Common Law Commons^™

Comparative Law In Action: Promissory Estoppel, The Civil Law, And The Mixed Jurisdiction, David Snyder

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

In The Tribunal Of Conscience: Mills V. Wyman Reconsidered, Geoffrey R. Watson

Scholarly Articles

In this Article, Professor Watson explores the historical record surrounding Mills v. Wyman, 20 Mass (3 Pick) 207 (1825), one of the leading American cases on moral obligation in contract law. In Mills, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court refused to enforce a father's promise to compensate a Good Samaritan who had cared for the father's dying son. Professor Watson combs the historical evidence--court records, census reports, genealogical data, probate records, military rolls, and so on-and argues that the Mills court got both the facts and the law wrong. According to Professor Watson, the father did not make the promise in …

The Duration Of Copyright And The Limits Of Cultural Policy, J. H. Reichman

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Job Security: Protecting At-Will Employees With Good Cause Legislation, Mayumi Yokoyama

LLM Theses and Essays

Recent decades have witnessed significant developments in employment termination law in the United States. In particular, the long-standing “at-will” doctrine, under which employers can fire employees for good, bad, or no reason at all, has experienced great erosion and wide variations in law from state to state. There has been a movement of statutory and common law restrictions limiting an employer’s freedom to terminate at will, which reflects the increasing consciousness of job security by society and workers. This paper analyzes the problem of job security by tracing the origin of the at-will doctrine to 19th century principles favoring economic …

Professor Weinrib's Coherence, Alan Brudner

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Warranty Of Quality In Sale Of Goods Under The Perspective Of The American And French Law, Renaud Baguenault De Puchesse

LLM Theses and Essays

While the United States’ common law system is characterized by diversity due to each state having its own set of rules, in certain areas there are nationwide legislative attempts of unification and standardization. One such attempt is the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code which governs the sale of goods law in the United States. The French civil law system generally differs greatly from the American system in that it is primarily based upon statutes and codes. However, the American Uniform Commercial Code and the French Civil Code provide tangible, comparable bases to assess similarities and differences between American and …

Common Mistake In English Law: The Proposed Merger Of Common Law And Equity, Andrew B.L. Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Although the law relating to common mistake’ has engendered a plethora of conundrums, many problem areas have in fact been well-traversed in the literature.‘ The present article does not seek to re-cover such welltrodden ground, but attempts, instead, to suggest a different and more systematic approach that would effect a merger of the common law and equitable3 branches of common mistake into one coherent, doctrine.

Book Review Of Passion: An Essay On Personality , Richard F. Devlin Frsc

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Passion is a cogently structured, compel Jingly argued and seductively enthralling masterpiece which, in years to come, will undoubtedly stand out as an inspirational source for many who seek social transformation. Unger's style, in this essay at least, is lucid and inviting. Substantively, Passion demonstrates not only the depth of his penetrating intellect but also his command of an array of' disciplines. Unger's polymathy is all the more impressive when we remember that ours is an era in which idiosyncratic specialization is the norm.

Marriage: The Status Of Contract, An Essay On Weitzman's The Marriage Contract, Marsha Garrison

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Commercial Hardship And The Discharge Of Contractual Obligations Under American And British Law, John J. Gorman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

There are several doctrines under which contractual obligations have been judicially discharged. This Note will examine the United States doctrine of commercial impracticability or commercial impossibility and the English doctrine of frustration of contract or frustration of the commercial objective. The focus of this Note therefore is on those situations in which discharge from contractual obligations is sought because of supervening economic hardship. Part II provides a brief historical account of the development of the English common law doctrine of impossibility. Part III traces the development of the United States concept of commercial impossibility and commercial impracticability from the early …

Authority For Sale And Privity Of Contract: The Proprietary Basis Of The Right To The Proceeds Of Sale In The Common Law, Benjamin Geva

Articles & Book Chapters

Upon an authorized sale of goods, the owner's ability to recover the price from the buyer can be explained either by his property in the goods or by a contractual relationship. This article deals with the right to recover the price in the context of an historical and theoretical analysis of the right to the proceeds of a sale at common law. It is suggested that property is the basis of this right, rather than a contractual nexus. Part I presents the sale of goods by an agent of an undisclosed principal as a model situation in which the right …

Book Review. Transcending Covenant And Debt, Morris S. Arnold

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Landlord And Tenant - Pennsylvania'a Distress And Distraint Law - Landlord's Distress Procedure Is Per Se Unconstitutional As Violative Of Due Process Of Law, Richard L. Reppert

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Moral Obligation As Consideration In Contracts, W. Jack Grosse

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Reformation And The Parol Evidence Rule, George E. Palmer

Michigan Law Review

The parol evidence rule of itself is never an obstacle to reformation, provided there is satisfactory evidence of a mistake in integration. If the parties intend to express the terms of a transaction in a writing, which is then to be looked to as the sole repository of those terms, the longstanding tradition of the law courts, described as the parol evidence rule, has been that the writing is controlling. If through mistake the writing failed to express correctly what the parties meant to express, the law courts still regarded the written word as decisive, but it has been recognized …

Commercial Law--A Farmer Is Not A "Merchant" Under The Uniform Commercial Code--Cook Grains, Inc. V. Fallis, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff grain company allegedly entered into an oral contract to purchase 5,000 bushels of soybeans from the defendant farmer. The grain company signed a written integration of the alleged oral agreement and mailed it to the farmer, with a request for his signature. The farmer neither signed the document nor attempted to communicate with the grain company and later refused to deliver the soybeans pursuant to the terms of the plaintiff's memorandum. In an action for breach of contract, the grain company contended that the farmer was precluded from relying on the statute of frauds, as incorporated in the Uniform …

Once Around The Flag Pole: Construction Bidding And Contracts At Formation, Lawrence Lederman

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Formalities Essential To A Valid Marriage In Indiana

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Law Of The Collective Agreement, Charles O. Gregory

Michigan Law Review

The Wagner Act contained no law governing collective agreements. Congress left their enforcement to the state and federal courts under the miserable body of common-law rules. Under various theories the courts worried about consideration, mutuality of obligation, duress and public policy aspects as if they were dealing with conventional contracts.

Common Law Marriage-A Legal Anachronism

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Lawson: A Common Lawyer Looks At The Civil Law, F. S. C. Northrop

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Common Lawyer Looks at the Civil Law. By F. H. Lawson.

Personal Property-Liens-Artisan's Lien On Unimproved Goods For Improved Goods Delivered Under A Single Contract, Warren K. Urbom S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Pursuant to a contract a partnership delivered to defendant a carload of paper upon which defendant had agreed to print certain forms in accordance with instructions to be given by the partnership. Thereafter a corporation succeeded to the assets and assumed the liabilities of the partnership and gave to the defendant instructions for a desired printing. A portion of the paper was printed and delivered to the corporation, the remaining unprinted paper being held by the defendant under a claim of a statutory lien for the printing actually completed. Plaintiff, assignee of the trustee in bankruptcy of the corporation, sued …

Real Property-Landlord And Tenant-Transfer By Lessee As Sublease, Not Assignment, John S. Slavens

Michigan Law Review

X leased lands to plaintiff for a term of years, with a provision that if property truces were assessed against the property in excess of a certain amount, plaintiff would pay X a certain proportion of the excess amount as additional rent. Plaintiff then transferred his remaining term to defendant "subject to the terms" of the overlying lease. In addition, the sublease provided for a right to cancel the sublease if defendant failed to restore in case of fire or in the event of taking by eminent domain. Subsequent to the sublease, the tax assessments exceeded the amount stipulated in …

Contracts-Illegality-Effect Of Violation Of Assumed Name Statute, Gordon I. Ginsberg

Michigan Law Review

ln response to a subpoena, petitioner appeared as a witness before a United States district court grand jury. Several questions concerning· her knowledge and association with the Communist Party were put to her. In each case, she refused to answer the questions, claiming the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination. For refusal to answer these same questions when brought before the district court, petitioner was adjudged to be in contempt of court. The court of appeals affirmed the holdings, and certiorari was granted by the Supreme Court. Held, judgment reversed. The Smith Act makes it unlawful to advocate knowingly the desirability …

Insurance-Loan Contract Which Provides For Cancellation Of Debt In Event Of Named Contingencies As An Insurance Contract, Wendell B. Will

Michigan Law Review

In consideration of plaintiff's promise to pay $720 to defendant in twelve monthly installments, defendant promised to advance $600. Plaintiff's obligation was to be cancelled in case of his death, and his obligation to pay installments was to be suspended while plaintiff was disabled because of illness or accident. Plaintiff warranted his good health and agreed that the contract was neither usurious nor one of insurance. The contract having been executed, plaintiff sought recovery under the Texas usury statute. The trial court held that of the $120 paid in excess of the loan, $60 was for maximum legal interest, $12 …

Bases For Master's Liability And For Principal's Liability To Third Persons, Merton Ferson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The law with regard to principal and agent grew up as part and parcel of the law of contracts. The law with regard to master and servant grew up as part and parcel of the law of torts. Each one takes its origin far back in the history of the common law.

Agents were used in an early day to effect livery of seisin, to create covenants, and to carry on commercial transactions. The terms "principal" and "agent" may be of modern origin. But the power of one person to bind another in legal transactions was familiar in the days …

Contracts-Effect Of Supervening Temporary Impossibility, Robert H. Frick S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff, a Japanese-owned corporation located in the United States, was operating under a limited license to do business granted under an executive order. On November 1, 1941, the plaintiff contracted to purchase from the defendant corporation 6,000 pockets of rice for delivery during November and December 1941 at the plaintiff's option. On December 7, 1941, the Secretary of the Treasury revoked all licenses issued under the executive order and the plaintiff's place of business was closed. Upon learning of this, the defendant corporation notified the plaintiff of his (defendant's) repudiation of the contract on December 9, 1941. On December …

Landlord And Tenant-Interpretation Of Clause In A Lease Providing For Termination In Event Of Destruction Of Premises, Alan C. Boyd

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff leased property from the defendant for a term of years. The lease provided that the lessor should repair damage from fire and that "the tenancy shall not be terminated unless such repairs shall require more than ninety days." A fire occurred which damaged the property so badly that it could not be repaired within ninety days. The lessor took the position that the tenancy had automatically terminated with the occurrence of the fire. The lessee filed a bill for a declaratory judgment, claiming that under the terms of the lease he had the option either to terminate or …

Contracts: Application Of Usage Where Contrary To The Common Law, Delbert L. Mclaughlin

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Restitution: 1940-1947, Edward S. Thurston

Michigan Law Review

For some lawyers, perhaps, the term "Restitution," as a title in the classification of our law, sprang Athena-like from the head of the American Law Institute, when, in 1937, it published The Restatement of the Law of Restitution. Yet the subject matter included under this title is far from new; it is simply a grouping together of the common law Quasi Contract--the "contract implied in law" of an earlier day--and the corresponding right to equitable relief to prevent an unjust enrichment. Although the name may be unfamiliar its importance is indicated by the following statement by Lord Wright.