Law Commons^™

Judicial Attitudes In The Customs-Union Case, Robert Elden Mathews

Michigan Law Review

The World Court decision of last September in the Austro-German Customs case has given rise in many quarters to an attack upon the Court itself.

The criticism has not been based solely upon the eight-to-seven vote of the judges. We have too many one-man majorities in our own judiciary to find much concern there. But the alignment of nationalities from which the two groups of judges come has been the source of the greatest adverse comment. For it so happens that the majority, holding illegal the proposed Customs Union, was composed of judges many of whose nations were opposed to …

Corporations - Restrictions Upon Transfer Of Corporate Stock

Michigan Law Review

Due to the flexibility and fluctuation of proprietorship in corporations, attempts have frequently been made to restrict effectively along certain lines the free transfer of corporate stock. Such efforts have been motivated by a desire to secure a continuity of management, or to insure ownership by stockholders deemed actually advantageous to the success of the common undertaking.

Waste - Improvement Of Premises By Life Tenant

Michigan Law Review

The possible difficulties of a life tenant and some of the rigid and anachronistic doctrines of the law of waste are suggested by the recent case of Brokaw v. Fairchild, 135 Mis. 70, 237 N. Y. S. 6 (1929); aff'd 231 App. Div. 704,245 N. Y. S. 402 (1930), Finch, J., dissenting; aff'd, 177 N. E. 186 (1931), without opinion.

Insurance - Accidental Means - Unlawful Conduct- Public Policy

Michigan Law Review

Insured was shot by police officers while attempting to escape in a car which he and his companions had just stolen. The officers had no specific intent to kill, but did intend to make the arrest and were shooting to frighten the felons into stopping. The policy contained no specially exempted risks, but did provide for additional indemnity if the insured died of injuries sustained solely through "external, violent, and accidental means." The face value of the policy was not contested, but the insurer contested the right to the additional sum. Held, the death was not caused by accidental …

Negligence - Contribution Between Concurrent Tort Feasors - Subrogation

Michigan Law Review

A truck owner parked his truck on a public street at night knowing that the rear light was not burning. A Minnesota statute made it illegal to park a car at night without a light. The defendant negligently ran into the truck, whereby one of his companions was injured. The plaintiff, as insurer of the truck owner, paid for the injury, becoming subrogated to any right of contribution which the truck owner might have against the defendant. Held, that if the truck driver were guilty of negligence only, recovery could be had, but where there is an intentional wrong …

Taxation - Tenancies By The Entirety - Retroactive Application Of The Federal Estate Tax Laws

Michigan Law Review

H and W became tenants by the entirety in certain lands in 1917. H died in 1925. A federal estate tax was collected under section 302 of the Revenue Act of 1924, 43 Stat. 253, 304, which provides that the gross value of the decedent's estate subject to tax shall include all property "to the extent of the interest therein held . . . as tenants by the entirety by the decedent and spouse," with certain exceptions. The same provision appeared in the 1916 and successive revenue acts without material change. W protested the levy on the ground that Congress …

Wills - Pretermitted Heirs

Michigan Law Review

In an action based on section 1550 of the Compiled Laws of 1929 providing that a child omitted from the will of a parent shall share as in intestate succession unless it appears that such omission was intentional, the question arose as to whether this intent could be shown by extrinsic evidence. Held, such evidence is admissible. O'Neall v. Her, 254 Mich. 631, 236 N. W. 890 (1931).

Courts-Discretion To Refuse Jurisdiction-Forum Non Conveniens

Michigan Law Review

In these days of frequent travel and of corporations doing business in many states, a plaintiff with a transitory cause of action often can get personal service on defendant in more than one jurisdiction. This privilege may be abused, and to meet such abuse a plea of forum non conveniens is proper, the substance of which, as its name implies, is that the forum is not appropriate for the trial of the suit. Where either of the parties is a resident, or where the cause of action arose within the jurisdiction, the forum will usually be as appropriate as any, …

The Assignment Of Trade Marks And Trade Names, Grover C. Grismore

Michigan Law Review

Unfortunately there is much confusion in the books in regard to the transferability of trade marks and trade names. The law on the matter is neither clearly stated nor always uniformly applied. The generalization that one finds most frequently, both in cases and in text books, is the categorical assertion that trade marks and trade names are not assignable in gross - that they can be transferred only as incidental to a transfer of the business or property in connection with which they have been used. Rightly interpreted, this statement is doubtless a truism. However, the implications frequently drawn from …

The Constitution And The International Labor Conventions, Harold W. Stoke

Michigan Law Review

The International Labor Organization, since its establishment in 1919, has become one of the most active of the international institutions of the post-war period. It was founded upon that provision of the Treaty of Versailles which binds each signatory nation and those which should later join the organization to endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women and children, both in their own countries and in the countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend.

Civil Pleading In Scotland, Robert Wyness Millar

Michigan Law Review

Said Lord Chancellor Loreburn, in his answers to the questions addressed to him by Mr. Justice Lurton, preparatory to the drafting of the Federal Equity Rules of 1912: "It may be worth while for Mr. Justice Lurton and his coadjutors to consider the Scottish method of pleading which, in my opinion, is the best." This can only mean that the Lord Chancellor regarded the method in question as superior to that obtaining under the English Rules - certainly a high testimonial coming from such a quarter. Whether the opinion is justified or not is a question which may be left …

Foreign Consul - Exemption From Suit In State Courts, Julius I. Puente

Michigan Law Review

In a recent case decided in California the defendant, De Besa, and others, were licensed brokers, and in that character acted as fiscal agents for the sale of the stock of a certain California corporation. Plaintiff sued to rescind the contract for misrepresentation. Neither at the time suit was filed, nor at any time prior to the day when he testified at the trial was the defendant, De Besa, a recognized consular officer; but it seems (on this point the facts of the case are very vague) that on the date of the trial and at the time of the …

Conflict Of Laws-Admiralty -Torts In Territorial Waters

Michigan Law Review

A civil wrong having been committed on board a vessel in foreign territorial waters, the tort by hypothesis being maritime and the court having jurisdiction, the problem then arises as to what law governs the disposition of the case. Stated more specifically, does the nature of admiralty jurisdiction demand that a court, in determining liability for civil wrongs committed in foreign territorial waters, should ignore or modify well-settled principles of the conflict of laws as applied to delictual obligations? This is the point of departure for the discussion to follow.

Bankruptcy - Claims Against Bankrupt Indorsers

Michigan Law Review

Bankrupts were indorsers of promissory notes payable to claimants. None of these notes was due before the filing of the petition in bankruptcy and some of them did not mature within the year following adjudication during which proof of claims may be made. The court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that claimants could not prove on the indorsements because their claims were contingent. Held, that the claim was one "founded upon a contract express or implied," and provable even though not due until after the year allowed for proof of claims, the requirement of presentment and notice …

Banks And Banking -Sending Items Directly For Collection - Liability For Accepting A Draft In Payment

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff deposited two checks, drawn on the X bank, with the A bank, a member of the B Federal Reserve Bank. The A bank sent the items for collection directly to the defendant Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which forwarded them directly to the X bank. After marking the checks paid, the X bank remitted to the defendant its draft on the Y bank. The draft was dishonored because of the intervening insolvency of the X bank; and the checks were accordingly charged back by the defendant to the B bank ( of which the A bank was a …

Banks And Banking - Statutory Liability Of Directors Of Insolvent Bank For Issuing Renewal Certificate Of Deposit

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff renewed certain certificates of deposit with the defendant bank. When each renewal was issued the bank was "unsafe or insolvent," and the directors knew or had good reason to know it to be so. This was not the situation when the original certificates were issued. The plaintiff based his right of recovery from the directors of the bank upon Gen. Stat. 1923 (2 Mason, 1927) sec. 10407, which makes it a penal offense for the officers or directors of a bank to receive deposits knowing the bank is "unsafe or insolvent." Plaintiff recovered in the lower court. Held …

Bills And Notes - Is One Assuming Liabilities To The Creditors Of His Transferor A Holder In Due Course

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff entered into an agreement whereby it was to receive all the assets of an insolvent bank as consideration for the assumption of certain specified liabilities. Among the assets was a note upon which the plaintiff is now suing a prior indorser. Although it was the intention of the defendant to indorse as agent in accordance with the request of the insolvent bank, on the face of his endorsement he indorsed individually. Held, that since the plaintiff was not a holder in due course, the note was subject to the same defenses in the hands of the plaintiff …

Carriers - Allocation Of Rate Charges On Cost Basis

Michigan Law Review

In a proceeding in equity to secure the annulment of an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission fixing the cost of icing, for shipments of poultry and dairy products originating in the six western states, on the "cost of ice" basis already existing in the other forty-two states, it was held that the rate is reasonable if it furnishes reasonable and adequate return for service rendered, and such return must pay cost of that service as distinguished from all other service, plus reasonable profit thereon; but that, in arriving at this "cost of ice" rate, the Interstate Commerce Commission was …

Carriers - Ferries - Liability For Automobile Lost In Transit

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff purchased a ticket for passage on the defendant's ferry and drove his car aboard. During transit, and through no negligence on the part of the defendant, the boat ran upon a stone piling and sank. Held, that the defendant, although a common carrier, had not received and accepted the automobile, and therefore was not subject to insurer's liability. Mercer v. Christiana Ferry Co. (Del. 1930) 155 Atl. 596.

Crimes-Larceny-By Wife From Husband

Michigan Law Review

A wife was convicted of larceny of her husband's property. Upon appeal from an order denying a new trial, held that the order be reversed: The Married Woman's Act, reading, "every married woman shall receive the same protection of all her rights as a woman which her husband does as a man," does not so change the common law unity of spouses that a wife stealing from her husband is included under the comprehensive terms of the larceny statute. State v. Arnold, 182 Minn. 313, 235 N.W. 373 (1931).

Federal Practice - Appeal And Error - Harmless Error

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff in error was convicted of illegally transporting intoxicating liquor. Federal officers were permitted to testify over defendant's objection: (1) that they found intoxicating liquor in defendant's automobile parked in his farm-yard; (2) that the radiator of the car was heated as if it had been recently used; (3) that they had followed defendant's car on the highway and into his farm-yard; (4) and that the defendant had admitted to them that he had driven the car. Defendant admitted on the witness stand that he owned both the liquor and the automobile, but denied that the automobile had been used …

Federal Practice - Class Suits - Community Of Interest Under Federal Equity Rule 38

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff filed suit in a federal court, sitting in equity, in behalf of himself and others, to enjoin the collection of an illegal tax imposed by North Carolina upon peddlers of foreign fruit within that state. He alleged that 400 others were similarly situated and that over 100 of them had contributed to the expense of the litigation. Held, the individual legal remedy available under state statute was inadequate in view of the multiplicity of suits it necessitated, and the plaintiff was entitled under Federal Equity Rule 38 (post) to bring a class suit to enjoin the collection of …

Federal Practice - Jury - Motion To Quash Panel - Summons Accompanied By Questionnaire

Michigan Law Review

Gideon was convicted in the district court of conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act. Along with the summons to the prospective jurors, the clerk sent out a questionnaire calling for information as to business or occupation, period of residence, age, whether married or single, number of children, religious faith, views on prohibition, and prior jury service. It purported to be for jury records but was not authorized by statute. Held, a failure to sustain the motion to quash the panel was reversible error. Gideon v. United States (C. C. A. 8th, 1931) 52 F.(2d) 427.

Gifts Causa Mortis - Contemplation Of Suicide

Michigan Law Review

The testator, suffering from melancholia and contemplating suicide, purchased a certificate of stock in the name of his brother and caused it to be deposited in a bank by the latter. Over two months thereafter, the testator stated, in effect, that in the event of his death the certificate should become the brother's property. Held, in affirming the allowance of the final account of the executor, that the transfer of the certificate was a valid gift causa mortis. In re Van Wormer's Estate, 255 Mich. 399, 238 N.W. 210 (1931).

Insurance - "Liability" Of "Indemnity" Contract - "No Action" Clause

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued his insurer upon a policy which provided that the defendant would indemnify the insured against loss from liability for damages and would defend any suit brought against the assured to recover such damages. The policy contained a "no action" clause which denied a right of action unless a final judgment had been rendered and the assured had actually sustained a loss by payment of such judgment. Such a suit, brought against the plaintiff, had been unsuccessfully defended by the insurer. It was held that plaintiff could recover on the policy upon the rendition of the judgment and without …

Public Utilities - Private Carrier Cannot Be Made A Common Carrier By Legislative Fiat

Michigan Law Review

The appellant, a private carrier for hire, was arrested for operation of motor vehicles upon the state highways without having obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the state railroad commission and without having paid the mileage tax required by the state statute. This statute also gave the commission power to fix and approve rates and schedules, and otherwise regulate carriers. It further stated that, if any of its provisions were held to be unconstitutional, the validity of the remaining portions should be unaffected. Laws of Florida, 1929, c. 13700. In view of this latter provision, the state …

Taxation - Jurisdiction To Tax Intangibles Of Nonresident Decedents - Corporate Stock

Michigan Law Review

The decedent, a resident of Massachusetts, died in 1924 owning a large block of stock in a Maine corporation. After Massachusetts had already collected an inheritance tax assessed against these shares, the Maine tax authorities levied a similar tax, basing their claim on the fact of incorporation under Maine law. The state supreme court, 130 Me. 123, 154 Atl. 103 (1931), held that such shares were within the jurisdiction for taxing purposes even though their owner was a nonresident decedent. An appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court. Held, the rule in Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. …

Torts - Malpractice - Master And Servant

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, on threat of discharge from employ of defendant in case of refusal, submitted to a physical examination by a physician retained by the defendant. In making the examination the physician negligently caused a hernia. Held, the suit was not barred by the one year period of limitation on actions for malpractice because no physician-patient relation had been established, there having been nothing more than an examination, and that for the sole benefit of the defendant. Defendant was liable for the acts of the physician on the basis of respondeat superior. New York Central R.R. v. Wiler …

Torts - Negligence - Res Ipsa Loquitur As Applied To Foreign Matter In Foods

Michigan Law Review

The defendant manufactured and sold through a retailer a loaf of bread to the plaintiff's mother. The plaintiff, while eating the bread, saw a larva, five-eighths of an inch long in a slice she was about to eat, as a result of which she became sick. Held, on appeal, there was no error by the lower court in directing a verdict for the defendant on the ground that the plaintiff gave no sufficient proof of negligence, which was the basis of her action, and that negligence could not be presumed from the circumstances stated. Swenson v. Purity Baking Co. …

Insolvency Statutes Preferring Wages Due Employees, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

Insolvency statutes of a majority of American states and the bankruptcy acts of the United States and England allow a preference to the claims of employees for wages accruing prior to the employer's insolvency or bankruptcy. Related types of legislation such as statutes creating an absolute lien on the employer's property to secure payment of wages, giving a preference to the employees of a deceased employer in the administration of his estate, exempting the wages of laborers from attachment or garnishment, making stockholders of a corporation individually liable for debts representing wages due employees, allowing employees to interpose their claims …