Civil Procedure Commons^™

Civil Procedure - Interpleader - Right To Jury Trial, John A. Beach

Michigan Law Review

Decedent brought suit against applicant for personal injuries sustained in a collision but died before judgment. His administrator continued the suit under a statute which allowed survival of the action only if the injuries did not cause death. His widow filed an action under the wrongful death statute, alleging that the injuries from the collision caused death. Applicant sought to have the administrator and the widow interpleaded to adjudicate between themselves the cause of death. On appeal from a judgment dismissing applicant's bill, held, reversed. The interpleader statute authorizes such interpleading to prevent applicant's exposure to double recovery for …

Federal Procedure - Venue - Interpretation Of Section 1404(A) In Cases Arising Under The Federal Employers' Liability Act, Charles G. Williamson, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Three petitioners instituted separate suits in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under the provisions of the Federal Employers' Liability Act, for injuries received in the derailment of a train in South Carolina. The cases were transferred to the Eastern District of South Carolina under the provisions of section 1404 (a), title 28, U.S.C. Because of a court of appeals ruling that orders for transfer were not appealable, petitioners sought mandamus to compel the district judge to set aside his orders for transfer. The court of appeals denied the applications. On certiorari to the United …

Federal Procedure - Jurisdiction - Appeal From Judgment On Some Of Several Multiple Claims Under Rule 54(B), Lawrence N. Ravick S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff filed a complaint in a federal district court alleging in six counts that defendant was engaged in unfair competition against business ventures carried on by the plaintiff. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. The court ordered two counts to be stricken, found that there was no just reason for delaying the final determination of the issues raised by these counts, and directed that judgment be entered thereon against the plaintiff. The plaintiff appealed and the defendant moved to dismiss the appeal on the ground that the order and judgment appealed from was not a final or …

Federal Procedure - Interlocutory Appeals - Appealability Of Stay Of Proceedings Under Section 1292 Of The Judicial Code, Lawrence W. Sperling S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action for an accounting of the profits of a joint adventure. The defendant moved to stay proceedings pending arbitration pursuant to section 3 of the United States Arbitration Act. This motion was denied and defendant appealed the ruling, claiming as justification for the appeal that an interlocutory order denying a stay was a denial of an injunction under section 1292 of the Judicial Code. The court of appeals dismissed the appeal. On certiorari to the Supreme Court, held, affirmed, two justices dissenting. A stay of proceedings in a suit where plaintiff's action is equitable in nature …

Suits Against Unincorporated Associations Under The Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure, John Kaplan

Michigan Law Review

Concepts, Benjamin Cardozo has said, "are useful, indeed indispensable, if kept within their place. We will press them quite a distance. . . . A time comes, however, when the concepts carry us too far, or farther than we are ready to go with them, and behold, some other concept, with capacity to serve our needs is waiting at the gate. 'It is a peculiar virtue of our system of law that the process of inclusion and exclusion, so often employed in developing a rule, is not allowed to end with its enunciation, and that an expression in an opinion …

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 - Jurisdiction - Suit Under Direct Action Statute Where There Is Diversity Of Citizenship Between Claimant And Insurer But Not Between Claimant And Wrongdoer, William R. Jentes

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of Louisiana, was injured in an automobile accident allegedly caused by the negligence of another citizen of Louisiana. Defendant insurance company, an Illinois corporation, had issued a public liability policy insuring the latter against claims arising from the negligent operation of his car. Pursuant to a Louisiana statutory provision that "the injured person or his or her heirs, at their option, shall have a right of direct action . . . against the insurer alone or against both the insured and the insurer, jointly and in solido,'' respondent brought an action against the petitioner alone in the …

Adequacy Of Instructions To The Jury: Ii, Curtis Wright Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The six states in this group present some very special cases. They range from an original colony to Florida and Texas, which were admitted to statehood in 1845. National rank in population varies from sixth (Texas) to twenty-sixth (Mississippi) with the average almost within the top one-third. As to increase of population, the mean is close to the national figure of fifteen percent. That statement needs qualification, however, since Florida increased 46 percent and Texas 20 percent, whereas Mississippi had an actual loss of two percent. No docket delay of more than six months is found anywhere except in Texas, …

Adequacy Of Instructions To The Jury: I, Curtis Wright, Jr

Michigan Law Review

In view of frequent judicial complaints about "instructions by the acre," it may be appropriate to begin with a short justification for an article bearing a title which might appear to suggest an antithetical problem, that is, the existence of a question as to the adequacy of instructions to the jury. To this end one might repeat the assertion that the verdict of a jury which is not instructed as to the fundamental law of the case is "crackerbarrel justice." If this is true, it certainly is also true that the mere number of instructions given is no guarantee of …

Constitutional Law - Legislative Contempt Power-Procedure Against Witness For Conduct Before Commission Composed Of Legislators And Others, Julius B. Poppinga

Michigan Law Review

The Massachusetts General Court, for the purpose of investigating communism and subversive activities within the Commonwealth, established by joint resolution a "special commission" composed of two members of the Senate, three members of the House, and two persons to be appointed by the governor. When the commission summoned Otis A. Hood to appear before it, he refused to be sworn as a witness without first receiving witness fees, and flippantly expressed his demand for payment. The general court requested an advisory opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, propounding three questions: (1) whether the special commission was a committee …

Federal Procedure - Realignment Of Parties In Non-Diversity Case, David D. Dowd, Jr S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff (S1), a surety for the subcontractor, brought an action against the subcontractor and the prime contractor to compel them to set off their respective counterclaims in order to diminish the liability of S1. The subcontractor had another surety (S2) on a different obligation arising out of the same construction job, and the prime contractor, uncertain where liability should be placed, impleaded S2. On S1's motion to vacate the impleader order, held, denied, and the court on its own motion directed realignment of the parties, ruling that the main issue was division of …

Brown: Digest Of Procedural Statutes And Court Rules: Pleading, Joinder, And Judgment Record, John W. Reed

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Digest of Procedural Statutes and Court Rules: Pleading, Joinder, and Judgment Record . By Elizabeth Gaspar Brown

Federal Procedure - Venue In Third-Party Tort Actions Against The United States, Robert B. Olsen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a mail pouch thrown from defendant's moving train by a United States mail clerk. Action was was brought against the railroad in the District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, whereupon the railroad filed a third-party complaint against the United States, alleging negligence on the part of the mail clerk. The United States moved for a dismissal on the ground that both plaintiffs residence and the situs of the injury were in the Eastern District of Oklahoma; since the venue provisions of Title 28, U.S.C. (1952) §1402(b) prescribe that tort …

Review Of Digest Of Procedural Statutes And Court Rules: Pleading, Joinder And Judgment Record, By E. G. Brown, John W. Reed

Reviews

This is no bedside reader. One is, I suppose, adequately warned by the title to expect something less agreeable than a collection of short stories from the New Yorker. Digests are not made to be read seriatim. Lawyers, familiar with case digests, know better than to expect anything very stimulating to develop from an evening spent in random reading of, say, volume 22 (Mayhem to Motions) of the Third Decennial Digest. One is reminded of the man who said that the dictionary would be interesting reading if it didn't change the subject so often. Well, a digest doesn't change it …

Federal Procedure - Venue - Right Of Alien Under Diversity Of Citizenship Clause Of 28 U.S.C. § 1391 (A), Richard M. Adams

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of France and resident of New York City, sought a declaratory judgment and restraining order against several defendants residing in different states. On the theory that a suit involving a citizen of France and citizens of the United States constituted "diversity of citizenship" under 28 U.S.C. § 1391 (a), and therefore could be brought where all of the plaintiffs or all of the defendants resided, the action was laid in the federal district court of New York where the plaintiff resided. Defendant moved for dismissal on the ground that this was "alienage," not "diversity of citizenship" as …

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. …

Hearsay And Conspiracy: A Reexamination Of The Co-Conspirators' Exception To The Hearsay Rule, Joseph H. Levie

Michigan Law Review

The expansion of the law of conspiracy and the increasing number of prosecutions for its violation have been much commented on lately. Many kinds of anti-social conduct directed principally against the public welfare are now frequently punished by prosecution for conspiracy instead of prosecution for the substantive offense. Conspiracy is an ideal way to deal with organized crime and has been used extensively against quasi-treasonous activities. Similarly the Sherman Act's criminal sanctions are primarily couched in terms of conspiracy and the civil conspiracy action for divestiture or dissolution is the usual method of enforcing the antitrust laws. This emphasis on …

Federal Procedure - Counterclaim To A Counterclaim Under The Federal Rules, Elizabeth Gaspar Brown

Michigan Law Review

With one exception the cases decided in the federal courts under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have held that the plaintiff is free to plead a counterclaim in the reply, although in every instance the counterclaim in the reply under consideration was one related to the subject matter of the counterclaim pleaded in the defendant's answer.

Venue-The Need For A Change In The Venue Provisions Of The Federal Employers' Liability Act, S. I. Shuman S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In response to the need created by a highly dangerous era of railroad employment, and subsequent to the passage of similar legislation in Europe, there was enacted in 1906 a Federal Employers' Liability Act. The attempted coverage of the first FELA was too broad to withstand the constitutional scrutiny of a five-to-four Supreme Court, and it consequently remained for the Congress of 1908 to enact valid legislation for the protection of the railroad employee. Whether or not: the FELA is the most efficacious solution to the problem of the injured railroad employee continues to be warmly debated, but for the …

Evidence-Privilege-Right Of Third Person To Assert Privilege As To Accident Report Made Confidential By Statute, Richard W. Young S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought a negligence action for injuries sustained when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with that operated by the defendant. Defendant questioned a police officer, who had filed the accident report, concerning statements made to him by the driver of the vehicle in which the plaintiff was riding. The trial court permitted this testimony over the plaintiff's objection that these statements were privileged under an Iowa statute purporting to make written accident reports confidential and inadmissible in evidence. On appeal after a verdict was returned in favor of the defendant, held, reversed. The statute can …

Federal Procedure-Mandamus-Review Of Federal District Court Order Of Severance And Transfer Pursuant To 28 U.S.C. §1406 (A), Judson M. Werbelow S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner instituted a treble damage suit alleging violation of the antitrust laws in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, naming the insurance commissioner of Georgia, the insurance commissioner of Florida, and four insurance companies residing and doing business in the Southern District of Florida as defendants. The Georgia insurance commissioner, who was personally served in the Northern District of Florida, entered a special appearance to dismiss the action for improper venue. Petitioner contended that the Georgia commissioner was "found or has an agent" in the Southern District of Florida on the theory that co-conspirators are each …

Corporations-Shareholders-Settlement Of Derivative Suits Under The Federal Rules, George S. Flint

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a minority stockholder in the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, objected to the approval by a federal district court of a settlement in a stockholder's derivative action against various directors of the company and several firms in which they were interested. The compromise covered a series of similar suits filed in state and federal courts, involving contracts negotiated by the directors with defendant companies and alleged manipulations through security purchases preceding a projected issue of stock in 1948. The court had approved the compromise under rule 23(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff contended that the settlement was collusive and …

Federal Procedure - Appellate Practice - Duty Of The Court Of Appeals To Grant Rehearings En Banc, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In a suit for accounting, petitioners were denied relief in the district court and a division of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed by a two-to-one vote. Petitioners then applied for a rehearing before the court of appeals en bane. With one dissent, the rehearing was denied by the division, and the request that the rehearing be en bane was stricken as "being without authority in law or in the rules or practice of the court.'' Petitioners moved to vacate the order denying the request for a rehearing en bane on the ground that such a request …

Civil Procedure - Power Of State To Enjoin Its Citizens From Suing In Another State Under The Federal Employers' Liability Act, John S. Slavens S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner was injured in the course of employment with respondent, an interstate railroad, in Ben Hill County, Georgia, the residence of petitioner. Invoking the Federal Employers' Liability Act, petitioner filed suit in Jefferson County, Alabama, where respondent was doing business. Respondent, relying on section 1404(a) of the Judicial Code, initiated an equity action in Ben Hill County, Georgia, to restrain petitioner from continuing his action in Alabama. The trial court sustained a demurrer to respondent's petition. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed, holding that Georgia law gave its courts power to prevent its citizens from bringing vexatious suits. On certiorari from …

Federal Procedure - Venue Of Corporations - Inapplicability Of 28 U.S.C. §1391 (C) To Removal Actions, George B. Berridge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a resident of Florida, brought a libel action in a Florida court against the publisher of Look, an Iowa corporation. Defendant maintained no office in Florida, and sold its magazines to two independent wholesale companies for distribution to . Florida retailers; it was on an agent of one of these wholesalers that process was originally served. However, defendant did employ a "circulation road man," who traveled throughout several states including Florida to check retail outlets for complaints and to see that proper displays were maintained. Defendant removed the action to the Federal District Court for the Southern District …

Civil Procedure - Judgments - Exceptions To The Rule Of Res Judicata, William A. Bain, Jr., S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A land contract provided for a conveyance to Pearson from Adams and his wife. The wife was not a party to the contract and refused to execute the deed. Pearson sought specific performance requesting relief of a type not then available in Illinois and when asked if he would accept a deed from Adams alone, he refused. The action was dismissed. Adams then brought this action in ejectment and Pearson counterclaimed requesting a deed executed by Adams alone. The trial court found that the judgment in the previous action was res judicata as to the counterclaim. On appeal, held, …

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 - 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 …

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.