Civil Law Commons^™

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. …

Real Property-Easements By Prescription-Use Of Presumption, Robert B. Olsen

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs sought to enjoin defendants from using a driveway located on plaintiffs' property. Defendants counterclaimed to have an easement by prescription declared. The parties occupied adjacent city lots. Defendants' predecessor began using the driveway in 1920 without seeking permission from plaintiffs' predecessor. The respective predecessors were on friendly terms at the inception of the user. Defendants and their predecessors made minor repairs to the driveway and claimed at the trial that they had constantly used it as their own. In 1936, two years after plaintiffs acquired full title to their lot, their predecessor executed an abortive quit-claim deed to the …

Civil Procedure - Compensation Of Witnesses In A Civil Action, David W. Belin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

As the amount and complexity of litigation has increased, there have been corresponding increases in demands for added compensation of witnesses. Like the juror, the witness often receives the time-honored answer that he cannot be heard to complain that his compensation is inadequate; the administration of justice is a mutual benefit to all members of the community, and each is under a public duty to further it.

At common law witnesses received no compensation. Time spent in testifying was held to be claimed by the public as a tax, paid by the witness to the system of law which protected …

Civil Procedure - Service Of Process Under Nonresident Motorist Statute - Effect Of Death Of Nonresident Defendant, Warren K. Urbom S.Ed..

Michigan Law Review

A wife sued for the wrongful death of her husband, which was allegedly caused by a nonresident defendant's negligent operation of his automobile on a Wisconsin highway while the plaintiff's husband was a passenger therein. Service of process was made on the Commissioner of the Motor Vehicle Department in Wisconsin, and copies of the summons and complaint were mailed to defendant in Illinois in accordance with the Wisconsin nonresident motorist statute. Shortly thereafter, before a judgment was rendered, defendant died. Plaintiff sought to revive the action against defendant's administrator by serving notice of the filing of a petition for revival …

Corporations - Shareholders - Right To Bring Derivative Action For Treble Damages Under Antitrust Laws, William K. Davenport S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, owner of 50 percent of the stock in a theater corporation, brought a derivative action in federal court for treble damages for loss of profits allegedly suffered from defendant's violation of the antitrust laws. The district court sustained defendant's motion to dismiss. On appeal to the court of appeals, held, reversed and remanded. Under the new federal rules, a stockholder may bring a derivative action for treble damages under the antitrust laws. Fanchon & Marco, Inc. v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., (2d Cir. 1953) 202 F. (2d) 731.

Civil Procedure - Judgments - Res Judicata Effect Of Declaratory Judgments, Robert G. Russell S.Ed..

Michigan Law Review

In a former action brought pursuant to the Colorado Declaratory Judgment Act, plaintiff was declared to have the right to use a certain roadway as dedicated and defendant was enjoined from interfering with or obstructing plaintiff's use of the same. Thereafter, plaintiff brought the present action to recover damages allegedly resulting from defendant's blockading of the road prior to the bringing of the former action. On appeal from a judgment for plaintiff, held, reversed. Where, as here, the damages were antecedent and might with propriety have been determined in the same proceeding in which the declaratory judgment alone was …

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 …

Insolvent Decedents' Estates, Kurt H. Nadelmann

Michigan Law Review

The problems of insolvent decedents' estates have created special difficulties in all legal systems. Two unrelated fields of the law are involved: decedents' estates and insolvency. Treatment of the topic in works on one or the other field is often scanty and few studies exist which deal exclusively with insolvent decedents' estates law. Research in the conflicts problems of the field has led the writer to investigate the differences in the treatment of insolvent decedents' estates in this country, other common law countries, and countries of the civil law. Results of this study are used to discuss problems of the …

Partnership--Partner's Right To Compensation For Services To Partnership As A Going Concern, C. E. Lombardi, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant bought a fishing boat, which they operated in partnership for a number of years, under an agreement embodied in a series of informal letters. Both plaintiff and defendant at times ran the boat, but apparently they never operated it together. The partner in charge received the customary share of the crew's two-thirds of the "catch," plus compensation for services rendered as captain; each of them received half of the ''boat's share" of the catch. Defendant bought materials for some special nets, which he designed and constructed; he informed. plaintiff that he was doing so, and that it …

Partnership--Partner's Right To Compensation For Services To Partnership As A Going Concern, C. E. Lombardi, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant bought a fishing boat, which they operated in partnership for a number of years, under an agreement embodied in a series of informal letters. Both plaintiff and defendant at times ran the boat, but apparently they never operated it together. The partner in charge received the customary share of the crew's two-thirds of the "catch," plus compensation for services rendered as captain; each of them received half of the ''boat's share" of the catch. Defendant bought materials for some special nets, which he designed and constructed; he informed. plaintiff that he was doing so, and that it …

Libel And Slander-Necessity For Allegation Of Special Damages For Defamation Not Shown Libelous Per Se, John J. Gaskell S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, the deacons, pastor, and clerk of the Gallatin Baptist Church, published to the church membership a letter to the plaintiff, an ordained minister of the Baptist Church, and a member of the Gallatin Church, requiring him to report and show cause why the hand of fellowship should not be withdrawn from him because of heresy. The plaintiff's complaint for libel set out the letter published, but a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action was sustained by the circuit court on the grounds that there was no allegation of special damages to the plaintiff. On …

The Privy Council And Private Law In The Tudor And Stuart Periods: I, John P. Dawson

Michigan Law Review

It has been often said that the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries in England were pre-eminently the age of conciliar government. The activities of the Tudor Privy Council extended into every phase of national life and were responsible, more than any other single factor, for the effective organization of an English national state. These activities continued under the first two Stuarts, with no break in institutional development, though they widened the gulf between Crown and people and hastened a revolution.

Alternative Pleading: I, Roy W. Mcdonald

Michigan Law Review

The present series of articles seeks to test the extent to which the dictates of this common professional experience have influenced the statutes, rules, and precedents which govern our civil practice. As a background for a review of procedures typical of the code and federal practice within the United States, it will be useful initially to consider briefly the English practice during the past century and a half. The English procedures, as they existed at the end of the eighteenth century, though everywhere locally modified and simplified in some respects, formed authoritative guides for the practices of most of the …

Appeal And Error-Union Of Law And Equity-Appealability Of Order Denying Demand For Jury Trial, Earl R. Boonstra S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant held an insurance policy written by plaintiff which by its terms covered a hangar against loss by fire. After the hangar had been destroyed by fire, plaintiff instituted this suit for reformation on the ground that the contract had been written as a fire policy through mutual mistake. Defendant denied the mistake, filed a counterclaim to recover on the policy as written, and demanded a jury trial. Plaintiff moved to strike the demand, and the motion was granted. The court of appeals dismissed the defendant's appeal. On certiorari, held, affirmed. Not being a final decision, the order denying …

Federal Procedure-Change Of Venue-Applicability Of §1404(A) Of The Judicial Code Of 1948 To Cases Arising Under The Federal Employers' Liability Act And The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Thomas L. Waterbury S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Two recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court have resolved this problem. In the first case, plaintiff employee sued defendant employer for damages under the FELA. Taking advantage of the broad choice of venue given him, plaintiff sued in the Chicago district court which was some 400 miles from Irvine, Kentucky, the place of injury and residence of all the witnesses. Defendant moved for transfer to a Kentucky district court, ''For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice. . . . " The motion was granted and plaintiff sought a writ of mandamus in the …

Place Of Trial Of Civil Cases, William Wirt Blume

Michigan Law Review

Places involved in a study of place of trial may be classified in various ways. The most general classification is: (1) Places within one sovereignty, (2) Places in different sovereignties. Where there is choice of place within one sovereignty, the only rational basis for making the choice is convenience-convenience of the parties, jurors, witnesses, and of the court itself. The same is true when the choice is between courts of different sovereignties, but without cooperation between the sovereignties rational choice may not be possible. The purpose of this discussion is to compare choice of place in England before 1800 with …

Negligence-Taking The Issue Of Negligence From The Jury In Public Utility Cases, Charles D. Bell S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

After boarding a trolley owned and operated by defendant, plaintiff-dropped her return slip. Holding a package in one hand, she stooped to pick up the slip. Plaintiff testified that although defendant's operator saw her in this position, he started the trolley with a "very fast jerk" which threw plaintiff to the floor and caused certain injuries. At the conclusion of plaintiff's evidence, which consisted of her uncorroborated testimony, the trial court directed a verdict for defendant. On appeal, held, affirmed. Przborowski v. Baltimore Transit Co., (Md. 1948) 59 A. (2d) 687.

Bailment-Liability Of Parking Lot Owner For Theft Of Automobile, Myron J. Nadler

Michigan Law Review

Defendant mill maintained a free parking lot for its employees. The lot was enclosed, having one gate which was under constant surveillance by defendant's private policeman and kept closed except for short periods during shift changes. During a shift change, plaintiff, an employee of defendant, parked his automobile in the lot, removing and retaining the keys. While plaintiff was working in the mill, the watchman on duty at the gate admitted certain persons to the lot and allowed them to remove plaintiff's car. Held, two judges dissenting, this was a bailment for mutual benefit. Goodyear Clearwarter Mills v. Wheeler …

Wills-Constructive Trust Imposed On All Heirs Where Some Interfered With Execution Of Will, Herhert E. Phillipson, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Two heirs at law, by physical force or by creating a disturbance, prevented decedent from executing a will devising her property to plaintiff. Shortly thereafter, decedent lapsed into a semi-comatose condition from which she never recovered. Plaintiff asked the court to impose a constructive trust on the distributive shares of all heirs, six of whom were not parties to the fraud. The district court gave judgment for the plaintiff; the Court of Civil Appeals partially reversed, allowing the innocent heirs to take free of any trust. On appeal, held, judgment of district court affirmed. Since all heirs at law …

Negligence-Liability Of Public Amusement Operators For Dangerous Premises, Ruth Wanamaker

Michigan Law Review

While a patron at a dog race track, plaintiff suffered injuries when she slipped on an empty beverage bottle left in the aisle of the grandstand. In an action against the proprietor, a motion for directed verdict in favor of defendant was granted on the theory that plaintiff had failed to show defendant's actual or constructive knowledge of the presence of the bottle; the trial court further stated that if constructive knowledge were relied on, the plaintiff must prove that the bottle had been in the grandstand long enough for the owners, in the exercise of reasonable care, to have …

Soviet Civil Law: Private Rights And Their Back-Ground Under The Soviet Regime Comparative Survey And Translation Of The Civil Code; Code Of Domestic Relations; Judiciary Act; Code Of Civil Procedure; Laws On Nationality, Corporations, Patents, Copyright, Collective Farms, Labor; And Other Related Laws. Volume 2., Vladimir E. Gsovski

Michigan Legal Studies Series

For centuries, jurisprudence has been built up and developed in terms of a more or less comparable body of concepts: family, private ownership, individual rights, and the State, the necessity of which was challenged in the original program in the name of which the soviet government assumed the reins of power. What then is the fate under the soviet regime of the legal concepts thus far operative in all civilized societies? This book seeks to offer material for the answer to questions of this nature. The principal aim of the author has been to inquire into the legal protection and …

Evidence - Office Custom To Prove Fact Of Mailing, R. J. Nordstrom S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff agreed to purchase land from defendant by a contract in which it was stipulated that the performance of the mechanics of purchase would be completed through a third party, Webster. Plaintiff deposited the purchase money with Webster with instructions to deliver it to defendant only after he (Webster) had, inter alia, procured a policy of title insurance. Webster absconded with the funds. In a suit to determine the incidence of loss, plaintiff sought to prove that Webster had procured the policy before he absconded and therefore held the purchase money as agent for defendant. The proof that plaintiff …

Courts-Jurisdiction-Constitutionality Of Statute Establishing Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Conducting Business In State Through Resident Agent, David D. Ring

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a resident of Utah, sued petitioner, a resident of California, to recover construction costs and contractor's fee for the erection of a building at petitioner's Utah place of business. In accordance with a statute of Utah providing that jurisdiction over a nonresident individual doing business in the state could be obtained in all actions arising out of the conduct of the business by serving process on the resident agent managing the business, summons was served on the petitioner's Utah manager. Petitioner appeared specially and moved to quash the summons for lack of jurisdiction, which motion was denied. He then …

Federal Courts-Venue-Construction Of Sections 51 And 52 Of Judicial Code, Daniel W. Reddin Iii S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a resident and citizen of Mississippi, brought a negligence action based upon diversity of citizenship in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, joining as defendants Highways Insurance Underwriters, a Texas corporation qualified to do business in Louisiana, and respondents, Reich Brothers Construction Co., a partnership, and its individual members, residents of the Western District of Louisiana. Respondent, Reich Brothers, moved to dismiss on the ground of improper venue under sections 51 and 52 of the Judicial Code which in effect provide that in diversity cases, suit shall be brought only in the district where either …

Bailment-Effect Of Settlement By Bailee As A Bar To Action By Bailor, C. E. Becraft S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, as assignee of conditional vendor, brought an action against defendant for damage done to an automobile sold to one Zinner under a conditional sales agreement. The automobile was damaged through the negligence of the defendant and one Fulbrush, who, acting independently and with no knowledge of the plaintiff's claim, settled with Zinner for the full amount of damage; defendant and Fulbrush paying Zinner $429.55. The plaintiff later repossessed the automobile as Zinner failed to keep up his payments under the conditional sales agreement. Plaintiff sold the automobile in its damaged condition and brought this action for the difference in …

Evidence-Hearsay-Admissibility Of History Statements In Hospital Record Under Business Entries Statute, Ralph E. Hunt

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for injuries allegedly resulting when the door of defendant's bus closed on plaintiff's ankle as he was attempting to board the bus, throwing him to the ground. Defendant offered in evidence, under the Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act, in effect in Delaware, hospital records containing the entry: "Patient states he twisted ankle while walking along the street." The interne who treated plaintiff and qualified the records had no independent recollection of the statement. On appeal from judgment for defendant, held, the record was properly admitted, although no witness could testify of his own memory that he …

Soviet Civil Law: Private Rights And Their Back-Ground Under The Soviet Regime Comparative Survey And Translation Of The Civil Code; Code Of Domestic Relations; Judiciary Act; Code Of Civil Procedure; Laws On Nationality, Corporations, Patents, Copyright, Collective Farms, Labor; And Other Related Laws. Volume 1., Vladimir Gsovski

Michigan Legal Studies Series

For centuries, jurisprudence has been built up and developed in terms of a more or less comparable body of concepts: family, private ownership, individual rights, and the State, the necessity of which was challenged in the original program in the name of which the soviet government assumed the reins of power. What then is the fate under the soviet regime of the legal concepts thus far operative in all civilized societies? This book seeks to offer material for the answer to questions of this nature. The principal aim of the author has been to inquire into the legal protection and …

Optional Terms (Jus Dispositivum) And Required Terms (Jus Cogens) In The Law Of Contracts, Arthur Lenhoff

Michigan Law Review

In speaking of statutory law in the common law courts, lawyers have ascribed to it a limiting office, namely, that of interference with the parties' freedom to act and transact at their pleasure. A closer consideration shows them that the function of statutory law varies not only with the legal system to which it belongs, but also with the structural changes within a single legal system.

Clovis Bevilaqua And The Brazilian Civil Code, Anyda Marchant

Michigan Law Review

Clovis Bevilaqua is a monument in the history of Brazilian law. His death on July 26, 1944, closed the door on an epoch. When he began his career in the eighties, Brazilian law, with the exception of the commercial code, was uncoordinated and outmoded. Now. Brazil is in a period of very active work on the recodification of its laws and their adaptation to the needs of modern life. Not all of this change is the work of one man, but Bevilaqua was the principal lingering representative, among the lawyers, of the intellectual movement that accompanied the setting up of …

Libel And Slander - Mental Suffering Alone As Sustaining Libel Action, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a libel action, the plaintiff proved that the defendant had published a news item in its newspaper falsely imputing to the plaintiff, a Puerto Rican student at Louisiana State University, the authorship of an article written in the student paper deploring the pacifistic attitude of the American youth. The lower court dismissed the plaintiff's bill. Held, the publication by the defendant was not a libel actionable without proof of special damages, and that, while mental suffering alone would constitute special damages, the defendant's publication was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff's suffering. Santana v. Item Co., Ltd. …