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Proceedings Of The Second Annual Law Institute - Vol Ii, University Of Michigan Law School

Event Materials

Proceedings of the Second Annual Law Institute Vol II

Held at the University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday June 20-22, 1940

The Distinction Between The Equity Rule And The Bankruptcy Against Insolvent Estates In Kentucky, Richard Priest Dietzman

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Section 77b - Chapter X Of The Chandler Act - Right Of Creditor To Question The Good Faith Of A Reorganization Petition, Edmund O'Hare

Michigan Law Review

Appellants, two creditors of debtor, objected to the approval of a reorganization petition filed under section 77B by appellees, who were also creditors of debtor, claiming that the petition was not filed in good faith. Held, that appellants had sufficient standing to question the approval of the petition, since any single creditor may raise the issue of the good faith of the petitioners. Snyder v. Fenner, (C. C. A. 3d, 1939) 101 F. (2d) 736.

Corporations - Modification Provisions Of Corporate Mortgages And Trust Indentures, Charles H. Haines Jr.

Michigan Law Review

As early as the late 1800's it was not uncommon to find included in corporate mortgages and trust indentures provisions looking to the modification of the rights of the bondholders by action of a given majority of such holders. Ordinarily the power conferred could not be exercised by the holders of less than seventy-five per cent in value of the outstanding bonds; the modification authorized might be the alteration of security rights, the deferment of payments of interest or principal, the reduction of interest, or even the reduction of the debt. Inasmuch as the same equitable doctrines limit their use, …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Section 77b - Chapter X Of The Chandler Act - Boyd Case Rule, Edmund O'Hare

Michigan Law Review

A subsidiary of the defendant corporation filed a reorganization petition under Section 77 B of the Bankruptcy Act and defendant presented a claim of over nine million dollars as a creditor, the claim being grounded upon moneys paid by defendant to the subsidiary for its benefit, management and supervision fees, rental and interest charges, and declared but unpaid dividends. Defendant owned about ninety-eight per cent of the common stock of the subsidiary. As the result of objections by the trustee and preferred stockholders of the subsidiary, defendant's claim was compromised at five million dollars. The reorganization plan provided in part …

Corporations - Derivative Suits - Insolvency As A Bar, Edmund O'Hare

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, stockholder in defendant bank, brought a derivative suit against the bank's directors to recover moneys allegedly wrongfully appropriated by them from the bank's assets. Before the commencement of the suit the bank had become insolvent and was in the process of liquidation. Held, the directors' motion to dismiss should be granted, since a stockholder may not maintain an action to hold an insolvent corporation's directors liable for fraud or mismanagement unless it appears that he will be benefited by the relief demanded, and full recovery here would still leave an excess of liabilities over assets. Falvey v. Foreman-State …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Validity Of Process Outside Territorial Confines Of Federal District Court, Edmund O'Hare

Michigan Law Review

Debtor corporation had contracted with defendant, operator of a retail store, whereby defendant agreed to sell debtor's products exclusively and to buy all of his supplies from debtor. While debtor was in the course of section 77 B reorganization proceedings, defendant refused to continue to comply with the contract, Defendant resided and did business in the same state and federal judicial circuit in which the reorganization court was located, but not within the territorial confines of the court, nor was process served upon defendant within the court's territorial jurisdiction. Debtor moved for specific performance of the contract. Held, debtor's …

Taxation - Income Tax - Whether Purchase And Retirement By Corporation Of Own Bonds At Less Than Amount Of Issue Constitutes A Taxable Gain Where Corporation Is Insolvent, S. R. Stroud

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a railway corporation, in 1906 leased all its property to an operating company for a term of fifty years. At the same time petitioner issued $434,000 in first mortgage bonds which were used to refund a prior issue of $350,000 and to provide for certain improvements on the road. Interest on the bonds was to be met by lessee's payment of the greater part of the rental directly to the trustee of the mortgage bonds, but no provision for a sinking fund was made. In October, 1932, petitioner purchased $19,000 par value of aforesaid mortgage bonds for $4,750, and …

Bankruptcy -Trustee's Liability - Effect Of Requirement Of Deposit In Designated Depositary On Trustee's Common Law Duty Of Due Care, Russel T. Walker

Michigan Law Review

In a suit to charge a trustee in bankruptcy for the loss of funds of the bankrupt estate caused by insolvency of the depositary bank, the trustee contended that as he had fulfilled the requirement of section 61 of the Bankruptcy Act by depositing the funds of the estate in a "designated depositary," he could not be charged with liability for any loss occurring thereafter; he argued that section 61 repealed, by implication, the trustee's common-law duty of due care in the handling of estate funds after they were deposited in a "designated depositary." Held, the fact that the …

Garnishment - Full Faith And Credit - Nature Of Principal Judgment, John N. Seaman

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, appellee, sued an Illinois insurance company for legal services, and on the same day sued out a writ of garnishment against a Michigan debtor of the insurance company. Two days later the insurance company was dissolved in Illinois under the provisions of the Illinois Insurance Code, and an Illinois liquidator was vested with title to all of the insurance company's property, wherever located. The liquidator intervened in this case, claiming prior title to the garnishment debt, by virtue of the Illinois statute and judicial proceedings. Held, the commencement of the garnishment suit gave plaintiff a lien on the …

Bankruptcy-Corporate Reorganization - Fraternal Benefit Society Entitled To Benefits Of Section 77b, Russel T. Walker

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's right to petition for reorganization under section 77 B of the Bankruptcy Act was challenged on the ground that plaintiff was an "insurance corporation" within the meaning of section 4 of the Bankruptcy Act and therefore excepted from the benefits of the act. Held, that when Congress used the words "insurance corporation" in the Bankruptcy Act, it meant a corporation authorized by the law of its creation to do an insurance business. As Congress knew that the various States had authorized the formation of fraternal benefit societies, described as such in enabling statutes, when Congress passed this statute …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - "Good Faith" In Presenting Petitions For Reorganization Proceedings, Arthur P. Boynton

Michigan Law Review

Reorganization proceedings for corporations are now provided for in chapter ten of the recently enacted Chandler Act, which supersedes the provisions of 77B. This legislation, designed to aid corporations which are insolvent or unable to meet their debts as they mature, is available to all commercial corporations except municipal, insurance, and banking corporations and railroad corporations authorized to file a petition under section 77 upon the proper showing. Sections 130 and 131 enumerate the necessary requirements of any petition filed for the purpose of obtaining reorganization. However, the most important prerequisite to this relief, from the standpoint of difficulty in …

Contracts - Consideration - The Rule Of Foakes V. Beer Discarded, Arthur A. Greene Jr.

Michigan Law Review

In an action on a promissory note, by an indorsee who was not a holder in due course, the defendant pleaded the following facts. In 1930 the payee held the promissory note of the defendant, who was known to be hopelessly insolvent. An agreement was thereupon made and executed between the payee, the plaintiff and defendant, whereby the plaintiff agreed to purchase the note from the payee in exchange for his automobile. The defendant in turn agreed to turn over to the plaintiff certain livestock or produce, to pay a certain balance in cash, and also to pay the license …

Contracts - Third Party Beneficiary - Right Of Promisor To Set Off Claim Againt Promisee In A Suit By Beneficiary, Arthur A. Greene Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A and B mortgaged real estate to the plaintiff to secure their notes aggregating $9,000. Six months later A and B exchanged this property to the defendant for certain real estate owned by her. By the deed the defendant assumed the mortgage indebtedness owed to the plaintiff. As a further consideration for the exchange, A and B executed a note for $13,050 to the defendant. The plaintiff instituted this action against A and B, seeking to recover the balance, and by amended petition joined the defendant. The defendant claimed the right of set-off on the uncollected judgment against A …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Fairness Of The Plan, Stanton J. Schuman

Michigan Law Review

In a reorganization under 77B the unsecured creditors were to be paid by receiving non-voting preferred stock of the insolvent debtor up to the amount of their claims. The old preferred stockholders were to keep the balance of this same class of stock. One thousand shares of voting common stock were to be given to the old shareholders on the basis of one new share for each old share. The plan was approved by ninety-four per cent of the creditors, but the master proposed an amendment whereby the creditors were to have the right to vote in the selection of …

The Chandler Act, Carl Wilde

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Liquidation Under The Chandler Act: Bankruptcy Practice And Procedure Is Changed By Act Of Congress Effective September 22, 1938, Leopold M. Stern

Washington Law Review

In 1938 Congress enacted the Chandler Bill, which became effective September 22, 1938. Its purpose, among other things, as explained by the House Judiciary Committee report, was to clarify certain of the definitions and to add desirable new definitions, to straighten out certain overlapping provisions, to increase efficiency in administration, to make clearer certain ambiguous provisions, to improve the procedural sections of the act, and in general to modernize and bring up to date the bankruptcy law of our country. Congress went somewhat further than a mere modernization of the existing statute. It expanded the law by adding chapters on …

Corporations - Liability Of Stockholders Of Bank Stock Holding Company For Statutory Assessment On Bank Stock., Edward J. Wendrow

Michigan Law Review

The late depression with its attendant bank failures and the consequent assessment of shareholders has resulted in bringing before the courts a question that has never been litigated until comparatively recent times. That is, can the shareholders of a holding company, whose assets consist of stock of the closed bank, be subjected to the statutory assessment when the corporation itself is unable to meet the assessment? The case of Nettles v. Rhett is the latest of this series, and is fairly typical of the issues involved. This case concerned a suit by the receiver of the Peoples State Bank of …

Torts - Negligent Misrepresentations - Information Gratuitously Supplied, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, who were liquidating trustees of a building and loan association, alleged that the association requested defendant to send it a copy of a certain will, but that defendant, who was trustee under the will, sent the association a copy of another will. Since the testators bore the same name, the association did not realize the error, but relied on the copy and suffered a loss which it would not have suffered if it had known the true state of facts. Plaintiffs sued to recover the loss. Held, plaintiffs have not stated a cause of action, inasmuch as they …

Taxation - Capital Gains Tax (Revenue Act Of 1928) - Reorganizations - Definition Of A Party To A Reorganization, Milton A. Kramer

Michigan Law Review

Although "certainty" is one of the most desirable features of taxation, that quality has been conspicuously absent in regard to the portions of the 1928 Revenue Act which deal with capital gains in corporate reorganizations. In the four situations which the act sets forth as constituting a reorganization, capital gains arising therefrom are exempt from tax computation, the general purpose being to remove any impediment to normal corporate adjustments and to prevent the recognition of gains or losses until they are actually realized. However, this provision soon became an invitation for ingenious counsel to arrange the sales of corporate assets …

Corporations--Effects Of Dissolution Under Statute Continuing Dissolved Corporations--Power To Commit Act Of Bankruptcy, V. V. C.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Banks And Banking - Relationship To Customers - Principal Or Creditor, Charles E. Nadeau

Michigan Law Review

A collection agreement permitted plaintiff to clear items through defendant bank in return for maintaining a balance of $10,000 which was not subject to check. All items received immediate credit, and twice weekly defendant bank remitted, in New York exchange, all amounts in excess of $10,000. On insolvency of defendant bank, plaintiff sought a preferred claim on the basis that the bank was its agent for collection. Held, where, as here, the bank may use the funds before remittance, or where the depositor may withdraw any part of the funds, the relationship is that of debtor-creditor and not of …

Corporate Reorganizations Under Chapter X Of The National Bankruptcy Act, George Cochran Doub

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Reorganizations Under Chapter X Of The National Bankruptcy Act, George Cochran Doub

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporations - Corporate Form Used To Evade Bank Double Liability, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, the receiver for an insolvent bank, sued the individual stockholders of an investment corporation on an assessment to the amount of the par value of the bank stock as provided by the constitution and statutes of South Carolina. The investment corporation had been organized several years previously to secure control of a group of banks. Its holdings throughout consisted only of bank stock, and finally solely of stock of the closed bank. Plaintiff claimed, since the corporation had no assets, that the stockholders of the investment corporation were individually liable, because the use of a holding company for the …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Approval Of Plan Of Bondholders' Committee In Foreclosure Proceeding In A State Court, Malcolm L. Denise

Michigan Law Review

The question of a state court's jurisdiction to pass on the fairness of a reorganization plan in connection with proceedings to foreclose a trust mortgage and sell the corporate property has been considered in but a surprisingly small number of cases. It would seem that this is a possibility the existence of which reorganization committees and dissenting bondholders have only begun to realize. In the recent case of First National Bank of Chicago v. Bryn Mawr, Beach Bldg. Corp., the trustee under a trust mortgage instituted foreclosure proceedings, and a committee representing a majority of the bondholders purchased at …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Effect Of Release Of Collateral Obligor On Dissenting Creditors, Edward D. Ransom

Michigan Law Review

The federal district court confirmed a plan of reorganization of debtor corporation, under section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act, which expressly released defendant from liability as guarantor of bonds of the corporation and provided for cancellation of the bonds and substitution of new certificates of stock. The plaintiff, a bondholder, made no objection when the plan was submitted to the court; objection by other bondholders was overruled. The plaintiff brought suit in municipal court on the defendant's guaranty. Defendant pleaded the confirmation of the plan by the district court as res adjudicata. The trial court denied the plea and entered …

Executors And Administrators -- Quasi-Contract Liability Of Decedent's Estate -- Administrative Expenses As A Prior Charge On The Estate, Ralph Winkler

Michigan Law Review

After the supply of feed for the decedent's livestock had been depleted and before the appointment of an administrator, the plaintiff furnished some grain at the request of the decedent's daughter and son-in-law, no other parties attempting to assist in any way. It was understood that the plaintiff would look to the estate for payment. In an action of contract against the administrator in his representative capacity for the value of the grain the court held that the plaintiff had a valid claim in quasi-contract against the estate, basing the decision upon "broad considerations of policy." Since the estate was …

Corporations - Priority Between Parent Corporation And Preferred Stockholders Of Bankrupt Subsidiary, Erwin S. Simon

Michigan Law Review

It is well settled that when an undercapitalized subsidiary corporation is bankrupt, the claims for money loaned by the parent corporation which has dominated the subsidiary will be subordinated to the claims of other creditors. An analogous problem, which has seldom, if ever, been directly passed upon, is the priority between the claims of the nonvoting preferred stockholders of the subsidiary and those of the dominating corporation which owns all the common voting stock of the subsidiary. In spite of the fact that intercorporate loans are a common and approved method of financing subsidiaries, the question has heretofore been relatively …

Constitutional Law--Bankruptcy--Constitutionality Of The Amended Frazier-Lemke Act, H. A. W.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.