Rice S. Ed. Dec 1951

Evidence-Privileged Communication-Extension Of The Privilege To Communication Involving Agents, C. J. Rice S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Within certain limitations, the law immunizes confidential communications made to an attorney, spouse or physician from compulsory disclosure at subsequent judicial proceedings. Frequently, as in the above hypothetical situations, the subject matter of a communication is voluntarily disclosed to a third person for transmittal to the ultimately intended recipient. The third person may be the agent of either of the primary parties. Does this disclosure remove it from the privileged classification, notwithstanding the fact that the parties may still have intended the information to be confidential? It is the purpose of this comment, first, to examine the extent to which …

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Labor Law-Boycotts And Coercion Of Neutral Employers Under The Taft-Hartley Act, Robert S. Griggs S. Ed. Dec 1951

Labor Law-Boycotts And Coercion Of Neutral Employers Under The Taft-Hartley Act, Robert S. Griggs S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Four decisions rendered by the Supreme Court. at the close of the 1950 term may alleviate some of the confusion inherent in section 8(b)( 4)(A) of Title I of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947. This section, whose concern is with the motive with which union activity is undertaken, rather than with the character of the activity itself, is probably the most "broadside" in the act. In essence, it purports to prohibit labor unions from engaging in or inducing strikes and concerted refusals to handle goods, "where an object thereof is ... forcing or requiring . . . any …

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Business Associations-Partnership-Claims Against Partner Who Asserts Infancy, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed. Dec 1951

Business Associations-Partnership-Claims Against Partner Who Asserts Infancy, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

An adult partner sought dissolution of the partnership, contribution of monies according to the contract, determination of liabilities for debts, ascertainment of respective interests, and an accounting from the infant partner. The infant partner asserted his infancy, disavowed the contract, and moved to dismiss the action. Held, motion granted except as to plaintiffs demand for a dissolution and accounting. Sacco v. Schallus, 11 N.J. Super. 197, 78 A. (2d) 143 (1950).

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Contracts-Rights Of Third Party Beneficiary-Effect Of Michigan Beneficiary Contract Statute, Gordon W. Hueschen S. Ed. Dec 1951

Contracts-Rights Of Third Party Beneficiary-Effect Of Michigan Beneficiary Contract Statute, Gordon W. Hueschen S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

On agreement to make mutual wills, Stephen and his two sisters entered into an agreement whereby the sisters agreed to will to Stephen, or in event Stephen predeceased them, to his wife, all property which they should receive from their father. Stephen did predecease the sisters, whereupon they executed new wills with no provision for Stephen's widow. Upon death of the last sister, the widow's bill for specific performance of the agreement was dismissed by the circuit court. In affirming on appeal, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the agreement as to Stephen and all other persons except the sisters …

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Federal Procedure-Change Of Venue On Motion Of The Plaintiff, David F. Ulmer S. Ed. Dec 1951

Federal Procedure-Change Of Venue On Motion Of The Plaintiff, David F. Ulmer S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a resident of California, was injured on defendant corporation's premises in Nevada. Being unable to serve defendant in California, plaintiff started a negligence action in the Federal District Court in Nevada and then moved for a change of venue to the proper Federal District Court in California under section 1404(a) of the Judicial Code. The Federal District Court of Nevada overruled plaintiff's motion. On appeal, held, affirmed. The requirement under 1404(a) that the action be transferred to any district "where it might have been brought" precludes transfer to a forum where the defendant was not amenable to process. …

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Federal Procedure-Venue-Transfer Under Section 1404(A) To District Where Venue Originally Would Have Been Improper, Wilber M. Brucker, Jr. S. Ed. Dec 1951

Federal Procedure-Venue-Transfer Under Section 1404(A) To District Where Venue Originally Would Have Been Improper, Wilber M. Brucker, Jr. S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Civil anti-trust actions were properly brought against defendants in the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware. Defendants sought a transfer of the suits to a district court in Texas under section 1404(a) of the Judicial Code, which allows a transfer when requirements of convenience are met to any district where the suit "might have been brought" Although venue in the Texas District Court would not have been proper when the suits were originally instituted, defendants claimed that their express waiver of improper venue removed the bar to transfer. The district court ruled that it lacked the power to …

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Federal Procedure-Venue-Applicability Of Section 1404(A) Of New Title 28 To Anti-Trust Suits, Morris G. Shanker S. Ed. Dec 1951

Federal Procedure-Venue-Applicability Of Section 1404(A) Of New Title 28 To Anti-Trust Suits, Morris G. Shanker S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Working directly from a branch office in Washington, D.C., defendant corporation solicited orders and distributed films in the state of Virginia, although it had not registered as a foreign corporation in that state. Alleging that the defendant had violated the anti-trust laws by its activities in Virginia, plaintiff brought a civil action for damages and injunctive relief in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Pursuant to section 14O4(a) of Title 28 U.S.C. defendant moved to transfer the action to the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Held, since the defendant was not transacting …

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Hardman & Neufeld: The House Of Labor, Morris D. Forkosch Dec 1951

Hardman & Neufeld: The House Of Labor, Morris D. Forkosch

Michigan Law Review

A Review of THE HOUSE OF LABOR. By J.B. S. Hardman and Maurice F. Neufeld.

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The Law School: 1951-52, E. Blythe Stason Dec 1951

The Law School: 1951-52, E. Blythe Stason

Michigan Law Review

A year ago, in December of 1950, when the war in Korea was going badly and the country appeared to be on the brink of general mobilization, it seemed inevitable that the demands of military service would make severe inroads upon this year's student enrollment in the Law School. Such inroads have been made, but although the recall of reservists and the call of Selective Service draftees have drawn into the armed forces many young men who would otherwise be studying law at Michigan, the effect has by no means been as severe as was anticipated. The current fall semester …

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Avoidance Of Constitutional Issues In The United States Supreme Court: Liberties Of The First Amendment, Burton C. Bernard Dec 1951

Avoidance Of Constitutional Issues In The United States Supreme Court: Liberties Of The First Amendment, Burton C. Bernard

Michigan Law Review

The frequently criticized reluctance of the Supreme Court to consider complaints of unconstitutional governmental action is manifested in the utilization by the Court of various rules of avoidance of constitutional issues. Uncompromising defense of this self-restraint would not be easy to reconcile with the Court's pronounced sensitivity, in modem times, to the liberties of the First Amendment. This article will examine the considerations underlying the traditional restraint, and will suggest that the Court should modify several of its rules of avoidance, at least when liberties of the First Amendment are threatened.

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The Fourteenth Amendment And The "Separate But Equal" Doctrine, Joseph S. Ransmeier Dec 1951

The Fourteenth Amendment And The "Separate But Equal" Doctrine, Joseph S. Ransmeier

Michigan Law Review

Recent cases in which the Court has overthrown enforced separation in public higher education on the ground of inequality but without consideration of the merits of the separate but equal rule have been the occasion for an outpouring of law review discussion on the subject. The present paper is a part of this stream. Its purpose is two-fold: first, to set forth the judicial history of the modern separate but equal rule, noting its pre-Fourteenth Amendment origin and the rather uncritical manner in which courts permitted it to infiltrate its way from one area of the law to another; and …

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Negligence-Duty Of Care-Auctioneer As Owner Or Occupier Of Land, Richard W. Billings S. Ed. Dec 1951

Negligence-Duty Of Care-Auctioneer As Owner Or Occupier Of Land, Richard W. Billings S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, while attending an auction conducted by defendant, purchased a large kitchen cabinet. As her sons attempted to remove the cabinet, their negligent handling of the piece caused the top half to become dislodged and to fall on the plaintiff, injuring her seriously. Defendant, a veteran auctioneer, was in full control of the auction and the area in which the injury occurred, and had invited the public to attend by means of advertisements. He had offered the sons no assistance, nor had he given the crowd warning of their dangerous activity. On appeal from a judgment for plaintiff, held, …

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Corporations-Dissolution-Power Of Chancellor To Decree Dissolution When Deadlock Exists, John J. Edman S. Ed. Dec 1951

Corporations-Dissolution-Power Of Chancellor To Decree Dissolution When Deadlock Exists, John J. Edman S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs sought dissolution of defendant corporation pursuant to a statute allowing a petition for dissolution to be made to the chancellor by the holders of one-half of the voting stock upon a deadlock in management and voting shares. The evidence showed that there was no chance of compromise by the warring factions, that the corporate function could not be carried out, and that the plaintiffs' interests might be jeopardized. The chancellor held that unless a harmonious solution was effectively formulated within fifteen days after the filing of an opinion, a judgment containing appropriate provisions for a dissolution would be entered. …

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Negligence-Violation Of A Dog-Leash Ordinance As A Basis For Negligence, John J. Edman S. Ed. Dec 1951

Negligence-Violation Of A Dog-Leash Ordinance As A Basis For Negligence, John J. Edman S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, in violation of a city ordinance requiring every owner or custodian of a dog to keep the animal on his own premises unless on a leash and under control of a competent person, allowed his dog to run loose on the street. On collision of the dog with plaintiff's motor scooter, plaintiff brought suit for injuries incurred, claiming negligence per se by defendant through violation of the ordinance. The trial court sustained defendant's demurrer. On appeal, held, reversed. The violation of the ordinance was negligence per se, since the purpose of the ordinance included the protection of people …

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Soviet Civil Law: A Review, Roscoe Pound Nov 1951

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 …

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Probate Proceedings-Administration Of Decedents' Estates- The Mullane Case And Due Process Of Law, Nolan W. Carson S.Ed. Nov 1951

Probate Proceedings-Administration Of Decedents' Estates- The Mullane Case And Due Process Of Law, Nolan W. Carson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court, a new chapter has been added to the law on the requisites of notice under the due process clause of the Constitution. This case held that publication of notice prior to a judicial settlement of accounts by the corporate trustee of a common trust fund does not afford due process of law to those beneficiaries with present interests whose addresses are known to the trustee. The court refused to classify the action as in rem or in personam but held that whatever its technical definition, the published notice was not …

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Civil Procedure-Judgments-Revival Of Judgments On Notice Served Outside The State, Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed. Nov 1951

Civil Procedure-Judgments-Revival Of Judgments On Notice Served Outside The State, Nancy J. Ringland S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Relator filed a petition for mandamus to compel the respondent, one of the circuit judges of the City of St. Louis, to assume jurisdiction and take steps to revive a judgment for alimony in favor of relator against her former husband, who was a resident of New Jersey, where notice of the proceedings was personally delivered to him, and who had no property within the state of Missouri. The Missouri statute provided that a revival must be "upon personal service duly had upon the defendant or defendants therein." Held, mandamus denied, on the ground that a personal judgment could …

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Torts-Breach Of Duty-Right To Recover For Prenatal Injuries, Patrick J. Ledwidge S.Ed. Nov 1951

Torts-Breach Of Duty-Right To Recover For Prenatal Injuries, Patrick J. Ledwidge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, as administrator, brought an action to recover for the death and conscious suffering of plaintiff's intestate, allegedly injured, while a viable child within her mother's womb, by the tortious act of the defendant. Defendant's demurrer to the declaration was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. Neither the infant nor its personal representative has a cause of action for prenatal personal injuries. Bliss v. Passanesi, (Mass. 1950) 95 N.E. (2d) 206.

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Constitutional Law-Commerce Clause-State Taxation Of Commerce, Allan Neef S.Ed. Nov 1951

Constitutional Law-Commerce Clause-State Taxation Of Commerce, Allan Neef S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Massachusetts manufacturing corporation operating on a mail order-f.o.b. delivery basis, maintained a branch office and warehouse in Chicago. While some over-the-counter sales were consummated in Chicago, this office acted mainly as a headquarters for an engineering staff maintained as a service to customers, and as a conduit for orders placed by Illinois customers with the company. Orders received at the branch office were forwarded to Massachusetts for acceptance or rejection, and some filled orders were shipped to customers by way of the local outlet as a means of reducing freight costs. Although the Chicago office did not solicit …

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Custom As A Source Of English Law, E. K. Braybroolte, Nov 1951

Custom As A Source Of English Law, E. K. Braybroolte,

Michigan Law Review

When writers on jurisprudence assert that custom is a source of law their primary meaning seems to be that in any given case a course of conduct persisted in by all or most of the members of a society engenders a rule of law enjoining the continuance of that course of conduct. This, for example, appears to be the burden of Dr. C. K. Allen's discussion of custom in his Law in the Making. He sums up the operation of custom in this sphere by saying that "the thing done" (semble, by all or most members of …

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Corporations-Liability Of Transfer Agent For Wrongful Refusal To Transfer Shares, Howard Van Antwerp S.Ed. Nov 1951

Corporations-Liability Of Transfer Agent For Wrongful Refusal To Transfer Shares, Howard Van Antwerp S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, stockholder in a mining company, sued a transfer agent of the company in conversion for its refusal to transfer plaintiff's stock into block shares. The lower court found for plaintiff. On appeal, held, reversed. There is no direct liability of a transfer agent to the stockholder for wrongful nonfeasance in delaying or refusing to transfer stock. Mears v. Crocker First Nat. Bank of San Francisco, (Cal. App. 1950) 218 P. (2d) 91.

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International Law-Effect Of Philippine Independence On Filipino Citizens Resident In The United States, Donald S. Leeper S.Ed. Nov 1951

International Law-Effect Of Philippine Independence On Filipino Citizens Resident In The United States, Donald S. Leeper S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant was born in the Philippine Islands in 1910 and lawfully entered the Territory of Hawaii in 1930, where he has resided ever since. In 1949 appellant applied for the issuance of a United States passport. Application was denied on the ground that the appellant became an alien under the Presidential Proclamation of Philippine Independence of July 4, 1946, and hence was not entitled to a passport. Appellant petitioned to have his status declared to be that of a national of the United States. This was resisted on the ground that the intention of the United States Government was to …

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Torts-Right Of Unemancipated Minor To Recover Prom Parent For Intentional Tort, William O. Allen S.Ed. Nov 1951

Torts-Right Of Unemancipated Minor To Recover Prom Parent For Intentional Tort, William O. Allen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a child four years of age, was present when her mother was murdered by her father, defendant's intestate. After keeping plaintiff with the corpse for six days, the father drove plaintiff to his home, where he committed suicide in plaintiff's presence. Plaintiff brought an action against the father's estate for shock, mental anguish, and resulting physical injuries, caused by the father's atrocious acts. The trial court sustained defendant's demurrer on the. ground that a minor has no right of action in tort against its parent. On appeal, held, reversed. A minor may maintain an action against its parent …

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Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Limitations On The Power To Lift Zoning Restrictions, Allan Neef S.Ed. Nov 1951

Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Limitations On The Power To Lift Zoning Restrictions, Allan Neef S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A declaratory judgment proceeding was brought by persons owning property within a small-unit residential zone to determine the validity of a rezoning amendment relaxing the restrictions upon one block located ·within the zone. The change was designed to allow the construction of large apartment houses, containing some inside commercial establishments, in an area formerly restricted to family units of less than seven apartments. The entire area, with the exception of the island created by the rezoned block, was restricted to the smaller types of residential units, and was predominantly made up of single family residences. On appeal from a judgment …

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