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Michigan Law Review

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Articles 151 - 180 of 846

Full-Text Articles in Contracts

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Proceeds From Cancellation Of Contract Treated As Ordinary Income, Jerome B. Libin S.Ed. Jun 1958

Taxation - Federal Income Tax - Proceeds From Cancellation Of Contract Treated As Ordinary Income, Jerome B. Libin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Taxpayer had the exclusive right for a period of ten years to purchase all the coal mined by the operator of certain mines. In 1949 the operator paid taxpayer $500,000 as consideration for the complete acquisition of taxpayer's right and interest in the purchase agreement. Taxpayer reported this sum as a long-term capital gain. The Commissioner claimed that the amount received was ordinary income. The Tax Court upheld taxpayer's contention, indicating that the transaction had resulted in the sale or exchange of a capital asset. On appeal by the Commissioner, held, reversed, one justice dissenting. This transaction was more …

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Bills And Notes - Indorsements - Effect Of Contemporaneous Agreement On The Indorsement Contract, W. Stanley Walch May 1958

Bills And Notes - Indorsements - Effect Of Contemporaneous Agreement On The Indorsement Contract, W. Stanley Walch

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, payee of a promissory note, indorsed and negotiated the note to the defendant bank. Attached to the note was a separate agreement of assignment and warranty in which the plaintiff assigned the note and a conditional sales contract to defendant, and further agreed to repurchase the note if any of the warranties in the contemporaneous agreement were breached. The maker of the note defaulted and defendant, after due presentment and notice, debited plaintiff's account for the face amount of the note. Plaintiff brought suit to recover the money from defendant on the theory that the contemporaneous agreement had qualified …

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Municipal Corporations - Contracts - Ratification And Estoppel In Contracts Made By Unauthorized Agent, Edward M. Heppenstall Apr 1958

Municipal Corporations - Contracts - Ratification And Estoppel In Contracts Made By Unauthorized Agent, Edward M. Heppenstall

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's infant daughter, admitted to Newark City Hospital as an emergency case, received hospitalization and medical treatment worth $1,190 during her seventy-day period of confinement. The medical director of the hospital had made an agreement with the Hospital Service Plan of New Jersey which provided that regardless of the amount or quality of the hospitalization required, payment of the flat sum of $100 for any subscriber-patient would constitute payment in full to the city. The city accepted the $100 check paid by the Plan as billed by the hospital for the care of the child. In order to facilitate settlement …

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Contracts - Offer And Acceptance - Newspaper Advertisement As Offer To Sell, Theodore G. Koerner Apr 1958

Contracts - Offer And Acceptance - Newspaper Advertisement As Offer To Sell, Theodore G. Koerner

Michigan Law Review

Defendant store published two newspaper advertisements offering for sale on successive Saturdays limited numbers of fur pieces for one dollar, "first come, first served." The initial advertisement offered three new fur coats "worth to $100"; the second, inter alia, one black lapin stole "worth $139.50." Plaintiff was the first person to appear at the appropriate counter on both days, but defendant each time refused to sell him the advertised furs, asserting a "house rule" that such offers could be accepted only by women. Plaintiff sued for contract damages. As to the offer of the coats "worth to $100," the trial …

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Oil And Gas - Construction Of Lease-Dry Hole And Cessation Of Production Clause, James L. Burton Mar 1958

Oil And Gas - Construction Of Lease-Dry Hole And Cessation Of Production Clause, James L. Burton

Michigan Law Review

Newman Brothers Drilling Company obtained an oil and gas lease on land subject to a prior lease held by Stanolind Oil and Gas Company and under which a well commenced within the primary term had been completed as a dry hole after the expiration of the primary term. Forty-nine days after completion of the dry hole Stanolind commenced and completed a second well as a producer. Upon suit by Newman in trespass to try title and for declaratory judgment the court of civil appeals, reversing the trial court, held that the lease under which Stanolind claimed had terminated with the …

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Atomic Energy - Uranium Procurement - Legal Aspects Of The Aec Domestic Ore Purchase Program, Michael Scott S.Ed., Edward M. Heppenstall Mar 1958

Atomic Energy - Uranium Procurement - Legal Aspects Of The Aec Domestic Ore Purchase Program, Michael Scott S.Ed., Edward M. Heppenstall

Michigan Law Review

The federal government's domestic uranium ore procurement program, initially announced following World War II to ensure maximum exploration and development for military purposes, has met with extraordinary success. So improved is this country's military uranium picture that the Atomic Energy Commission was recently able to announce that uranium concentrate purchases would not be further increased. This announcement is viewed as a matter .of serious concern by the domestic ore producer, who must continue to look to the federal government as his sole market; a noticeable private market for peaceful uses of atomic energy fuels may not be realized for more …

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Insurance - Recovery - Delay Of Insurance Company In Rejecting Application For Insurance, Harry D. Krause S.Ed. Feb 1958

Insurance - Recovery - Delay Of Insurance Company In Rejecting Application For Insurance, Harry D. Krause S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, designated as beneficiary by deceased life insurance applicant, sued defendant life insurance company in assumpsit. Deceased, a combat pilot in the Korean War, had applied for one of defendant's policies, passed the medical examination, and made several premium payments on the policy. After the applicant was killed in combat defendant refused payment, contending that it had never accepted the risk but that it had responded to the application with a counter offer containing an aviation waiver. Because of ·the applicant's frequent change of address and his early death this proposal had never been communicated to him. On appeal from …

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Williston: A Treatise On The Law Of Contracts, Collins J. Seitz Feb 1958

Williston: A Treatise On The Law Of Contracts, Collins J. Seitz

Michigan Law Review

A Review of A Treatise on the Law of Contracts. By Samuel Williston.

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Contracts - Statute Of Frauds - Signature Applicable To Only Part Of A Memorandum, George R. Haydon Jr. Jan 1958

Contracts - Statute Of Frauds - Signature Applicable To Only Part Of A Memorandum, George R. Haydon Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff buyer sought specific performance of an alleged contract for the sale of real estate. The instrument, denominated "deposit receipt," acknowledged receipt of the deposit, and then set forth the terms of the trade. This was signed "By Raymond Asmar," the alleged agent of the seller, in the place where the broker normally signs. Following this were two provisions. One, signed by plaintiff, stated that he agreed to purchase the property and that he confirmed the contract. A similar provision immediately following was not signed by defendant seller. The district court dismissed for failure to state a claim on which …

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Contracts - Damages - Punitive Damages Awarded For Breach Accompanied By Fraudulent Act, Theodore G. Koerner Jan 1958

Contracts - Damages - Punitive Damages Awarded For Breach Accompanied By Fraudulent Act, Theodore G. Koerner

Michigan Law Review

Defendants contracted to purchase a crop of alfalfa from plaintiff, harvesting and processing to be done by defendants and payment to be ascertained according to the processed weight of the alfalfa. When defendants harvested the entire crop but failed to pay for the major part of it, plaintiff brought action for breach of contract. In addition to the non-payment, plaintiff alleged fraud on defendants' part in falsifying weight records and in otherwise scheming to cheat and defraud him. On defendants' appeal from a judgment including both compensatory and punitive damages, held, affirmed. Although punitive damages are not ordinarily recoverable …

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Corporations - Officers And Directors - Indemnification Of Expenses Incurred In Defense Of Contract Of Employment, John P. Williams Jan 1958

Corporations - Officers And Directors - Indemnification Of Expenses Incurred In Defense Of Contract Of Employment, John P. Williams

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, Sorenson, contracted with defendant, Overland Corporation, to become one of its directors, and the contract was approved by Overland's stockholders. After he began to serve as a director, Sorenson was made a party defendant to a stockholder's derivative suit attacking the propriety of his contract of employment with Overland. The derivative suit terminated in favor of Sorenson and he then brought an action for reimbursement of the counsel fees incurred by him in defending the stockholder's action. Plaintiff's action was under a corporate by-law providing that the corporation shall indemnify directors and officers against expenses incurred by them in …

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Limitations Of Action - Applicable Statute - Third-Party Injury Provision Agreed To By Contractor Subject To Contract Limitation Only, Walter L. Adams Dec 1957

Limitations Of Action - Applicable Statute - Third-Party Injury Provision Agreed To By Contractor Subject To Contract Limitation Only, Walter L. Adams

Michigan Law Review

More than two years following an accident in which they sustained personal injuries when their car fell into defendant's excavation, plaintiffs filed a diversity action in a federal court stating inter alia a cause of action based upon a third-party beneficiary contract entered into by defendant street contractor and the City of Philadelphia for which he was working. The contract provided in essence that defendant alone would be liable for damage sustained by any third party "irrespective of whether or not such injuries ... be due to negligence or the inherent nature of the work." The district court dismissed the …

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Corporations - Officers And Directors - Liability For Inducing A Corporation To Breach Its Contracts, William H. Leighner Jun 1957

Corporations - Officers And Directors - Liability For Inducing A Corporation To Breach Its Contracts, William H. Leighner

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff real estate company brought suit against the directors of a corporation and other third persons for an alleged conspiracy to induce the corporation to breach its contract with plaintiff. The complaint alleged that the corporation had entered into an agreement whereby plaintiff was to procure a purchaser for certain premises owned by the corporation and that plaintiff had found a purchaser; that before a written offer could be obtained, the corporation contracted to sell to another broker who was to be used as a conduit to transfer title to the purchaser found by the plaintiff, and who was to …

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Real Property - Joint Tenancy - Effect Of Contract To Convery By Joint Tenants Of Entire Interest In Property As A Severance Of The Joint Tenancy, George W. Marti Jun 1957

Real Property - Joint Tenancy - Effect Of Contract To Convery By Joint Tenants Of Entire Interest In Property As A Severance Of The Joint Tenancy, George W. Marti

Michigan Law Review

H and W, as owners of certain real state in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, contracted to convey this property. Prior to conveyance, and while part of the purchase price still remained to be paid, H died. Petitioner, an heir of H, brought action in equity for a declaratory judgment to determine the effect of a contract to convey land held in joint tenancy. The lower court held the joint tenancy had been terminated by the contract of sale and the contract to convey was held by H and W as tenants in common so that on …

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Agency - Liability Of Principal For Termination Of Agents Employment, William G. Mateer S.Ed. Jun 1957

Agency - Liability Of Principal For Termination Of Agents Employment, William G. Mateer S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the summer of 1949, appellant entered into an oral contract for an indefinite time with the appellee whereby the former was granted an exclusive wholesale distributorship of appellee's farm and garden equipment. A four-year period followed in which appellant increased the number of dealers in appellee's product from four or five in 1949 to over one hundred in 1953. In the latter part of 1952 appellant contemplated an enlargement of its facilities which would require it to enter upon a fifteen-year lease. Since the lessor desired some assurances as to the duration of appellant's franchise, appellant wrote to appellee …

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Wills - Lapse Of A Residuary Gift, Phillip Jacobus Jun 1957

Wills - Lapse Of A Residuary Gift, Phillip Jacobus

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix left a will containing the following bequest: ". . . I give, devise and bequeath to my brothers and sisters, A, B, C, D and the children of E (naming them), and F and G, all the ... residue ... of my Estate ... both real and personal of whatsoever kind . . . and wherever situated should be sold and distributed in equal share, share and share alike .... " G died before the testatrix, and her share lapsed. The trial court held that G's share passed as intestate property of the testatrix. On appeal, held, …

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Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Strike During Life Of Contract Under A Reopening Provision, Dudley Chapman May 1957

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Strike During Life Of Contract Under A Reopening Provision, Dudley Chapman

Michigan Law Review

A collective bargaining agreement between Lion Oil Company and the union provided that if either party should desire to amend, notice should be served on the other, but not before August 24, 1951. The contract could be terminated by giving sixty days notice to terminate if agreement could not be reached within the sixty days following notice to amend. The contract did not contain a no-strike clause. The union gave notice on August 24, 1951 of its desire to amend, and having reached no agreement, struck on April 30, 1952 without having served notice to terminate. Both parties agreed that …

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Real Property - Landlord And Tenant - Lessor's Arbitrary Withholding Of Consent To Sublease, William G. Mateer S.Ed. May 1957

Real Property - Landlord And Tenant - Lessor's Arbitrary Withholding Of Consent To Sublease, William G. Mateer S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant leased a portion of plaintiff's building for a seven-year period. Contained in the lease was a covenant whereby the lessee agreed not to assign or sublet without the lessor's consent. One year prior to the expiration date of the lease, the defendant gave notice of his intention to vacate and submitted to the plaintiff a proposed sublease under which the premises would be rented to the Postmaster General of the United States. The plaintiff stipulated that the proposed sublessee was ready, able, and willing to assume the obligations of the original lease and was a proper sublessee in every …

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Creditor's Rights - Fraudulent Conveyances - Security Assignment Of Contract Payments Void If Assignor Retains Control, John A. Beach S.Ed. Apr 1957

Creditor's Rights - Fraudulent Conveyances - Security Assignment Of Contract Payments Void If Assignor Retains Control, John A. Beach S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

An insolvent debtor, who owed some $3,500 on plaintiff's partially-collected judgment, executed an instrument assigning to another creditor, a bank, all moneys due and to become due to the debtor under an existing contract, expressly as security for payment of the debtor's present and future indebtedness to the bank. The contract obligor was notified of the assignment, and thereafter the bank collected the amounts periodically accruing under the contract. The bank applied part of these collected amounts to the balance that the debtor owed the bank. The rest was either handed over to the debtor or credited to his general …

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Labor Law - Lmra - Status Of A Walkout Prompted By Health Reasons In The Face Of A No-Strike Clause, Robert E. Hammell S.Ed. Apr 1957

Labor Law - Lmra - Status Of A Walkout Prompted By Health Reasons In The Face Of A No-Strike Clause, Robert E. Hammell S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The employer and the union were covered by a contract which contained a no-strike clause. In spite of this agreement, buffers in the employer's plant walked off their jobs when a blower in the buffing room failed to carry away dust and cool the area properly. The trial examiner found that the walkout was a protected concerted activity and not a strike, and that the employer had therefore committed an unfair labor practice by refusing to permit the buffers to return to their jobs when the blower had been repaired. On exceptions taken to these findings, the NLRB reviewed and …

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Constitutional Law - State Action - Effect Of State Court Interpretation Of A Contract, Dudley H. Chapman Apr 1957

Constitutional Law - State Action - Effect Of State Court Interpretation Of A Contract, Dudley H. Chapman

Michigan Law Review

Mrs. Doris Walker, president of her local union, was discharged by Cutter Laboratories in 1949 because of membership in the Communist Party and falsification of her employment application. The employer acquired knowledge of these facts in 1947, but did not act at that time to avoid charges of persecuting a union officer. The union, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, which authorized discharge for "just cause" only, sought and obtained reinstatement from the arbitration board, which action was affirmed by the district court of appeal, but reversed by the California Supreme Court. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, …

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Master And Servant - Independent Contractor - Inherent Danger Exception, Jerome K. Walsh, Jr. S.Ed. Mar 1957

Master And Servant - Independent Contractor - Inherent Danger Exception, Jerome K. Walsh, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant was a home-owner whose home was fumigated by an independent contractor. Plaintiff was the administrator of the estate of a water softener service man, who entered the home and was overcome by the cyanide gas used in the operation. It was agreed by the parties that the contractor was negligent in failing to lock all entrances to the home, and in not posting warnings at all entrances. Plaintiffs request to charge the jury that the work was inherently dangerous was refused. The court instructed the jury to determine whether or not the defendant had used due care in selecting …

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Corporations - Promotion - Discharge Of Promoter's Liability As Bidder At A Bankruptcy Sale, John Morrow Mar 1957

Corporations - Promotion - Discharge Of Promoter's Liability As Bidder At A Bankruptcy Sale, John Morrow

Michigan Law Review

On October 1, defendant made the high bid at a bankruptcy sale of hotel properties as "Mr. Ash, trustee." Later that same day a certificate of incorporation was executed for a corporation with Ash as treasurer. On October 4 the proper corporate papers were filed with the secretary of state. On October 4 the receivers receipted for the earnest money deposit, the instrument acknowledging, as interpreted by the court, that the receivers would look to the corporation to complete the contract and would not look to Mr. Ash personally. On October 14, the referee confirmed the sale to "Mr. Ash, …

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Antitrust - Resale Price Maintenance - Legality Of Fair Trade Contracts Made By Integrated Firm, John A. Ziegler S.Ed. Feb 1957

Antitrust - Resale Price Maintenance - Legality Of Fair Trade Contracts Made By Integrated Firm, John A. Ziegler S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant-appellee manufactures its own brand-name line of drug products and is also the largest drug wholesaler in the United States. Its manufactured products are sold through appellee's own wholesale division and to independent wholesalers and retailers. In 1951 appellee entered into resale price maintenance contracts with these independent wholesalers, most of whom competed with appellee's wholesale divisions. The Government then brought an action for an injunction under section 4 of the Sherman Act, restraining the further use of resale price contracts by appellee on the ground that these contracts constituted illegal price fixing under section 1 of the act. The …

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Restitution - Constructive Trust Relief For Breach Of Oral Contract To Create Trust In Land, Edward A. Manuel S.Ed. Feb 1957

Restitution - Constructive Trust Relief For Breach Of Oral Contract To Create Trust In Land, Edward A. Manuel S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff mining company sued to impose a constructive trust on mineral interests purchased by the defendant employee in breach of his oral agreement with the company. The agreement included a promise to hold any property so acquired in trust for the employer at his election. Ruling that this agreement was unenforceable under the Oklahoma statute of frauds, the trial court relied on the defendant's status as an ordinary employee without duties relating to the acquisition of mineral interests or access to confidential information, and gave judgment for the defendant. On appeal, held, affirmed. Without proof of positive fraud or …

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Admiralty - Jurisdiction - Quasi -Contractual Remedy, Ross Kipka S.Ed. Jan 1957

Admiralty - Jurisdiction - Quasi -Contractual Remedy, Ross Kipka S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners paid money to respondent for prospective passage to Europe on his passenger vessel held out as a common carrier. When respondent failed to make the voyage or return the passage money, petitioners sued in admiralty for breach of contract. The libel was in the nature of indebitatus assumpsit for moneys had and received and wrongfully withheld by respondent. The district court held this an action based upon the breach of a maritime contract and therefore within the admiralty jurisdiction. The court of appeals reversed, on the ground that the action was in the nature of the common law indebitatus …

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The Installment Land Contract As A Junior Security, E. George Rudolph May 1956

The Installment Land Contract As A Junior Security, E. George Rudolph

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this paper to explore the problems of one group whose members are increasingly, and more or less as a matter of necessity, finding themselves in the role of mortgagees, or vendors under installment purchase contracts, although they do not fit the assumed pattern. This group consists of persons who own homes subject to existing mortgages and for one reason or another decide to sell. The existing mortgages may be insured by the Federal Housing Administration or by the Veterans Administration or they may be uninsured mortgages held by building and loan associations or other financial …

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Sales - Contributory Negligence - Use As A Defense In Action For Breach Of Implied Warranty, Thomas S. Erickson May 1956

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, …

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Lawson: A Common Lawyer Looks At The Civil Law, F. S. C. Northrop May 1956

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.

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Conflict Of Laws--Effect Of Forum's Statute Of Frauds On Foreign Oral Contract To Bequeath Property, David D. Dowd, Jr. S.Ed. Apr 1956

Conflict Of Laws--Effect Of Forum's Statute Of Frauds On Foreign Oral Contract To Bequeath Property, David D. Dowd, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action in New York for specific performance of an oral agreement allegedly made by testator in Florida not to change his will without plaintiff's consent. Defendant's motions for dismissal of the complaint and summary judgment were dismissed. The appellate division on reargument entered orders reversing the lower court. On plaintiff's appeal to the court of appeals, held, affirmed. The New York Personal Property Law, which states that oral contracts to bequeath property are void, is controlling, regardless of whether this section of the statute of frauds is procedural or substantive. If the section is procedural, the …

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