Jurisdiction Commons^™

Revitalization Of The International Judicial Assistance Procedures Of The United States: Service Of Documents And Takings Of Testimony, Richard F. Gerber

Michigan Law Review

This comment will examine two aspects of such judicial assistance-service. of documents and taking of testimony-and it will analyze each from the viewpoint of assistance obtained abroad in aid of American litigation as well as assistance rendered within the United States in aid of foreign litigation. It will attempt to survey some of the problems involved in securing performance of these acts, indicate the changes in current practice which are likely to result from the revisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the proposed amendments to the Judicial Code, and, last, suggest some additional measures which might promote …

Civil Procedure- Venue-Effect Of Contract Provision Fixing Venue As To Future Litigation, Robert C. Bonges

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, residents of Harris County, Texas, executed in Harris County a conditional sale contract to purchase a food freezer from plaintiff's assignor. One of the contract provisions was that any suit on the contract was to be tried in Travis County, Texas. Plaintiff subsequently brought an action on the contract in Travis County, and defendants, contrary to their agreement, requested the trial court to transfer the action to a court of proper jurisdiction in Harris County, which was the proper county for suit under the applicable venue statute. In response, plaintiff argued that, since the contract created an obligation performable …

Child Custody In A Federal System, Leonard G. Ratner

Michigan Law Review

Among the most difficult of judicial functions is the determination of a child's custody after its parents have separated. The difficulties are acute enough when all the parties remain in the same place; when the parties are in different states, an additional perplexing problem arises as to which state should have authority to make the custody decision. This broad question can be resolved into three distinct though interrelated issues: (1) what state may initially determine custody; (2) what state may later modify that determination; (3) to what extent is such a determination binding on other states.

The Powers Of Home Rule Cities In Colorado, Howard C. Klemme

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Constitution And Preclusion/Res Judicata, Allan D. Vestal

Michigan Law Review

The interrelation of lawsuits is one of the most troublesome, yet least commented upon, areas of the law. The ramifications are great; related lawsuits may be pending concurrently, either brought by the same individual-repetitive litigation--or brought by different parties-reactive litigation. Such lawsuits may occur serially over a period of time. The courts are then faced with problems which have traditionally been discussed in terms of res judicata, bar, merger, or estoppel. It is impossible to cover the whole area or even a sizable part of it in a single article, but it is feasible to examine one facet which certainly …

International Law-Sovereign Immunity-State Court Authority To Determine Title To Property Under Its Jurisdiction Despite A Department Of State Suggestion Of Immunity, John A. Krsul Jr., S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1952 plaintiff brought a creditor's action for the appointment of a permanent receiver for the assets of the defendant located in New York. Defendant, Zivnostenska Banka, was a Czechoslovak corporation that had at one time been engaged in banking activities in New York. Plaintiff succeeded in having a receiver appointed upon proving that defendant had been nationalized, contrary to New York policy and law, by a 1950 decree of the Czechoslovak Government which had merged the defendant and its assets with the State Bank of Czechoslovakia. The instant controversy arose when the receiver attempted to set aside, as a …

Procedural Problems Of Class Suits, Joseph J. Simeone

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this article is to discuss numerous aspects of the class device, to discuss the many procedural problems confronting court and counsel, to determine the effectiveness of one type of class suit-the spurious-and in the conclusion, to propose legislation for a new rule independent of the rules regarding class actions, a remedy which would more effectively permit the dispatch of numerous claims arising from similar fact patterns.

Federal Procedure - Venue - Application Of Special Venue Provision To Change Of Venue In Patent Infringement Action, Dean L. Berry S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner brought a patent infringement action in the northern district of Texas, wherein the alleged infringement occurred and the named defendants resided and had a regular place of business. On motion by the named defendants under 28 U.S.C. §1404(a), authorizing the transfer of certain actions to a district in which the action "might have been brought," the court ordered transfer to the northern district of Illinois where litigation on the same patent was already in progress between the plaintiff and other alleged infringers. Petitioner's motion for mandamus to require the Texas district court to set aside this transfer order was …

Federal Procedure - Jurisdiction - Statutory Change In Jurisdictional Amount And Corporate Citizenship, Philip Belleville

Michigan Law Review

A recent congressional amendment of federal district court jurisdictional requirements for both diversity of citizenship and federal question litigation has raised the required amount in controversy from $3,000 to $10,000. The trial court has also been given discretion either to deny costs or assess them against the plaintiff if he is finally adjudged entitled to recover less than $10,000, determined without regard to any set-off or counterclaim and exclusive of interest and costs. Further, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction and removal, a corporation is now deemed a citizen "of any State by which it has been incorporated and of the …

Compulsory Joinder Of Parties In Civil Actions, John W. Reed

Michigan Law Review

Compulsory joinder cases involving interests in land display one peculiar and important characteristic: there is almost never any need in the state courts to wrestle with the question of whether a person is indispensable as distinguished from necessary. One hastens to add that this attribute of land cases appears to have gone largely unnoticed, but it exists none the less. It arises out of the fact that in a suit involving real property it is never impossible for the court to obtain jurisdiction over all persons interested therein to an extent which will enable the court to adjudicate controversies over …

Compulsory Joinder Of Parties In Civil Actions, John W. Reed

Articles

The plaintiff in a civil cause ordinarily is permitted to select the persons with whom he will litigate. The initial designation of parties to an action is made by the plaintiff, and if he chooses to sue B and not A,' that is ordinarily of no concern to B or to A or to the court. So also where the plaintiff without A as co-plaintiff sues B. Not always, however, is the plaintiff permitted unfettered choice in naming the parties to his lawsuit. On the one hand there are persons whose relationship to the situation in litigation is outside the …

Interstate Publication, William L. Prosser

Michigan Law Review

It is an amazing and a sobering thought that by the utterance of a single ill-considered word a man may today commit forty-nine separate torts, for each of which he may be severally liable, in as many jurisdictions within the continental limits of the United States alone, and without regard to any additional liability he may incur in the possessions and territories and in foreign countries. It calls to mind at once in all solemnity those first words that ever were sent over an interstate wire, and later to the moon. What, indeed, hath God wrought!

Little less astonishing, although …

Civil Procedure-Statute Of Limitations-Possibility Of Service Under Nonresident Motorist Service Act As Preventing Tolling Of Statute, James H. Loprete S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, while riding as passengers in defendant's automobile, were injured in an accident in Iowa. Two of the four plaintiffs brought suit in Kansas against defendant, a citizen of Kansas, but their suits were dismissed upon the sustaining of demurrers. The four then sued defendant in Iowa, obtaining service upon him under the nonresident motorist service act Defendant pleaded the statute of limitations, and plaintiffs countered with the tolling statute. Issue was raised over the interpretation to be given the word "nonresident" in the tolling statute. Plaintiff contended it was to be given a literal interpretation, that is, that the …

Federal Procedure-Removal Jurisdiction-Jurisdictional Estoppel, Paul M.D. Harrison S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Respondent sued petitioner, a Florida corporation, the Indiana Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company, an Indiana corporation, and Joe Reiss, a citizen of Texas, in a Texas state court. The complaint asked for relief in the alternative for a fire loss suffered by respondent On the joint petition of the two corporate defendants, the case was removed to the federal court under section 1441(c) of the United States Judicial Code. Respondent unsuccessfully moved to remand the case, and, after trial of the case to a jury, a judgment in favor of the respondent was awarded against the petitioner alone. Petitioner's motion to …

Federal Procedure-Mandamus-Use To Prevent Change Of Venue, Richard J. Darger S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners instituted a suit in the District Court for the Southern District of California seeking damages for alleged patent infringement. That court ordered the case transferred to the District Court for the District of Delaware on the ground that venue was not properly laid in the Southern District of California. Then petition was made to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for mandamus to compel the judge of the lower court to withdraw the order of transfer. Held: petition denied. Mandamus will issue to prevent a transfer of a case to the district court of another circuit …

Federal Procedure-Proper Venue In Patent Infringement Action Against Corporation, Gordon W. Hueschen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs brought an action for patent infringement against defendant corporation in the Federal District Court for the Southern Division of California, alleging only defendant's "residence" within the district. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that defendant, being a Delaware corporation, did not "reside" within the district, thus rendering the venue defective. Plaintiffs replied that the word "resides," as used in the patent infringement venue section of the code, which states that "any civil action for patent infringement may be brought in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement …

Corporations-Stockholder's Suit To Compel Declaration Of Dividends- Necessity Of Directors As Parties, Daniel A. Isaacson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of New York and the owner of some preferred stock in the defendant Delaware corporation, brought a class action against the corporation in a federal district court in Pennsylvania to compel the declaration and payment of dividends on the preferred stock, alleging that the directors had acted in had faith in violation of their duties as fiduciaries. Defendant's articles of incorporation provided that the preferred stock was entitled to receive dividends "when and as declared by the Board of Directors"; the by-laws permitted a majority of the hoard to constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting business. …

Venue-Forum Non Conveniens-Transfer Of Venue In Federal Employers' Liability Cases Under The New Judicial Code, Donald D. Davis

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a resident of Texas, brought action in a United States district court in Minnesota to recover damages under the Federal Employers' Liability Act for injuries received in an accident in Texas. Defendant, in accordance with section 1404(a) of the United States Judicial Code, moved for a change of venue to Texas for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. Plaintiff resisted the transfer solely on the ground that the section did not apply where venue was granted under the F.E.L.A. Held, by a two judge district court, motion granted. Hayes v. Chicago, R.I. …

Federal Procedure-Impleader Under Rule I4-Lack Of Diversity Of Citizenship Between Original Plaintiff And Third-Party Defendant, Frank E. Roegge S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of Connecticut sued defendant, a citizen of Ohio, for injuries received when the car in which plaintiff was a passenger collided with a truck driven by defendant. Defendant removed the case from a Connecticut state court to a federal district court and then obtained an order citing plaintiff's husband, a citizen of Connecticut and the driver of the car in which plaintiff was riding, as a third-party defendant under Rule 14 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendant had no claim against the third party by Connecticut substantive law which does not recognize contribution between tort-feasors. …

Suits Against The State

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Federal Jurisdiction

Federal Courts - Jurisdiction - Diversity Of Citizenship - Realignment Of Parties, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a New York corporation, was trustee under a mortgage deed to secure a bond issue executed by A, an Indiana corporation, in 1902. In 1906, B, an Indiana corporation, was formed, its franchise providing, inter alia, that after the expiration of twenty-five years, the company should be wound up and its property conveyed to C, the city of Indianapolis, subject to B's "outstanding legal obligations." In 1913, A leased all of its plant property to B for a term of ninety-nine years, B agreeing to pay as rental the interest on A's outstanding bonded …

Federal Courts - Conflict Between The Federal Declaratory Judgments Act And The Johnson Act, Spencer E. Irons

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff gas company contracted with defendant city to furnish gas from a certain field at rates fixed by ordinance. Plaintiff reserved the right, when this field became insufficient, to furnish gas from other fields at rates to be adjusted in accordance with the increased cost. In a suit in the federal district court for a declaratory judgment, plaintiff sought a determination that the local field had become insufficient, and that it was necessary to furnish gas from other fields. Plaintiff alleged that defendant city refused to recognize the changed conditions and insisted that plaintiff continue to furnish gas at the …

The Powers Of A Court Of Equity In State Tax Litigation, Maurice S. Culp

Michigan Law Review

Hitherto a state taxpayer, otherwise meeting the jurisdictional requirements of a federal district court, could secure an injunction from such a court upon a showing that there was no adequate remedy at law in the federal district court, and this regardless of the legal or equitable remedies afforded by the state courts.

In view of this recent legislation, it becomes important to ascertain the new limitation upon the equity powers of the federal district courts in state tax litigation. Likewise, because of these new rigid limitations upon the jurisdiction of the federal courts, the attitude of the state courts of …

Attack On Decrees Of Divorce, Albert C. Jacobs

Michigan Law Review

Hitherto we have been concerned with the extent to which a decree is impeachable at the suit of one of the so-called "contestants" to the divorce litigation. But other parties, second spouses, children, personal representatives, grantees of a divorced party, and other third persons, may be affected; they may desire to question its efficacy. Are they controlled by the same principles of attack which govern the divorce litigants? Do these third persons all stand in the same position when they seek to assail the decree?

Conflict Of Laws - Federal Employers Liability Act - Jurisdiction Of State Courts Over Foreign Causes Of Action Between Nonresident Parties, H. F. B.

Michigan Law Review

The historical classification of actions for personal injuries as transitory imposes no limitation upon the prosecution of foreign suits, either by reference to the residence of the parties or the place in which the action arises. Whenever jurisdiction of the person of the defendant is obtained, the power to hear and determine this type of tort action inheres in every court having jurisdiction of the subject matter. An extreme application of the doctrine of the transitory character of personal actions is not infrequently permitted under the statutes as to venue, wherever suits between parties, all of whom are nonresidents of …

Limitation Of Diversity Jurisdiction In Cases Affecting Foreign Corporations, Gustavus Ohlinger

Michigan Law Review

On February 29, 1932, President Hoover sent to the Senate and House of Representatives a message recommending that the jurisdiction of federal courts based on diversity of citizenship be modified by "providing that where a corporation, organized under the laws of one State, carries on business in another State it shall be treated as a citizen of the State wherein it carries on business as respects suits brought within that State between it and the residents thereof arising out of the business carried on in such State."

Foreign Consul - Exemption From Suit In State Courts, Julius I. Puente

Michigan Law Review

In a recent case decided in California the defendant, De Besa, and others, were licensed brokers, and in that character acted as fiscal agents for the sale of the stock of a certain California corporation. Plaintiff sued to rescind the contract for misrepresentation. Neither at the time suit was filed, nor at any time prior to the day when he testified at the trial was the defendant, De Besa, a recognized consular officer; but it seems (on this point the facts of the case are very vague) that on the date of the trial and at the time of the …

Equity-Injunction-Enjoining Suits In Another State

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Courts-Removal Of Causes-Jurisdictional Amount

Michigan Law Review

Two suits for personal injuries, in each of which a claim for $5,000 was made, were removed to the federal court by defendant. Plaintiff's counsel in his opening statement said that as the result of the injuries one plaintiff was unable to work for two weeks and visited his doctor seven times and that the other was away from work for three weeks and also saw his doctor seven times. The wages of the first plaintiff were $55 a week; those of the second averaged $75 a week. He further stated that the injuries were not permanent, and that, except …

Broad Counterclaims As Means Of Obtaining Jurisdiction Over Nonresidents

Michigan Law Review

Broad counterclaim statutes are desirable because they allow cross demands to compensate each other, and because they avoid multiplicity of suits. These two advantages are alone sufficient to justify broad counterclaims, but there is a further advantage in that a broad counterclaim statute permits a resident in a suit brought against him by a nonresident to set up any independent claim against that nonresident which-he may have without prosecuting a separate action. Not only is it a heavier expense to bring a separate action, but it is often impossible to do so without going to the domicil of the nonresident …