Contracts Commons^™

Book Reviews, Robert B. Looper, Ralph Slovenko

Vanderbilt Law Review

Cases and Materials on Restitution By John W. Wade Brooklyn: The Foundation Press, Inc., 1958. Pp. xxxi, 903. $11.00.

reviewer: Robert B. Looper

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Equal Justice for the Accused By a Special Committee of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York and The National Legal Aid Association New York: Doubleday & Co., 1959. Pp. 144. $3.50.

reviewer: Ralph Slovenko

Liability Of Funeral Directors For Negligence, Edgar E. Smith

Vanderbilt Law Review

Funeral directing cannot be classed absolutely as a "profession."'On the contrary, the funeral director's principal concern probably is the sale of caskets and burial supplies, thus making him a "merchant"or "trader." However, for purposes of rendering services in connection with the care and burial of the dead as well as in accommodating the family and friends of the deceased, the funeral director is considered a "professional man." It is the latter capacity which is under consideration here. It is inconsequential for legal purposes whether a mortician is referred to as a "funeral director," an "embalmer," or an "undertaker." An embalmer …

Professional Negligence Liability Of Public Accountants, Carl S. Hawkins

Vanderbilt Law Review

At least since 1905, in this country, accountants have been recognized as "a skilled professional class ... subject generally to the same rules of liability for negligence in the practice of their profession as are members of other skilled professions."' The question, then, is not whether the usual concepts of professional negligence apply to accountants, but how. What situations have produced malpractice litigation? What are the specific practices or omissions which have resulted in liability? And what are the limits of liability? Like other professionals, the accountant usually gets into the position where he must exercise his professional skill as …

Contracts -- 1958 Tennessee Survey, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

During the period covered by this survey article, there have not been many cases in the field of contracts. In two of the cases the only question before the court was the sufficiency of the evidence, and in both of these cases the Tennessee Court of Appeals found that there was sufficient evidence to sustain the lower court, without going into an analysis of the evidence. Thus, there is no comment that can properly be made concerning those cases. There were two other cases, however, upon which some comment can properly be made.

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Contracts-Third Party Beneficiary-Right of County to …

Jeremy Bentham, The Contract Clause And Justice John Archibald Campbell, John R. Schmidhauser

Vanderbilt Law Review

Conflicts between the desire to meet the felt needs of society and the desire to maintain existing property rights have long perplexed modern governments. The methods adopted for the resolution of such conflicts quite naturally reflect the prevailing social and political ideology in each nation. In the United States in the period of the Philadelphia Convention, the prevailing temper, at least among the influential, was one of insistence upon the preservation of the sanctity of private property. This insistence and the widespread public reverence for law and judicial institutions determined that state interference with or modification of private contracts be …

State Power Over The Federal Contractor: A Problem In Federalism, Arthur S. Miller

Vanderbilt Law Review

In large measure both the federal officials, whose job it is to enter the commercial market to fulfill the government's material needs, and the federal contractor, wherever he may be and of whatever size he may be, tend to look upon attempts by states to tax or regulate with a skeptical eye. The state appears as some alien interloper whose activities result only in hardship and delay to the contractor and consequent annoyance and financial cost to the federal government. By and large, accordingly, a prevailing idea in the federal procurement circles seems to be that of avoiding, whenever possible, …

Business Associations -- 1957 Tennessee Survey, F. Hodge O'Neal

Vanderbilt Law Review

Very little happened in the field of Business Associations during the survey period. The General Assembly enacted one fairly important set of amendments to the Securities Law, and the Tennessee appellate courts handed down two or three decisions which in a large part merely reiterated principles of corporation law already well-established in this state.

Amendments to the Securities Law Broadening Grounds for Refusing or Revoking Registration of Securities: The Securities Law of 1955 among other things set up a procedure for the registration of securities intended for sale and gave the Commissioner of Insurance and Banking authority to investigate the …

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 …

The Nature Of The Arbitration Process, William M. Hepburn, Pierre R. Loiseaux

Vanderbilt Law Review

The process of reaching a decision in labor-management arbitrations involves many uncertain factors. As to the final result in a case, we can perhaps say that it is in accord with the contract of the parties or that it is not; that it is "fair" or not; "practical" or unworkable; or that it accords with "public policy" or violates it. Some or all of the criteria discussed in this article may be satisfied in a particular case, but, as is proper, the parties are most often interested in basic equities, in whether an award can be brought within the ambit …

Act Relating To Arbitration And To Make Uniform The Law With Reference Thereto, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

A written agreement to submit any existing controversy to arbitration or a provision in a written contract to submit to arbitration any controversy thereafter arising between the parties is valid, enforceable and irrevocable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract. This act also applies to arbitration agreements between employers and employees or between their respective representatives (unless otherwise provided in the agreement.)

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 …

Contracts -- 1956 Tennessee Survey, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

In Shirley v. Slate the Supreme Court of Tennessee had an occasion to pass upon the status of a gambling transaction in Tennessee. In the Shirley case a petition was filed to recover money seized by a sheriff in a crap game. In denying recovery, the court held that the power of the court could not be invoked for recovery of money which the participant had won and which had been seized by the sheriff during a raid and turned over to the county court clerk. Tennessee visits severe consequences on gambling or wagering transactions. By statute it is provided …

Business Associations -- 1956 Tennessee Survey, F. Hodge O'Neal

Vanderbilt Law Review

Surprisingly few cases were decided in the field of Business Associations during the survey period. Those decisions for the most part merely reaffirmed legal principles already established in Tennessee law. One of the cases, Wyatt v. Brown,' raised again the interesting old question of what is a partnership and what factual elements are necessary to constitute the partnership relation. This article discusses that question first and then comments rather briefly on the other cases and the principles they enunciate.

Family Responsibility In Tort, William J. Harbison

Vanderbilt Law Review

At common law an unmarried woman occupied no special status as far as tort liability was concerned, and the same rules and standards of responsibility applied to her as to society generally. Since marriage imposed upon a woman a very extensive disability, however, there developed a number of special rules concerning tort responsibility of the married woman.

Marriage did not impose upon the wife any special or peculiar liability for wrongful acts committed by her husband at common law, and, except in certain instances hereafter noted, she is not thus liable today. It is true that since the enactment of …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Automatic Reversion of Land to Grant or Upon Use by Non-Whites

Constitutional Law--Federal Eminent Domain--Potentiality for Water Power Development as Element of Compensation

Contracts--Place of Making--Acceptance by Instantaneous Means of Communication

Insurance--Automobile Liability Omnibus Clause-Coverage of Sub-Permitee

Insurance--Insurer's Right of Subrogation--Waiver by Refusal to Pay Claim

Master and Servant--Borrowed Servant Doctrine--Contract as Proof of Assumption of Control

Wills--Anti-Lapse Statutes--Beneficiaries of Class Gift Dead at Will's Execution

Contracts (Herein Of Agency) -- 1955 Tennessee Survey, Merton L. Ferson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Offer and Acceptance: Listing Property for Sale With Broker: In Jenkins v. Vaughan' the facts were these: Vaughan had a drug store for sale. He gave Jenkins, a broker, an exclusive listing for 90 days and promised to pay Jenkins a commission if the property were sold within that time "either through you or any other reason." This listing was made October 10, 1951. On December 10, 1951, Vaughan directed an employee of Jenkins to cancel the listing. And on December 28 Vaughan sold the store to a purchaser procured by another broker. Jenkins had not spent any appreciable time …

Conditions In The Law Of Contracts, Merton Ferson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Conditions Precedent. Assume that a contract obligation has been created. When must the obligor perform? In some cases the performances become due by the mere passing of time. But in many cases the performances are not due until and unless certain other events have occurred. These other events are called conditions precedent. Until they come to pass the obligor may omit performance with impunity. He has an excuse that will stay the hand of the obligee. The case of Shadforth v. Higgin' will serve to illustrate the immunity of an obligor when a condition precedent has not come to pass. …

Contracts -- 1954 Tennessee Survey, Merton L. Ferson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Mutual Assents: In the case of Jones v. Horner it appeared that Jones was a tenant of Mrs. Homer. The lease gave Jones an option to purchase the property for a stated price and provided that Jones might exercise his option "by payment or tender of the agreed purchase price." Jones, within the life of the option, without tendering the purchase price, gave notice that he would exercise the option. He said he would pay the purchase price upon receipt of a deed to the property. Mrs. Homer refused to treat this notice as a valid exercise of the option. …

Fiction Vs. Reality, In Re Contracts: A Survey, Merton Ferson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The history and philosophy of the law of contracts has more than academic interest. In some areas there are conflicts and uncertainties that stem from the history, nature and basis of contracts.

Primitive men were familiar with the idea of possession which later developed into the idea of ownership. And a person having possession or ownership has long been able to transfer whatever he had to another.'

But the idea of obligation was a later development in the advance of civilization. Obligations, as we know them at present, would have been incredible to primitive men. Do we fully realize even …

Taft-Hartley Sections 301 And 303 Procedural Aspects, Joseph F. Dirisio, Joseph Martin Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The motives and purposes behind the binate Sections 301 and 303, no less than other sections of the Taft-Hartley Act,' are mixed and ambiguous. Foremost, however, seems the notion that Congress intended to create new federal rights, contract and tort, enforceable nationally in a federal forum. In broad terms, where the required relationship to interstate commerce exists, Section 301 permits suits by either employers or unions for violation of collective bargaining agreements; Section 303 permits those injured by certain boycotts and unlawful combinations to bring suit-- in both cases, the forum provided is the district court of the United States. …

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 …

Business Associations, Paul J. Hartman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Use of Corporate Entity to Evade Contractual Obligations. Scott v. McReynolds afforded the Court of Appeals an opportunity to pierce the corporate veil. Plaintiff and defendant McReynolds were partners in the business of selling butane-propane gas and appliances. In a contract dissolving the partnership, McReynolds agreed not to sell gas or appliances within a specified area. Shortly thereafter, the other defendant, a corporation, was formed, and it sold gas within the exempted area in competition with plaintiff. McReynolds was president of the defendant corporation, was actively engaged in the business and was a "prime mover in the organization of the …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Contracts--Ceiling Price Legislation--Effect upon Performance

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Evidence--Declarations against Interest--Third-Party Confessions

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Family Law--Loss of Consortium of the Parent--Right of Child to Recover Against a Negligent Defendant

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Federal Procedure--Statutory Construction--Meaning of "Mentally Incompetent"

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Income Taxation--Surrender of Lease--Capital Gain to Lessee

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Income Taxation--Taxable Stock Dividend--Treasury Stock Held for Investment

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Judgment--Suit to Vacate--Insufficient Allegations of Cruelty Void Divorce Decree

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Labor Law--Filing Requirements--Noncompliance at Time Charges Filed

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Municipal Corporations--Liability for Negligence--Operation of Swimming Pool for Profit

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Process--Constructive Service--Tort Action Arising Without State

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Torts--Res Ipsa Loquitur--Application To Disappearing Airplane

The Eclipse Of The Lex Loci Solutionis -- A Fallacy Exploded, J. H.C. Morris

Vanderbilt Law Review

Traditionally, the question what law governs the validity of a contract is the most confused subject in the conflict of laws.' At least four theories have been advocated by writers or adopted by courts, namely that the law of the place of contracting, or the law of the place of performance, or the law intended by the parties, or the law of the country with which the contract has the closest and most real connection, determines the validity of the contract. In England the validity of a contract is governed by the "proper law," which Dicey defines as "the law, …

Recovery Of Damages For Mental Anguish Alone In Breach Of Contract Actions, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Before the late 1800's it undoubtedly would have been contrary to law to assert that damages for mental suffering might be allowed in breach of contract actions. However, near the beginning of the Nineteenth Century a few courts made what was considered to be a serious departure from the common law and allowed such damages in certain types of cases. The passing of years has brought about considerable, though incomplete, development in this phase of the law. Not only have legal writers failed to give this development the comment which its significance warrants, but the courts have failed to indicate …

Claims Against The State In Tennessee -- The Board Of Claims, George H. Cate Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The age-old doctrine of governmental immunity from suit seems gradually to be passing into the discard, first in the realm of contract liability, and of late in the field of torts. Recent years have seen its vitality substantially sapped by judicial decisions, and there is a distinct trend among governmental units to do away with it partially or entirely through legislation. Thus, England in the Crown Proceedings Act of 1947, the United States in the Federal Tort Claims Act, and many of the states by similar legislation have renounced their shield of immunity from suit and, by means more regularized …

Arbitrability Under Collective Bargaining Agreements, Clyde H. Brockett Jr., William Merlin

Vanderbilt Law Review

Under many collective bargaining contracts calling for arbitration of disputes, sooner or later a question has arisen whether the arbitrator has authority and power to arbitrate a particular issue. While this is obviously an oversimplification, it is a statement of the problem of arbitrability. Involuntary arbitration of labor disputes the question of the "scope of arbitration" may arise in either of two situations: (1) in the formulation of new contracts; or (2) in the disposition of grievances under existing contracts. This Note will consider only arbitration of the latter type.

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

RECENT CASES

CONTRACTS--CONSIDERATION--AGREEMENT TO SUPPORT ILLEGITIMATE CHILD

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CONTRIBUTION--JOINT TORTFEASORS--REMEDY GRANTED

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CONTRIBUTION--JOINT TORTFEASORS--REMEDY GRANTED WHEN TORT CONSISTS OF NEGLIGENCE

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CREDITORS' RIGHTS--RECEIVERSHIP OF OPERATING BUSINESS--CHATTEL, MORTGAGEE ENTITLED TO FORECLOSURE RATHER THAN SMALLER MONTHLY PAYMENTS ORDERED BY COURT

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EVIDENCE--DEAD MAN STATUTE--OBSERVATION OF PHYSICAL CONDITIONS NOT A "TRANSACTION" WITHIN MEANING OF STATUTE

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EVIDENCE--JUDICIAL NOTICE--TENETS OF COMMUNIST PARTY

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FEDERAL COURTS--HABEAS CORPUS IN EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS--NECESSITY OF EXHAUSTING REMEDIES IN STATE COURTS

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IMPLIED WARRANTY--WARRANTY OF SEAWORTHINESS--WARRANTY WITHOUT A SALE

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NEGLIGENCE OF LANDOWNER--PERSON TAKING SHORTCUT THROUGH STORE--LICENSEE OR BUSINESS GUEST?

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RES JUDICATA--INDEMNITOR-INDEMNITEE RELATIONSHIP AS EXCEPTION TO REQUREMENT OF MUTUALITY--CREATION …

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 …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE--COMPREHENSIVE CLAUSE EXCLUDING MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN--REQUIREMENT THAT EXCLUDED RISK BE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE

BAILMENTS--DELIVERY OF POSSESSION--PROPERTY DEPOSITED IN PUBLIC LOCKER

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--INFRINGEMENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS BY PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS--CAUSE OF ACTION UNDER FEDERAL STATUTE

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL--ACTION FOR STATUTORY PENALTY UNDER PRICE ..CONTROL ACT

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW--UNITED NATIONS CHARTER--APPLICATION AS TREATY TO RENDER STATE LAW INVALID

CONTRACTS--CONSIDERATION--NEW AGREEMENT TO PAY LESS THAN ORIGINAL CONTRACT PRICE

CONTRACTS--DEFINITION OF TERMS--EFFECT OF PART PERFORMANCE IN MAKING TERMS CERTAIN

COPYRIGHT--ARTIST'S RIGHTS IN PRODUCTION AFTER SALE--"MORAL RIGHT" TO PREVENT DESTRUCTION

CRIMINAL LAW--SEARCHES AND SEIZURES--EFFECTS OF VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT ON JURISDICTION OF FEDERAL COURTS

JOINT …