Commercial Law Commons^™

Contracts - Statute Of Frauds - Effect On Oral Exclusive Distributorship Agreement For Indefinite Duration, Robert Segar

Michigan Law Review

In 1935 plaintiff brewery made an oral agreement of no definite duration by which defendant and his father, as partners, were given the exclusive right to distribute its beer. Defendant, changing from one partnership to another, complied with various wishes of the plaintiff such as furnishing warehousing, purchasing uniform amounts of beer throughout the year although seasonal demands varied, dissolving the second partnership in 1950, discontinuing distribution of a rival beer in 1954, and hiring a sales promotion man in June 1954; the latter three actions taken on plaintiff's assurance that he would continue defendant's distributorship. In July 1954 plaintiff, …

Sales - Credit Sales - Application Of Usury Statute, Jerome S. Traum S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff bought a tractor from defendant's agent for $2950 and received a trade-in allowance of $1180, leaving an unpaid balance of $1770. Defendant's agent agreed to arrange for a loan from defendant for the balance of the purchase price, without stating a time price for the tractor different from the cash price previously discussed. The loan was made, and plaintiff signed a note and chattel mortgage in the amount of $2161.84, payable in two annual installments. The $391.84 excess over the balance due exceeded the maximum legal rate of interest allowed by Nebraska's Installment Loan Act. Plaintiff later sued in …

Recent Decisions, Various Editors

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Contracts -- 1957 Tennessee Survey, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Breach of contract to publish advertisement--certainty of lost anticipated profits--nominal damages: The rule of "certainty" with respect to awarding damages for a breach of contract is simply a standard requiring a reasonable degree of persuasiveness in the proof of the fact of damage and of the amount of damage.' Through the use of the standard of certainty, the court is enabled to insist that the jury must have factual data--something more than guesswork--to guide themin fixing the award. Loss of commercial profits, claimed as damages for breach of contract, has become the principal field for the application of the standard …

Preparation And Presentation Of An Arbitration Case, Joseph S. Murphy

Vanderbilt Law Review

This article deals primarily with the preparation and presentation of a case in labor arbitration. However, much of what is said here is equally applicable to the preparation and presentation of a commercial case. It is clear that the comments with regard to documents, witnesses, orderly presentation, and the like are basically the same whether one is arguing that a construction contract has been breached and that the fault lies with the contractor who was guilty of delayed construction, or whether one is defending against a charge of vio- lation of an overtime clause dealing with equal distribution. In each …

Contract Formalities And The Uniform Commercial Code, Francis E. Holahan

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Sales - Contributory Negligence - Use As A Defense In Action For Breach Of Implied Warranty, Thomas S. Erickson

Michigan Law Review

Defendant installed an oil burner in plaintiff's apartment building. The burner failed to function properly and exploded two months after installation. There was no evidence that the furnace was repaired subsequent to the explosion. Plaintiff continued to use the furnace for four years until a second explosion caused considerable damage to the building. Upon inspection, the cause of the explosions was found to be a defective system of heating and piping the oil. Plaintiff brought this action for breach of implied warranty to install the furnace in a good and workmanlike manner and recovered consequential damages. On appeal, held, …

Restitution-Unjust Enrichment-Right Of Defaulting Purchaser To Recover Part Payment, Theodore J. St. Antoine S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff made a prepayment of $59,946.67, or twenty-five percent, on twenty printing presses which it was purchasing for shipment to Russia. Before their delivery a federal regulation was promulgated under which plaintiff was denied an export license. Plaintiff therefore rejected tender of the presses, and defendant vendor sold them to a third party for $18,765 more than the contract price to plaintiff. Plaintiff sued to recover its down payment and the profit resulting from defendant's resale. On appeal from a judgment for defendant, held, reversed and remanded. A defaulting purchaser is entitled to restitution of its payments in excess …

Regulation Of Business - Fair Trade Laws - Application Of The Mcguire Act To Mail Order Sales Emanating In A Non-Fair Trade Jurisdiction, Lawrence W. Sperling S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's store was located in the District of Columbia, a jurisdiction which does not have a statute permitting resale price maintenance. The defendant sent advertising and made mail order sales of plaintiff's product to consumers in Maryland, at prices below the resale price established by the plaintiff in accordance with the Maryland Fair Trade Act. Plaintiff sued to enjoin such advertising and sales on the ground that they were violations of the Maryland statute. On defendant's motion to dismiss, held, overruled without prejudice. On the main point in issue, however, the court ruled that neither the Maryland Fair Trade …

Sales - Conditional Sales - Punitive Damages For Forcible Repossession Of Chattel, William G. Cloon, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff purchased a truck under a conditional sales contract which was assigned to the defendant finance company. He drove the truck to the place of business of the defendant to adjust differences between the two parties, but when he attempted to leave after no agreement had been reached, he discovered that the keys had been removed from the truck. When informed that the truck had been repossessed, the plaintiff produced another set of keys but was unable to leave with the truck. The testimony of the plaintiff that an agent of the defendant seized his hand to prevent the unlocking …

The Use Of Parol Evidence In Cases Involving Written Instruments, William Burnett Harvey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Statute Of Frauds-Right Of Vendor To Collect On Check Given As Down Payment On Oral Sale Contract Repudiated By Vendee [Sturgis V. Meadors, Ark. 1954].

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Suretyship-Right Of Surety Of Bank Against Loss From Forgery To Recover On Subrogation Theory Against Depository Bank Guaranteeing Forged Indorsements On Checks [Standard Accident Ins. Co. V. Peliecchia, N. J. 1954]

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Escrow Instructions To The First National Bank Of Nevada Regarding The Transfer Of Las Vegas Water Production From The Union Pacific Railroad To The Las Vegas Valley Water District, June 21, 1954, First National Bank Of Nevada, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Company, Las Vegas Valley Water District, Las Vegas Land And Water Company (Las Vegas, Nev.), Union Pacific Railroad Company

Publications (WR)

Escrow instructions for the transfer of Las Vegas water production from the Union Pacific Railroad to the Las Vegas Valley Water District. Contract between the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Las Vegas Land and Water Company.

Agency - Apparent Authority Of Sales Agent, William D. Keeler

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's agent, a consignee of automobiles for sale, received from plaintiff a used truck, and agreed to apply the proceeds from the sale of the truck to the purchase price of a new automobile, to be sold and delivered to plaintiff when available. Defendant's agent sold the truck and absconded with the proceeds from such sale. Plaintiff sued for the value of the truck, and the lower court rendered judgment in his favor. On appeal, held, affirmed. The acts of the agent bound the defendant, although the agency contract gave only express authority to sell new automobiles. Correa v. …

U.C.C. Contributions Toward The Adoption Of A Contractual Concept Of Warranties

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Personal Liability Of Corporate Officers For Ultra Vires Contracts, J. F. Dirisio

Vanderbilt Law Review

A director or other officer of a corporation, when contracting on its behalf, acts as its agent and the laws of agency are generally applicable. This note presents those problems, apparently unique to corporation law, in the liability of an agent who, with authority, contracts for a principal who has no authority.' Of no concern here are those instances where, either because of ratification or estoppel, the corporation itself is liable, since if the principal is bound the other party has no ground of complaint against the agent.

An officer of a corporation, contracting in excess of or without authority …

Book Reviews, George H. Pickar, Edward L. Barrett Jr., Rudolph Heitz, Charles E. Corker, Warren M. Ballard, W. F. Zacharias, Stefan A. Riesenfeld, Julius Cohen, Charles A. Reynard, Robert Kingsley, Jacob D. Hyman, James Lake, Arthur W. Stokes, Francis A. Allen, Paul A. Freund, Richard W. Jennings, Joseph E. Goodbar, Kenneth Redden, James A. Rahl, Charles L. B. Lowndes

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Contract: Requirement Contracts And The Doctrine Of Mutuality-Proposed Approach Of The Uniform Commercial Code

Indiana Law Journal

Recent Cases

The Conflict Of Laws: A Comparative Study. Volume Three. Special Obligations: Modification And Discharge Of Obligations, Ernst Rabel

Michigan Legal Studies Series

Among the multitude of conflicts principles that, according to various claims, should determine the law applicable to all contracts, only two have resisted the test of critical analysis. These, indeed, form an adequate groundwork. First, the freedom of parties to choose the law applicable to their contract must be recognized as a general rule without petty restraint. Second, in the absence of such agreement, a contract should be governed by the law most closely connected with its characteristic feature.

The first proposition is essential to the second. To deny party autonomy means rigid conflicts rules created by some superior authority. …

Contracts-Duty To Mitigate Damages Upon Anticipatory Breach Of Forward Contract Of Sale, William F. Snyder

Michigan Law Review

The theory of our law in regard to damages for breach of contract has been to give the innocent party as nearly as possible what he would have received had the contract been performed. To this end, our courts have worked out a rough formula which has been described by Professor Grismore as follows:

" ... The promisee is, in general, entitled to recover the economic equivalent of the performance promised, at the time and place fixed in the contract, plus any losses incurred or gains prevented through not receiving it, less any savings that have resulted to the promisee …

Contracts, Sales And Assignments

Indiana Law Journal

Indiana Legislation, 1947

Contracts, Sales, Insurance, Henry B. Witham

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Negotiable Instruments, 1940-1945, James M. Ogden

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Meaning Of "Profits"

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Contracts

Contracts-Doctrine Of "Commercial Frustration" As Applied To Leases Of Real Property, Margaret Groefsema S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A mushroom crop of litigation has sprung up as a result of wartime governmental restrictions on production and consumption of civilian goods, particularly with respect to regulations of the sale of gasoline, tires, automobiles, and automobile accessories. Numerous problems have confronted the courts involving leases of property for the purpose of selling or servicing motor vehicles, where the lessee has sought to be released from his covenant to pay rent by invoking the so-called doctrine of "commercial frustration."

Agreements To Repurchase

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Contracts

United States - Contracts - Effect, When Tax Is Declared Unconstitutional, Of Provisions For Increase Or Decrease Of Purchase Price For Taxes "Imposed" Or "Changed", Wilbur Jacobs

Michigan Law Review

Between May 1935 and January 1936 the federal government purchased flour from respondent through contracts which contained a so-called "up and down" tax clause. The basic price charged included the A.A.A. processing taxes. During this same period respondent obtained an injunction against the collection of said processing taxes and, as a result of the decision of the Supreme Court in United States v. Butler, was relieved of liability for the tax. In a later suit brought by respondent in the Court of Claims to recover on other contracts, the government claimed a setoff for the amount of these taxes. …

Contracts - Sales - Effect Of Reasonable Belief In Buyer's Insolvency On Seller's Duty To Perform, W. Wallace Kent

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff ordered goods from the defendant, for immediate delivery, terms $1,500 down, balance covered by notes of three and six months. The check given for the down payment was dishonored because of insufficient funds but was subsequently honored. On investigation the defendant discovered that there were unpaid judgments outstanding against the plaintiff, some of which were upwards of three years old. Inferring that the plaintiff was insolvent, the defendant refused to deliver the goods unless cash was paid therefor and when plaintiff refused this offer defendant attempted to return the down payment. Held, plaintiff's affairs were in such …

Vendor And Purchaser-Vendor's Release Of Sub-Assignee Held A Discharge Of All Prior Assignees, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

The bank for which plaintiff is receiver sold land on contract. There followed four successive assignments of the vendee's interest, in each of which the assignee expressly assumed the contract obligation. After the fourth assignment, default occurred as to payments and taxes, and plaintiff began negotiations to sell the property to an intermediate assignee, R. To effectuate this sale, plaintiff procured an assignment in blank from the fourth assignee, W, in consideration of a release of W from further liability on the contract. The negotiations with R having failed, plaintiff brought suit against the vendee and all the …