Contracts Commons^™

Are All Permanent Injunctions Temporary?

Michigan Law Review

Injunctions may be classified with reference to the stage in the cause at which they are granted, viz. at a preliminary bearing, or at a final bearing, and they may be classified with reference to the time for which they are to stand, viz. for a limited period, or in perpetuity. For the first distinction we have a superfluity of terms. "Temporary," "provisional," "interlocutory," "ad interim" "pendente lite" indicate the first class: "permanent," "perpetual," "final," indicate the second class. But unfortunately several of these terms also suggest the character of the injunction with regard to …

Cases On Principal And Agent And Master And Servant Selected From Decisions Of English And American Courts, Edwin C. Goddard

Books

“In the first edition of this work no effort was made to cover the subject of Master and Servant. The exigencies of the law school curriculum, if not the unity of the subjects, seem to require that Principal and Agent and Master and Servant be treated in a single course. Historically the subject of Agency grew out of the much earlier developed subject of Master and Servant. Blackstone did not use the term ‘agent’ in reference to the agency relation, nor does he recognize the subject of Agency apart from that of Master and Servant, and there only in a …

Constitutional Law-Liberty Of Contract-Regulation Of Loaves Of Bread

Michigan Law Review

A Nebraska statute aimed at short weights in loaves of bread, forbade the manufacture or sale of loaves weighing either more or less than specified standard amounts. It applied only to quantities of 25 loaves or more and a "tolerance" of two ounces per pound was allowed in excess of the standard weights, to be measured by taking an average of the whole consignment. The prohibition of excess weights was explained by the Nebraska court as an attempt "to prevent a loaf of one standard from being increased in size until it can readily be sold for a larger standard". …

Contracts--Modern Rules As To Past Consideration Furnished At Request

Michigan Law Review

Very early in the history of contract law it was recognized that goods delivered or services rendered in the past could not furnish valid consideration for a present promise, for there was no quid pro quo, no element of exchange. But the equities in favor of the promisee in such cases, in view of the fact that assumpsit would lie only on an express promise, were frequently so strong that in 1615 we find an exception created. Lampleigh v. Brathwait, Hobart 105, held, that if the past services or goods had been furnished at request, the present promise …

Commercial Instruments, The Law Merchant And Negotiability, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

“Until recently apparently no serious attempt had been to make a comprehensive examination into the origins and history of commercial instruments or to explain the special doctrines attached to negotiability….

“The bill of exchange, it is said, developed as a bit of machinery to give effect to the medieval contract of cambium which was concerned with the special case of the exchange of money for money. With the growth of foreign trade the difficulties and dangers of payments multiplied. Naturally those whose business it was to exchange monies were resorted to in this connection. They, in turn, out of necessities …

Resale Price Fixing From A Different Angle

Michigan Law Review

The proposition that resale price fixing agreements are illegal, while by no means universally accepted, is definitely established in the federal courts as well as in quite a number of the state courts. Whatever we may think of its soundness from an economic viewpoint it will doubtless receive even wider recognition as time goes on. For a collection and discussion of the authorities see 20 MICH. L. REV. 904; 19 MICH. L. REV. 265; 19 A. L. R. 925.

Anticipatory Breach And The Enforcement Of Contractual Duties, Henry Winthrop Ballantine

Michigan Law Review

The doctrine of anticipatory breach, announced in England in 1853 in the leading case of Hochster v. De La, Tour, presents some interesting questions of legal theory. While it has been almost universally accepted by the courts of this country, the principles upon which the doctrine rests have been seriously questioned and the courts have shown an unfortunate bewilderment and hesitation in its extension and application. Professor Williston, probably the leading American authority in the field of contracts, has for many years been a vigorous critic of this doctrine. He goes so far as to assert that the doctrine …

Statutory Regulation Of Railway Equipment Agreements, Kenneth Duncan

Michigan Law Review

Form of Equipment Contracts. A large part of the rolling stock and equipment obtained by railroads in the United States and Canada is financed through the issue of equipment obligations. At the present time, approximately three-quarters of a billion dollars, par value, of these securities are outstanding, and they have come to constitute about six per cent. of the aggregate funded debt of railroads. Yet in spite of their large and growing importance, they are probably not as well understood as other common forms of corporate securities, and it is doubtful if many lawyers are fully cognizant of the …

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Shipping Act Of 1916: The Effect Of Section 15 On The Sherman Anti-Trust Law, Claude A. Thompson

Michigan Law Review

Does the approval of a conference agreement by the Shipping Board under section 15 of the Shipping Act of 1916 legalize an agreement, which, but for such approval, would be in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law?

Deeds--By And To Infants--Effecti Of Disaffirmance

Michigan Law Review

The disaffirmance of a contract made by an infant nullifies it and renders it void ab initio; and the parties are returned to the same condition as if the contract had never been made. Grissom v. Beidleman, 35 Okla. 343. This states the general rule both as to executed and executory contracts, and is particularly applicable to transfers of personal property. WILLISTON, CONTRACTS, § 237; PAGE, CONTRACTS, ed. 2, § 1622. Does this principle apply also to conveyances of real property? Does disaffirmance of a deed by or to an infant ipso facto nullify it and revest the …

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Foreign Marriages And The Conflict Of Laws, Herbert F. Goodrich

Michigan Law Review

It is common these days to speak of marriage as a contract. Not only do we use the term "marriage contract" as meaning a promise to marry in the future, but also to describe the contract or expression of consent by which the parties take each other for husband and wife. The statutes of many of our states declare marriage to be a "civil contract." A moment's thought will show great differences between marriage and the ordinary civil contract. A marriage contract can be contracted only between a man and a woman; it has no validity if one of the …

Fraudulent Bills Of Lading, Merton L. Ferson

Michigan Law Review

Station agents, without receiving goods, have frequently signed bills of lading purporting to bind their company. When a bill of lading thus issued has been transferred to an innocent purchaser for value, the question arises whether such person may recover against the carrier company. The question is obviously one of the .agent's ability to bind his employer.

Workmen's Compensation Acts--Nature Of Action Thereunder A Propos The Extraterritoriality Question

Michigan Law Review

The nature of the right and duty created by Workmen's Compensation Acts has been the subject of considerable discussion by courts and writers, but still defies settlement. The United States district court in Kansas was called upon to decide this question in a recent case involving the application of the Kansas statute of limitations. The court held that an action under the Workmen's Compensation Act was not one entitling the plaintiff to claim the longer period which applied to "an action upon contract, express or implied." Davidson v. Payne, 281 Fed. 544. There is nothing in the nature or …

The Supreme Court's Adjudication Of Constitutional Issues In 1921-1922, Iv, Thomas Reed Powell

Michigan Law Review

That contracts between private parties cannot stand in the way of exercises of the police power for the promotion of health, morals and safety is firmly established. This principle was invoked against objection to rent regulation in decisions of the preceding term, and it is reiterated in Edgar A. Levy Leasing Co. v. Siegel. In one of the cases involved in this decision a tenant was relieved of a contract made after the statute was enacted, and the landlord here encountered the further doctrine that "of course, a lease made subsequent to the enactment of a statute cannot be …

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Privity Of Contract And Tort Liability

Michigan Law Review

Two parties, A and B, make a contract whereby B undertakes to perform certain services for A. He performs his task in a negligent manner, and as a consequence C, a third party, suffers injury. Has C rights against B?

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Archaic Methods Of Validating A Contract-The "Blow And The "Libation"

Michigan Law Review

Sir Henry Maine tells us that at the ·dawn of Roman jurisprudence the term in use for contract was one which is very familiar to students of historical Latinity. "It was nexum, and the parties to the contract were said to be nexi." MAINE, ANCIENT LAW [Ed. 10, by Pollock], 328. Manilius, a Latin antiquarian, describes nexum as omne quad per libram et aes geritur, in quo sint mancipia, "every transaction with the copper and the balance, in which class are mancipia." VARRO, DE L. L. 7, 105. Mancipation was a conveyance, and Maine says that this …

Some Greek Legal Papyri From The Michigan Collection, A Er Boak

Michigan Law Review

The documents which form the subject of this paper are part of the Michigan Collection of Papyri recently acquired by Professor F. W. Kelsey in Egypt and secured for the University by the generosity of the Regents and certain friends and alumni, among the latter Mr. J. W. Anderson, of the Law Class of 189o. A large proportion of these documents are of a legal nature, and from these I have selected for translation four, which may be regarded as typical specimens of their respective classes.

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews, Burke Shartel, Grover C. Grismore, S C. Ho, S M. Ho, Evans Holbrook, Henry M. Bates

Michigan Law Review

History of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851. By Mary Floyd Williams. University of California Publications in History, Volume XII. "Berkeley: The University of California Press. 192I. Pp. xii, 543.

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Assignments- Assignment of an Expectancy - Joseph and James were two of six children. A contract witnessed "that Joseph Snyder has sold to James Snyder one undivided sixth of the real estate owned by the mother, Susan Snyder; to secure said interest to James after her death, the mother unites in the conveyance of said interest The said Joseph warrants and defends the interest from all claims." The contract was signed by Joseph and by the mother. Held, Joseph had no estate which he could convey, and the contract, though made with the consent of the mother, was unenforceable either …

Note And Comment, Edgar N. Durfee, Cyril E. Bailey, Edwin B. Stason, William C. O'Keefe, Clyde Y. Morris

Michigan Law Review

The Basis of Relief from Penalties and Forfeitures - The equitable principle of relief from penalties and forfeitures is so far elementary as almost to defy analysis. Many, perhaps most, of the judicial explanations of the principle have based it upon interpretation or construction, appealing to the doctrine that equity regards intent rather than form. Yet a logical application of this doctrine would lead to results very different from those which have actually been arrived at in the decisions. Thus, a stipulation in a mortgage that the mortgagor waives his equity of redemption can hardly be interpreted as meaning that …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Admiralty - Workmen's Compensation - Is a Hydroplane a Vessel? - Claimant was employed in the care and management of a hydroplane which was moored in navigable waters. The hydroplane began to drag anchor and drift toward the beach, where it was in danger of being wrecked. Claimant waded into the water and was struck by the propeller. Held, claimant is not entitled to compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Law, since a hydroplane while on navigable waters is a vessel, and therefore the jurisdiction of the admiralty excludes that of the State Industrial Commission. Reinhardt v. Newport Flying Service Corp. …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Carriers of Passengers - Duty to Stop at Station to Permit Passenger to Alight-Contributory Negligence of Passenger Plaintiff's intestate was riding in the front end of a crowded vestibule car in the coach next to the tender of the eengine. When the train stopped at his station he tried to leave by the front end, but found the door from the vestibule closed. As he did not know how to open it, or was unwilling to be carried by his station, he stepped from his platform to the bumper of the tender and tried to follow it to the side …

Privity Of Contract And Tort Liability, Herbert F. Goodrich

Articles

Two parties, A and B, make a contract whereby B undertakes to perform certain services for A. He performs his task in a negligent manner, and as a consequence C, a third party, suffers injury. Has C rights against B?

Mutuality In Specific Performance, Edgar N. Durfee

Articles

Prior to the present century, the subject of mutuality in specific performance was an unsolved puzzle. The decisions of the courts were in the main wise, but the attempts both of courts and text writers to formulate a statement of the principle governing these decisions were far from happy. After two centuries of litigation and discussion, the current formula was that the remedy must be mutual, must be equally available to both parties. The worst fault of this formula was its plausibility. Equality is equity, and perfect equality between the parties to a contract is not attained unless remedies are …

Review Of Cases On Contracts, By G. P. Costigan, Ralph W. Aigler

Reviews

Professor Aigler notes that other works on the subject have appeared in the past year, such as a collection of cases on contracts in the American Casebook Series by Professor Corbin and the new edition of Williston's Cases on Contracts. He feels that law teachers may be particularly interested in the notes, which "... are copious, are very interesting, and valuable." His verdict: "How well Professor Costigan's book will work out as the basis of instruction only actual use can tell. A careful examination of the book, however, has satisfied the reviewer that it would be interesting to try it."