Civil Law Commons^™

Civil Commitment In Texas - An Illusion Of Due Process., Willis Luttrell

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Summary Judgment: Let The Movant Beware., Patrick K. Sheehan

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Bradley V. School Board Of The City Of Richmond, Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Interlocutory Orders Are Not Appealable In Government Civil Antitrust Litigation., Donald C. Mccleary

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

On Privacy: Constitutional Protection For Personal Liberty, Susan Herman, L. Simonson

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Informing A Jury Of The Legal Effect Of Its Answers., James G. Denton

St. Mary's Law Journal

Limiting jury consideration to facts, as opposed to the outcome, best serves special issue systems. The purpose of the special issues system is to ensure juries answer the presented questions without bias or prejudice. Though several writers have persuasively advocated for advising juries of the consequences of their findings, doing so seems to undermine the purpose of special issue systems because it allows for juries to answer questions with reference to their desired outcome. To ensure juries answer issues on the facts alone, trial judges should not give a jury, directly or indirectly, any information that may apprise them of …

Books Received

University of Richmond Law Review

These are the books received by the Law School in 1970.

Illegitimacy: Equal Protection And How To Enjoy It, H. G. G. Iii

Georgia Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to demonstrate that the way is now clear to remove legally sanctioned discrimination against the illegitimate and to grant him the full citizenship denied him for centuries. Specifically, it is argued that since the illegitimate is treated equally with other children insofar as the mother-child relationship is concerned, it is but a simple extension of this status to afford the bastard the potentially more significant rights of the father-child relationship. Although the illegitimate has made some progress from his status of near nonexistence at common law, dearly there is much progress still to be …

Attorney's Fees As An Element Of Costs: The Copyright Experience, E. K. Ii

Georgia Law Review

The amount of money frequently involved in copyright litigation, especially on the part of the defendant, is trifling. The expense of any litigation is considerable. Unless, therefore, some provision is made for financial protection to a litigant, if successful, it may not pay a party to defend rights, even if valid, a situation opposed to justice.... It is increasingly recognized that the person who forces another to engage counsel either to vindicate, or defend, a right should bear the expense of such engagement and not his successful opponent.

Recent Decisions

University of Richmond Law Review

This is a summary of the case law from 1969.

Lack Of Due Process In Virginia Contempt Proceeding For Failure To Comply With Order For Support And Alimony

University of Richmond Law Review

At common law a husband had a legal duty' to support his wife and children. Today in Virginia failure to support one's family is not simply a violation of a legal duty, it is a criminal act, carrying a penalty of up to twelve months at hard labor for the delinquent husband. The wife, however, without resorting to this criminal action, can effectuate the same result in a civil proceeding before a divorce court.

Recent Cases

University of Richmond Law Review

This is a summary of the case law from 1966.

Civil Code: Notes For An Uncelebrated Centennial, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

This is the first installment of a projected study of the Dakota Civil Code. While this portion deals with the historical background of the Code and its content as drafted for New York by David Dudley Field, a subsequent article will deal with its fate in the hands of the bar, the legislature and the courts in New York, California, and especially the Dakotas.

Antitrust Civil Process Act-Requirements For A Civil Investigative Demand, Mary Mandana Long

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner sought an order from the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota modifying or setting aside a Civil Investigative Demand served upon it by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. The demand was issued pursuant to the Antitrust Civil Process Act, which provides a compulsory pre-complaint procedure through which the Department of Justice may obtain documentary information upon which it can make a determination of whether there has occurred a violation of the antitrust laws. Section 1312(b) of the act requires that the demand state the nature of the conduct constituting the alleged violation, recite …

Comments On Recent Cases, Charles W. Ehrhardt

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Transfer Of Civil Actions Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(A)

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Civil Investigative Demand: New Fact-Finding Powers For The Antitrust Division, Richard L. Perry, William Simon

Michigan Law Review

The complexity, scope and length of modem antitrust litigation bring to prominence the procedures by which evidence - particularly documentary evidence - is discovered and placed before the courts and administrative agencies. Fact-finding mechanisms now available for ferreting out and prosecuting violations make up an imposing array. These include the grand jury subpoena, the discovery provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure and the subpoena and visitorial powers of certain administrative agencies. The "civil investigative demand," a precomplaint compulsory process, is a new weapon proposed to be added to this arsenal. Few dispute the desirability of new …

Civil Procedure - Interstate Interpleader Compact, Louis Frey

Michigan Law Review

Five states have passed the Interstate Interpleader Compact, but Senate bills aimed at obtaining the necessary congressional consent have not been reported out of committee. The compact, designed to eliminate the problem of obtaining jurisdiction over an out-of-state claimant in a state interpleader action, would remedy situations in which the stakeholder may be subject to multiple vexation or possible double liability. The most important section of the compact provides: "Service of process sufficient to acquire personal jurisdiction may be made within a state party to this compact, by a person who institutes an interpleader proceeding or interpleader part of a …

Proposed Revision Of New York Civil Practice, Jack B. Weinstein, Michael I. Sovern, Daniel H. Distler, Stanley H. Fuld

Faculty Scholarship

Our present Civil Practice Act is a patchwork affair; provisions have been changed and sections have been added and eliminated as the particular necessity of the times dictated, without any real regard for rational or integrated compilation.

The problem of revision has long confronted us. There has been none for more than 110 years. Very wisely, the Temporary Commission on the Courts directed such a revision, and in 1955 appointed an advisory committee consisting of outstanding attorneys of extensive and varied experience from all over the state. They were delegated to study and prepare appropriate legislation. The research and drafting …

Eminent Domain - Procedure - Relation Of Judge And Jury In Michigan Condemnation Proceedings, John H. Jackson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The relationship of judge to jury in Michigan condemnation proceedings presents in many ways a merger of some of the problems and questions contained in the relationship of judge to jury in civil trials, and of court to tribunal in administrative law. Theorists as well as the practicing lawyer in Michigan and some other states" may well find in the development of the Michigan condemnation proceeding an interesting example of the growth of a procedure for adjudication, in a context of cross-fire between legislative ideas and judicial interpretation of a constitutional provision.

Cml Procedure - Mandamus - Application To Erroneous Refusal To Dismiss On The Ground Of Forum Non Conveniens, George E. Parker Iii

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner railroad, defendant in a suit brought in Illinois under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, moved to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens. The accident occurred in New Mexico, and none of the parties or witnesses was a resident of Illinois. The railroad, however, did business in Illinois as well as in other states, and had its principal offices and legal staff in Chicago. Upon denial of the motion to dismiss, the railroad, on original petition to the Supreme Court of Illinois, sought a writ of mandamus to compel dismissal. Held, writ denied, two justices dissenting. Mandamus …

Civil Procedure - Forum Non Conveniens - Judicial Adoption Of Doctrine When Statue Of Limitations Has Run Elsewhere, Jerome S. Traum

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Missouri resident, brought suit in Arkansas against defendant, a Missouri corporation authorized to do business in Arkansas, for injuries received in an accident in Illinois. Plaintiff had filed and dismissed an action in Missouri, and the statute of limitations had run in Illinois. Defendant's motion for dismissal on grounds of forum non conveniens was granted by the trial court. On appeal, held, reversed and remanded, one justice dissenting. Although the trial court could in its discretion refuse jurisdiction on the grounds of forum non conveniens, there was insufficient evidence in this case upon which a dismissal could …

Civil Procedure - Process - Immunity From Service Of Nonresident Entering State To Discuss Settlement Of A Dispute, Edward M. Heppenstall

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a resident of Idaho, leased a service station in Idaho from plaintiff, a Utah corporation. Plaintiff's attorney travelled to Idaho to attempt settlement of difficulties which had arisen concerning the lease. When the Idaho negotiations failed, plaintiff invited defendant to make further attempts at settlement in Utah. Defendant accepted the proposal and, when the Utah negotiations proved unfruitful, defendant was served with process in Utah at plaintiff's request. It was undisputed that defendant went to Utah solely to effect settlement, returning directly to Idaho after cessation of negotiations. On appeal from the trial court's denial of defendant's motion to …

Civil Procedure On The American Frontier, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

The Treaty of Greenville (1795) by which Indian tribes of the Northwest Territory ceded to the United States the eastern and southern parts of the area which later became the state of Ohio, provided that certain small areas north and west of the treaty line should also be ceded.

Calamandrei: Procedure And Democracy, Charles Alan Wright

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Procedure and Democracy. By Piero Calamandrei.

The Demurrer - At Common Law, Under Modern Codes, Practice Acts, And Rules Of Civil Procedure, Alison Reppy

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Responsibilty Under The American Poor Laws: Ii, Daniel R. Mandelker

Michigan Law Review

No substantive statutory provision fulfills the purpose for which it was enacted unless fair and efficient procedures are provided for its enforcement. Under the Elizabethan family responsibility law, enforcement was confined to the parish justices of the peace, who at that time exercised both administrative and judicial functions. The blending of administrative and judicial functions no longer being the rule in American local government, practically all of the American family responsibility statutes provide for some judicial procedure by which the support duty may be enforced. The basic issue with which the courts have been concerned in applying these statutory remedies …

Civil Procedure - Process - Amendment When A Partnership Is Served As A Corporation, Donald W. Shaffer

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff instituted a negligence action for personal injuries by serving a summons and complaint on one Moriarty as an officer of Moriarty Manufacturing Company, intending thereby a substituted service on this company. Plaintiff believed the named firm to be a corporation, but it was in fact a partnership of which Moriarty was a member. There was no appearance or answer. Two and one-half years after the initial service, an amended summons and complaint were served on all of the partners. In answer, defendants pleaded a two-year statute of limitations and moved for a summary judgment, which was granted. On appeal, …

Federal Procedure - Juries - Attacking Release For Fraud In Action At Law, James W. Beatty S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action to recover damages for personal injuries. Defendant filed an answer and asserted that plaintiff had executed a release in full for all claims against the defendant. In his reply plaintiff admitted that he had executed the release, but claimed that it was obtained by fraud on the part of the defendant. The district court granted defendant's motion to deny a jury trial on the ground that the matter of determining the validity of a release was properly cognizable in equity and that therefore plaintiff was not entitled to a jury trial on this issue. On appeal …

Civil Procedure - Venue - Forum Non-Conveniens, Richard S. Weinstein S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, an Indiana corporation not authorized to do business in New York, brought an action in New York, aided by attachment, against Indiana residents on a contract that was made, was to be performed, and allegedly was breached in Indiana. On the basis of the doctrine of forum non conveniens the defendants moved to vacate the warrant of attachment and to dismiss the complaint. The lower court denied the motion. On appeal, held, reversed. Under the doctrine of forum non conveniens, the lower court should have exercised its discretion to refuse to entertain the action. Central Pub. Co. vs. …