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Corporations-Measure Of Short Swing Profits Under Section 16(B) Of The Securities Exchange Act Of 1934, G. B. Myers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a stockholder in X corporation, sued in the name of and on behalf of the corporation to recover short swing profits made by defendants in the sale of stock purchase warrants of the corporation, in violation of the Securities Exchange Act. Defendants were officers of the corporation and as part of the consideration for entering into their contracts of employment they received each year a number of these warrants. Within six months of the receipt of their 1945 warrants defendants had made certain sales of warrants then held by them. The court, in a previous ruling, had granted a …

The Taxable Income Of Cooperatives, Roswell Magill, Allen H. Merrill

Michigan Law Review

This article is a study of the exemption in section 101(12) of "farmers', fruit growers', or like associations organized and operated on a cooperative basis"; and, in particular, of the taxability of the income of such corporations. The basic question is, What is the taxable income of a cooperative, in the absence of statutory exemption or exemption by administrative ruling? Do such business corporations have an income from their businesses which in these days of revenue stringency should be taxed as other business income must be taxed?

Corporations-Stockholder's Suit To Compel Declaration Of Dividends- Necessity Of Directors As Parties, Daniel A. Isaacson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of New York and the owner of some preferred stock in the defendant Delaware corporation, brought a class action against the corporation in a federal district court in Pennsylvania to compel the declaration and payment of dividends on the preferred stock, alleging that the directors had acted in had faith in violation of their duties as fiduciaries. Defendant's articles of incorporation provided that the preferred stock was entitled to receive dividends "when and as declared by the Board of Directors"; the by-laws permitted a majority of the hoard to constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting business. …

Partnerships-Dissolution-Sufficiency Of Notice To Prior Creditors, Paul M.D. Harrison S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought suit on account for merchandise sold and delivered, alleging that the defendants were liable as partners. The defendants admitted that they had dealt with the plaintiff while they were a partnership, but averred that a corporation was formed which took over the partnership and that the merchandise in question had been purchased by the corporation. The trial judge instructed the jury that plaintiff must have notice or knowledge of the dissolution of the partnership to relieve defendants of personal liability, and that mere notice of the formation of the corporation was immaterial. Held, judgment for plaintiff affirmed. …

Corporations, Parnerships And Bankruptcy, Charles E. Nadler

Mercer Law Review

In the field of Georgia Corporation Law some changes of significance were made during the survey year by amendments to the Corporation Act of 1938 and in the public revenue laws relating to the rate and method of computation of corporate taxes.

Jensen: Cooperative Corporate Association Law-1950, William S. Barnes

Michigan Law Review

A review of COOPERATIVE CORPORATE ASSOCIATION LAW-1950. By A. Ladru Jensen and others.

Corporations-Right Of Corporation To Pay Dividends To Common Shareholders To Equalize Prior Wrongful Payment To Preferred Shareholders, Theodore Sachs S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

As a general proposition, payment of dividends may be made only out of surplus and not out of the capital stock of a corporation. Though the cases evidence considerable confusion as to the meaning of "surplus" and "capital," it is clear that these terms do not indicate a res. Rather, they are convenient designations for legislatively prescribed limits as to when dividend payments are proper. The capital stock rule, that the aggregate consideration received for no par stock plus the aggregate value of issued par stock may not be tapped for shareholder distribution, is founded, loosely speaking, on the notion …

Corporations: Indispensability Of Directors To Actions To Compel A Declaration Of Dividends

Indiana Law Journal

Recent Cases

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

BOOKS RECEIVED

BUSINESS ORGANIZATION By Alfred F. Conard Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. vii, 661. $7.00.

CASES ON FEDERAL COURTS By Charles T. McCormick and James H. Chadburn Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. 921. $8.00.

CASES AND MATERIALS ON WORLD LAW By Louis B. Sohn Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1950. Pp. 1363. $8.00.

FEDERAL ESTATE AND GIFT TAXATION: CASES AND MATERIALS By William C. Warren and Stanley S. Surrey Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc.,1950. Pp. vii, 518. $7.00.

HATCH ACT DECISIONS By James W. Irwin Washington. United States Government Printing Office, 1949. Pp. v, 304. …

Taxation-Income Tax-Corporation Not Taxable On A Sale Of Property By Stockholders Following Genuine Liquidation Distribution, R. Lawrence Storms S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The stockholders of a closely held electric utility corporation offered to sell all the corporate stock to a cooperative competitor. The cooperative countered with an offer to buy a part of the corporation's physical assets. Hoping to avoid a heavy corporate capital gains tax, the stockholders caused the corporation to distribute to them in partial liquidation the property in question, and then executed the previously contemplated sale themselves. The commissioner assessed and collected a capital gains tax from the corporation which then sued and recovered the amount of the tax in the court of claims. On appeal, held, affirmed. …

Corporations-Theory Of Organizational Franchise Taxation- Michigan Franchise Tax, Charles Hansen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The present inquiry, besides delving into the nature of corporate organizational franchise taxation, will also seek to arrive at a logical theoretical basis for two of the more common types of such levies, and will conclude by examining the pertinent Michigan statutes in the light of such theories.

Corporations-Right Of Directors To Enforce At Face Value Claims Against The Corporation Purchased At A Discount During Insolvency, Robert H. Frick S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

From 1942 to the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings the assets of the debtor corporation were insufficient to pay its liabilities, and, with the exception of 1945, it operated at a deficit. In 1946 the assets of the corporation were sold, and the debtor filed a petition under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act Prior to the filing of the petition, but during the period of insolvency, the respondents, the sister, mother, and a personal friend of a director, acquired debenture bonds of the corporation, primarily from over-the-counter dealers, at 3% to 14% of face value, the aggregate cost being $10,000. …

What Constitutes Doing Business In Virginia, Robert C. Stackhouse

William and Mary Review of Virginia Law

No abstract provided.

Municipal Corporations-Circumventing Municipal Debt Limitations, Joseph F. Gricar S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Since municipalities are frequently indebted to the permissible extent of the constitutional, statutory, and charter debt limitations, they are constantly seeking methods of finance which avoid the debt limits. Three devices have received judicial sanction. First: Where a separate and distinct. corporation such as a school or drain district has been created it may operate with a separate debt limit over the same territory as the governing municipality. Second: Where the project to be financed is income-producing, the financing bond issue, if made self-liquidating, will not Gome within the debt limitations. Although incorporated authorities have been extensively used to administer …

Constitutional Law-Corporations-Artificial "Persons" And The Fourteenth Amendment, Robert P. Griffin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

That a corporation is a "person" for certain purposes within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, and therefore entitled to invoke its protection, is considered by students of constitutional law to be well settled. For that reason the dissent of Justice Douglas in the recent case of Wheeling Steel Corporation v. Glander demands more than passing recognition. Therein he restates and adds his support to the view of Justice Black that the word "person" as used in the Fourteenth Amendment refers exclusively to human beings and affords no protection whatsoever to corporations against arbitrary state action.

The Tax Consequences Of Family Parnerships, T. Baldwin Martin Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The elements of family intimacy and tax reduction, which present themselves conveniently in the common law concepts of gifts, assignments, and trusts, have proven to be danger signs which herald the scrutiny of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and forecast probable tax disaster for the taxpayer. Normally and unavoidably, family partnerships have come to be categorized with these concepts, and the Bureau, in its efforts to protect the revenue, would, with the assistance of the Tax Court, thwart the effectiveness of these business units in a manner similar to the treatment accorded to the aforementioned concepts.

Corporations-Validity Of By-Law Requiring Assent Of All Or Proportion Of Shareholders Greater Than Majority For Action, Alan C. Boyd

Michigan Law Review

The defendants, employees of the plaintiff corporation, were discharged by the president, who was empowered under the by-laws to appoint, remove, employ and discharge, and fix the compensation of, all employees of the corporation, subject to the approval of the board of directors. A majority of the directors and the holders of a majority of the shares were in agreement that the defendants should be discharged. The defendants refused to leave the premises, took possession of certain of the corporate books and records, and otherwise interfered with the conduct of the business, claiming that their discharge was ineffective because it …

Constitutional Law-Inclusion Of Corporation As "Person" Within Meaning Of Equal Protection Clause [Wheeling Steel Corp. V. Glander, U. S. Sup. Ct 1949]

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporations-Dividend Rights-Elimination Of Dividend Accumulations By Direct Charter Amendment, Thomas L. Waterbury S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The many recent discussions of the problem of dividend accumulations show that plausible grounds exist for reaching a conclusion in favor of either the minority preferred shareholder who wishes to retain these rights, or the majority preferred and common shareholders who, with the corporate management, desire to eliminate or circumvent them. It is not the purpose of this comment to re-open that controversy, though it may be observed that the current trend of both legislation and decision favors the interests of the latter group. Rather, this discussion assumes that the current trend is the correct view and will examine the …

Corporations-Membership Corporations-Voting Rights Under California Law, Howard Vanantwerp

Michigan Law Review

The original owner of a subdivision recorded a declaration of restrictions which provided that "the majority of the property owners within the subdivision may form . . . a non-profit cooperative corporation without capital stock, but with one share thereof appurtenant to each of the lots in such subdivision,'' to approve plans for building on these lots. Defendants acquired 133 lots and commenced construction of homes in spite of the disapproval of their plans by the association organized under the authority of the declaration. The two defendants claimed to have acquired majority control of the association, claiming 133 votes as …

Corporations-Elections-Judicial Actions Of Inspectors Of Elections, Colvin A. Peterson, Jr. S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

If the modern cases are to be judged in light of what the courts say, it is probable that Judge Tilghman's views are the weight of authority. While a few courts frankly admit that inspectors do act judicially at times, most of the courts continue to define the actions of the inspectors in ministerial terms. However, there are two areas within which the inspectors may exercise such unusual powers that they may be called judicial, namely, those relating to the ascertainment of (1) the validity of proxies and (2) title to stock. The scope of this comment is confined to …

Corporations-Appraisal Statutes-What Constitutes A Written Objection To Corporate Merger Scheme, Daniel A. Isaacson

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sent a letter to the president of a corporation, in which he held stock, revoking his proxy and stating that he would vote against a proposed merger with defendant corporation. Later, plaintiff demanded payment of the fair value of his shares pursuant to an appraisal statute which so permitted if a stockholder, dissatisfied with a merger plan," . . . objected thereto in writing . . . . " Held, the letter constituted a sufficient written objection for purposes of this statute. Wiswell v. General Waterworks Corporation, (Del. Ch. 1949) 66 A. (2d) 424.

Financial Inability As A Defense Under The Corporate Opportunity Doctrine, E. W. Rivers

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fiduciary Duty Owed Creditors By Director Of Insolvent Corporation

Indiana Law Journal

Recent Cases: Corporations