Civil Procedure Commons^™

Contempt--Power Of Chancery To Punish, W. H. S.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appeal And Error - Order Granting A New Trial As An Appealable Order, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

By an Ohio statute a final order might be reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal. After verdict was returned plaintiff filed a motion for a new trial claiming misconduct on the part of the jury. The trial court granted the motion and the defendant appealed. Held, the granting of a motion for a new trial is not a final order and, therefore, not subject to review, except in cases where it clearly appears from the record that the trial court has abused its discretion in granting the motion. Petro v. Donner, 137 Ohio St. 168, 28 N. E. …

Federal Courts - Rules Of Federal Procedure - Production Of Designated Documents And Things Under Rule 34, William C. Wetherbee Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for damages and loss of profits caused by the unlawful acts of the defendant beginning in January, 1937. Under rule 34 of the new federal rules the defendant moved that the court order the plaintiff to produce its books showing the company's commercial results for the period prior to January 1, 1936; its duplicate federal income tax returns for the years 1934 to 1938; and all copies of statements furnished to any bank or credit company over a period of some five years. Held, motion granted in regard to books of account and duplicate income tax returns …

Parties - Representative Suits - Is Represented Person A Party?, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner was a member of the class against whom a decree was rendered in a class suit. The petitioner was not named as a party and had no actual notice of the proceedings although notice was published according to court rules. After the time for appeal had expired, petitioner filed a petition to reopen the decree, under the terms of a statute which gave this right to any defendant against whom a court had rendered a decree without personal service. The petition was dismissed and the petitioner appealed. Held, order affirmed because the petitioner was not a party …

Appeal And Error - Harmless And Prejudicial Error, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In the trial of defendant for embezzlement, the prosecutor's opening address to the jury included a hearsay statement, regarding a tacit admission by defendant, tending to establish his guilt. Subsequently in the trial such hearsay statement was not allowed in evidence and the defendant now claims on appeal from conviction that the opening statement was prejudicial and thus he is entitled to a new trial. Held, that the statute governing reversals by an appellate court for prejudicial errors did not apply; and that a new trial follows as a matter of course because of a deprivation of the constitutional …

Practice And Procedure - General Verdict On Several Counts - Is New Trial Necessary When One Of Two Counts Is Unsupported By Evidence?, Edmund R. Blaske

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued defendant to recover damages arising from personal injuries claimed to have been suffered by him while in the employ of defendant, who was not under the workmen's compensation statute. In the first count of his declaration plaintiff claimed that defendant did not furnish him a safe place in which to work, and in the second count that defendant set him at work on dangerous materials. The jury returned a verdict of "guilty on both counts" and assessed "total damages" at $998.71. The trial court, on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, ruled that as a matter of …

Federal Courts - Substance And Procedure - Effect Of Erie Railroad V. Tompkins And Rule 8 (C) Of The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure Upon Burden Of Proof Of Contributory Negligence, John H. Uhl

Michigan Law Review

The case of Erie Railroad v. Tompkins has wrought a great change in the relationship between the state and federal courts. Prior to its decision, the federal courts under the rule of Swift v. Tyson did not have to apply the state non-statutory law. They could apply their own notions as to what the law was in matters of general law relating to substance. The Conformity Act compelled the federal courts to follow the practice, pleading, and forms and modes of proceeding in like causes in the courts of the state within which the federal district courts were held. In …

Rules For Civil Procedure In The United States District Courts: Appellate Procedure, Burke G. Slaymaker

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rules For Civil Procedure In The United States District Courts: Pre-Trial Procedure, Albert H. Cole

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rules For Civil Procedure In The United States District Courts: Trial Procedure, Arthur L. Gilliom

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Jurors - Disqualification For Relationship To Parties - Who Are Parties, James H. Kilbourne

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was convicted of grand larceny. His motion for a new trial on the ground that one of the jurors was disqualified for implied bias because she was the mother of a deputy prosecuting attorney of the county was denied. Defendant appealed. Held, there was no error in denying the motion, for the juror was not disqualified. State v. Peterson, 190 Wash. 668, 70 P. (2d) 306 (1937).

The New Federal Rules And Indiana Procedure (Part Ii), Bernard C. Gavit

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Mind Of The Juror, Stephen Ailes

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Equity - Contempt - Duration Of Imprisonment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a trustee, refused to comply with a court order to turn over certain property to a receiver appointed by the court. She also refused to answer proper questions in a proceeding before a master. She was committed for contempt on January 5, 1934, to be held in jail till she complied with the court order and answered the questions. Her petition for release in July, 1937, was denied. Held, petition properly denied. Tegtmeyer v. Tegtmeyer, (Ill. App. 1937) 11 N. E. (2d) 657.

Jury - False Or Misleading Answers On Voir Dire As Grounds For A New Trial, James H. Kilbourne

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, a striking employee, was convicted of breach of the peace arising out of an assault on non-striking employees. Immediately preceding his trial the jurors had been interrogated on voir dire in a similar case. Counsel for defendant stated he would rely in part on that examination. In it the jurors had been asked whether they had either friends or relatives working at the strike-bound plant. Juror A failed to disclose that his brother was a non-striking employee, though he admitted his niece was. Juror B failed to disclose that a friend who had previously lived with him for a …

Federal Courts - Procedure For Determining Jurisdiction Ab Facto - Burden Of Pleading And Proof, Richard B. Maxwell

Michigan Law Review

Since the beginning of our government it has been recognized that the federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. At an early date it was decided that because of this the plaintiff must state in his complaint the facts upon which the jurisdiction depended. The reason given in support of this rule, which is still the unquestioned law, is that there is no presumption of jurisdiction in courts which have only limited jurisdiction, but it is presumed not to exist unless its existence be shown upon the record. When the plaintiff sustained his burden of pleading the jurisdictional facts, his …

Judgments - Default Judgments Rendered Without Jurisdiction - Validating Effect Of A Subsequent General Appearance, Richard B. Maxwell

Michigan Law Review

The effect of a general appearance by the defendant following a default judgment rendered without jurisdiction over the person of the defendant has been again raised by the recent Wisconsin case of Schwantz v. Morris. In this case the original judgment was invalid for lack of jurisdiction over the defendants, but the Supreme Court of Wisconsin held, that by joining non-jurisdictional grounds with jurisdictional grounds in a motion to set the judgment aside, the defendants had waived any defects in or objections to the jurisdiction of the court and that this waiver related back to the time of the …

The Doctrine Of Stare Decisis In British Courts Of Last Resort, John A. Fairlie

Michigan Law Review

The House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council are both British courts of last resort. The House of Lords is the final court for the United Kingdom and reviews cases from the English Court of Appeals and equivalent courts of Scotland and Northern Ireland; the Judicial Committee hears appeals of cases from the colonies and dominions and ecclesiastical cases.

Readers of Professor Gray's lectures on The Nature and Sources of the Law are aware of the distinction he notes between the attitude of the British House of Lords, on the one hand, and the Judicial Committee …

Appeal And Error-Appealable Interest Of Bidder At Judicial Sale, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The receiver of a bank effected a compromise settlement with the maker of a second mortgage note of $2100, agreeing to sell him the note for $500. Notice of hearing to confirm this sale was published. Prior to the confirmation, appellant, who was the holder of the first mortgage, offered to pay the receiver $600 for the note. The court confirmed the sale to the maker over appellant's objection made at the hearing. Held, that the appellant was not an aggrieved party and had no appealable interest. Dean v. Clapp, (Iowa 1936) 268 N. W. 56.

The Problem Of Jury Instructions, Haymond Maxwell

West Virginia Law Review

The question of instructions to juries is a perennial problem with practitioners and judges. Having in mind the seriousness of this subject, the Judicial Council of West Virginia, some months ago, formulated a program for thorough investigation and consideration of the instructions enigma. In response to the council's request that it render assistance in the matter, the faculty of the College of Law of West Virginia University caused to be made a synopsis of all the state statutes dealing with instructions. Only a few of the states have no such statutes. Virginia is among that small number. Though I am …

Jury-Voir Dire-Actions For Negligence-Asking As To Interest In An Insurance Company, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

During the trial for injuries received in an automobile collision the plaintiff's attorney asked each prospective juror as to whether or not he owned stock in a named insurance company, or held a policy with it, or was an agent for it, and other questions as to whether or not the interest of an insurance company in the action would affect his decisions in the case. The company was not in fact a party to the action. The defendant assigned as error that such questions caused the jury to believe that the defendant carried insurance against loss from damages such …

Rules Of Practice In The Trial Courts Of Record Of West Virginia

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Practice-Counterclaim By Lntervenors

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued Freeman Company for infringing a patent by selling a certain patented device. The manufacturer of the device, and vendor of Freeman Company, obtained leave to intervene as a defendant under federal equity rule 37, and thereupon filed a counterclaim against the plaintiff for alleged infringement of other patents, claiming the right to do so as a "defendant" under federal equity rule 30. The plaintiff moved to dismiss the counterclaim. The motion was granted by the district court and affirmed on appeal by the circuit court. On certiorari the United States Supreme Court held that "defendant" under equity rule …

Constitutional Law - Power Of State Legislature To Provide For Jury Trial In Proceedings For Contempt Of Court

Michigan Law Review

The defendants, an independent union, and members thereof, were cited for contempt before a court of common pleas for the violation of an in junction restraining them from interfering with the operation of the plaintiff's mines. The alleged contumacious acts took place some ten miles from the court house and consisted of gathering about automobiles containing employees of the plaintiff company, throwing stones at them, breaking windows of the cars, and injuring some of the occupants. The contempt proceedings arose on petition of the company and were before the same judge who granted the injunction. The defendants claimed that under …

Practice And Procedure-Seventh Amendment-Power Of Federal Court To Increase Inadequate Verdict

Michigan Law Review

A jury in a federal court awarded the plaintiff $500 in a personal injury action; he moved for a new trial on the ground of inadequate damages. Having obtained consent of defendant to entry of judgment for $1500, the trial judge denied the motion. Plaintiff appealed. Held, this procedure was a violation of the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution; a new trial must be granted. Dimick v. Schiedt, (U. S. 1935) 55 Sup. Ct. 296.

Verdict--Juror's Assent--What Constitutes, Paul D. Farr

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Practice And Procedure - Power Of The Court To Increase Inadequate Verdict

Michigan Law Review

With the development of the remittitur in the case of excessive verdicts, one would naturally expect the development of an analogous device for cases wherein the verdicts are inadequate. When the plaintiff moves for a new trial because of an inadequate verdict, a denial of the motion on the condition that the defendant agree to a certain increase in the verdict is perfectly analogous to the remittitur in form. But this device has not received the same wide acceptance as its counterpart. In cases in which the plaintiff has appealed this device has been condemned, while it has been approved …

New Rules Of The Supreme Court, Bernard C. Gavit

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Federal Practice -Appeal And Error - Review Of Denial Of Motion For New Trial

Michigan Law Review

The federal appellate courts have, in a great many decisions, refused to review the denial of a motion for a new trial made in a lower federal court. The very recent case of Fairmount Glass Works v. Cub Fork Coal Co. once again presents the problem, and Justice Brandeis, writing the majority opinion, follows the prior holdings. In this very excellent opinion the learned Justice presents the reasons for the result generally reached, and enumerates some of the exceptions in a manner which should tend to clarify much of the doubt which has existed in this field of appellate jurisdiction.

Federal Practice - Appeal And Error - Necessity For Findings Of Fact And Conclusions Of Law In Interlocutory Proceedings

Michigan Law Review

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin issued a temporary order reducing telephone rates, setting forth its reasons and the facts in an elaborate opinion. A temporary restraining order was issued by a federal district court, which was followed by an application for an interlocutory injunction. A hearing on this application was held before three judges who granted an injunction on the same day upon the giving of a bond. Meanwhile the temporary restraining order continued in force. No opinion was rendered other than a general statement in the decree that the Commission's order "would result in the confiscation of the …