Jurisdiction Commons^™

Conflict Of Laws-Limitation Of Actions-Determination Of Place Of Accrual Of Action To Enforce Liability Of Stockholders In Insolvent National Banks, Edwin F. Uhl S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Suits in equity were brought in the federal district courts of Ohio and Pennsylvania against resident shareholders of Banco Kentucky Company, a bank-stock holding corporation. The purpose of the litigation was to enforce an assessment under the National Bank Act on the shares of an insolvent national bank which Banco owned. Ohio and Pennsylvania have six year statutes of limitations on such an action. They also have borrowing statutes, barring suit on a cause of action no longer enforceable in the jurisdiction in which it arose. The bank had been authorized to conduct its activities in Louisville, Kentucky, had engaged …

Federal Courts-Forum Non Conveniens-Derivative Suits, Edward S. Tripp S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a resident of New York, and a policyholder in defendant Illinois corporation, brought a suit in the United States District Court in New York to force one of defendant's directors and another corporation to account to defendant for alleged waste of its corporate assets. Defendant moved for dismissal on the grounds that the suit would involve interference with the internal affairs of a foreign corporation, and that. the suit in New York would work great hardship, since the defendant would be required to transport many records and witnesses from Illinois to New York at great expense. The suit was …

Federal Courts-Forum Non Conveniens Applied In Negligence Action, Edward S. Tripp S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

ln a Federal District Court in New York, plaintiff, a resident of Virginia, sued defendant, a Pennsylvania corporation doing business in New York and Virginia, for negligent destruction of plaintiff's warehouse in Virginia. Defendant moved to dismiss on the ground that suit in New York would not be proper because neither plaintiff nor defendant was a resident of New York, the cause of action arose in Virginia, and because suit in New York would work great hardship on defendant since it would be unable to compel the attendance of material witnesses resident in Virginia, nor could it join, as defendant, …

Bankruptcy - Chapter X Reorganization - Power Of The Trustee To Sue In A Foreign Jurisdiction, Shubrick T. Kothe S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, trustees appointed under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act, as amended, by the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, sued defendants in the District Court for the Southern District of New York to recover corporate assets, alleging a conspiracy to defraud the debtor corporation. Jurisdiction was rested, not upon diversity of citizenship, but upon sections 2 and 102 of the Bankruptcy Act, and certain sections of the Judicial Code, not pertinent here. The district court dismissed the action for want of jurisdiction. On appeal, held, reversed. The reorganization trustee under Chapter X may maintain an action …

Corporations-Foreign Corporations-Jurisdiction In Derivative Suits, E. M. Deal S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

As an aftermath of the much publicized circus fire in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 6, 1944, owners of 37 per cent of the stock of the circus corporation brought a derivative action against the officers and directors alleging failure to observe proper precautions and asking that the corporation be indemnified for losses sustained and for an accounting for certain corporation funds spent for the benefit of one of the- defendant directors. The suit was instituted in New York where the corporation was licensed to do business although the circus was incorporated in Delaware, wintered in Florida, and the cause of …

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. …

Model Probate Code And Monographs On Probate Law: A Review, Russell Denison Niles

Michigan Law Review

The current volume in the Michigan Legal Studies, Problems in Probate Law: Model Probate Code, is an outstanding example of what can be achieved by the cooperation of a professional association and a well-financed and forward-looking law school. The Probate Division of the Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law of the American Bar Association initiated the project of preparing a model probate code and sponsored the project through to completion. The code is the Probate Division's proudest achievement. But the code would not have been possible without the Herculean labors of Professor Lewis M. Simes, Director of …

Historic Origins Of Admiralty Jurisdiction In England, Lionel H. Laing

Michigan Law Review

The process of the common law courts when resorted to by foreigners appears to have failed entirely to give redress. Arbitration and other treaties were tried without satisfaction. Finally, in 1337, Edward III found himself obliged to pay out of his own pocket for spoils committed upon Flemish, Genoese and Venetian merchants by his own subjects. This was no international gesture, for it was dictated by necessity, since the English monarch, engaged in a struggle with France, wished to retain the aid of his allies. It thus became urgent to suppress piracy, which was the plague of the Channel.

Conflict Of Laws-Statute Of Limitations-State Statute Binding On Federal Court In Equity Case When Sole Ground Of Jurisdiction Is Diversity Of Citizenship, Samuel D. Estep S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant trust company was trustee for enforcing the rights of noteholders of the Van Sweringen Corporation. When it became apparent that the Corporation could not meet its obligations, defendant company gave an option to noteholders to sell the notes for 50 per cent cash plus stock in the Van Sweringen Corporation. The donor from whom the plaintiff had received some of these notes as a gift had not accepted the exchange. Plaintiff brings suit for an alleged breach of trust. The circuit court of appeals held, reversing the summary judgment of the district court, "that in a suit brought on …

The Venue Of Probate And Administration Proceedings, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

With the division of each state into counties or districts and the creation in each such subdivision of some court for the probate of wills and the administration of estates, it became necessary to designate which of such courts should undertake these functions in a particular estate. It is not the purpose of this study to consider problems arising out of conflicts of jurisdiction as between states insofar as independent determinations of domicile of a decedent may be made. That a decedent died a resident of the state undertaking an administration upon his estate will be assumed; or, if he …

The Organization Of The Probate Court In America: Ii, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of the discussion which follows to consider how far the court organization in typical jurisdictions is adapted to a differentiation between contentious and noncontentious business. The sharp differentiation in English law will first be pointed out. Then the probate judicial organizations of various typical states will be considered in connection with the questions: How far have they retained the distinction between contentious and noncontentious business emphasized in the English system which served as their model? How far have they developed a basis of differentiation unlike the English model? The answer to these questions will involve some …

The Organization Of The Probate Court In America: I, Lewis M. Simes, Paul E. Basye

Michigan Law Review

This is a study of contemporary American legislation concerning probate courts, with particular reference to their jurisdiction over the probate of wills and the administration of estates of deceased persons.

By the term "probate courts" is meant all judicial tribunals which exercise such jurisdiction. As will subsequently appear, they are otherwise variously designated as surrogates' courts, orphans' courts, prerogative courts, courts of ordinary and county courts. In one state all the functions of probate and administration are exercised by courts of chancery. In other states, chancery has concurrent jurisdiction over many of these functions. Sometimes the register of probate exercises …

Service On Foreign Corporations After Withdrawal From The State, Alvin E. Evans

Michigan Law Review

It might reasonably be expected in this corporate age that the question of how service of process should be made upon foreign corporations would have been solved, especially in situations where the cause of action arose within the state and grew out of business done there. Such is not the case, at least respecting suits brought after the withdrawal of the corporation from the state on causes of action arising during the period that it did business there. That there is a conflict in the decisions seems to be due either to a difference inter se of the statutes under …

The Development Of The Massachusetts Probate System, Thomas E. Atkinson

Michigan Law Review

American lawyers and laymen alike take for granted a system of probate of wills and administration of decedents' estates under the supervision of a single tribunal usually called a probate court. We are familiar with the setting up of the will, appointment of the personal representative, filing of bond and inventory by the latter, granting of allowances for support of the family, notice to creditors to present their claims, and settlement of accounts of the administration, all accomplished by this court's orders or under its scrutiny. While real property is deemed to pass directly to the heirs or devisees, it …

Courts - Federal Courts - Diversity Of Citizenship Requirement - Persons Evacuated To Other States By Government Order, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs were United States citizens of Japanese ancestry domiciled in California. By order of the Western Defense Command, United States Army, they were removed to the Gila River Relocation Center, Arizona. Defendants were residents of California. After their relocation plaintiffs brought this action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California "to terminate trust, for an accounting, and for appointment of a receiver," and jurisdiction of the federal court was based solely on allegations of diversity of citizenship. Held, action dismissed for want of jurisdiction. A person moving under legal or physical compulsion, from his …

Workmen's Compensation - Admiralty Jurisdiction, Arthur B. Lathrop

Michigan Law Review

The deceased, a structural steelworker, was employed to dismantle an abandoned drawbridge which spanned a navigable river. At the time of the accident, he was examining steel which had been cut from the bridge and lowered into a barge used to haul it to the storage point and from this barge "he either fell or was knocked into the river." The company which employed him was a contributor to the Washington Compensation Fund, a compulsory act for employers engaged in the type of work for which the deceased had been employed. In this proceeding the widow appealed on writ of …

Constitutional Law-Saboteurs And The Jurisdiction Of Military Commissions, George T. Schilling

Michigan Law Review

The jurisdiction of military tribunals in the United States has troubled political and legal writers since the days of the Revolution. Decided cases are not numerous. The boundaries separating military and civil jurisdiction are not precise. Observations of the plight of oppressed peoples in other lands as well as the conception of total war and the course of action necessary for survival warrant a reexamination and reappraisal of our constitutional guarantees, which were in part based upon and reflect a fear of tyrannical military rule. A pronouncement of the Supreme Court of the United States in this field is, therefore, …

Federal Courts - What Is An Equitable Claim To Real Property Within The Meaning Of Section 57 Of The Judicial Code?, Charles J. O'Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, an Ohio corporation, was the lessee of land in Kentucky. It entered into a contract with defendant lessor, a resident of the District of Columbia, to renew the lease. Defendant failed to carry out his agreement, and plaintiff" sued for specific performance of the contract to lease in the United States District Court for Eastern Kentucky, jurisdiction being based on diversity of citizenship. Plaintiff was unable to obtain personal service upon defendant, but obtained service by publication under section 57 of the Judicial Code, which authorizes the court to take jurisdiction and to allow service by publication in "any …

Labor Law - Jurisdiction Of Courts Over Actions By Member Against Union - Necessity Of Exhausting Trade Union And Adminstrative Remedies, John W. Potter

Michigan Law Review

In cases involving the discipline of union members by a trade union, and the member's right of redress for such disciplinary action, one of the most consistently quoted maxims is that the remedies offered by the union must be exhausted before the court will assume jurisdiction. Imbued with the desire to do justice, courts have made many exceptions to the general rule, and the problem presented is when the courts will require the exhaustion of internal remedies.

Executors And Administrators - Double Domicile - Inheritance Taxation Of Intangibles, Robert Walsh

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was appointed executor by a Georgia court which found that decedent had been domiciled in Georgia. Defendant was appointed administrator by a New York court which found that decedent was domiciled in New York. Plaintiff and defendant were interpleaded in the Delaware court by a Delaware corporation to determine who was entitled to shares of stock owned by decedent in the Delaware corporation. Plaintiff claimed that the Delaware court was required to give full faith and credit to the Georgia finding that decedent was domiciled in Georgia. The Supreme Court of Delaware found that decedent was domiciled in New …

Labor Law - National Labor Relations Act - Power Of State Court To Levy On Employer's Obligation Under Back Pay Order - Power Of Federal Court To Enjoin State Proceedings, Andrew J. Sawyer, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A decree of the federal circuit court had been issued enforcing an order of the National Labor Relations Board requiring respondent company to pay back wages to certain employees who had been discharged in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. While the sums payable under the award were still unliquidated, creditors and estranged wives of the employees brought suits in state courts on claims against the employees; and writs of attachment, process of garnishment and injunctive orders were issued by the state courts against respondent requiring it to pay portions of the awards to the creditors rather than the …

Constitutional Law - Due Process - Jurisdiction Of A State To Tax The Exercise Of A Power Of Appointment, Charles J. O'Laughlin

Michigan Law Review

Decedent's father, a resident of Massachusetts, by his last will created a trust of the residue of his estate, consisting of intangibles, and gave one share to decedent for life, with remainder to whomsoever decedent should appoint by will. The trust was administered in Massachusetts and there was no question as to that state's power to tax. Decedent, a resident of New York, appointed his share to his widow. The New York courts held that although the interest of the decedent fell within the provisions of the New York tax law imposing a tax upon the transfer of the net …

Labor Law - National Labor Relations Board - Conflicting Jurisdictional Areas Of National And State Labor Boards, Harry M. Nayer

Michigan Law Review

The!! National Labor Relations Board proceeded against defendant corporation, which was admittedly engaged in interstate commerce and subject to the National Labor Relations Act, to enforce its order enjoining the use of unfair labor practices and compelling the reinstatement of employees discharged because of union activities. Defendant attacked the board's jurisdiction on the ground that prior to the board's proceeding, the Wisconsin Labor Relations Board, acting under the Wisconsin labor law, had assumed jurisdiction of the case and had disposed of it, thus precluding subsequent action by the National Labor Relations Board. Held, the N. L. R. B. is …

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 …

Developments In The Conflict Of Laws, 1902-1942, Ernest G. Lorenzen

Michigan Law Review

The writer's interest in the conflict of laws coextends substantially with the life of the Michigan Law Review. This may be some excuse for attempting to trace some of the developments in this field in the intervening years. Let us consider first what has happened in this country and thereupon what has occurred in the rest of the world.

Admiralty - Uniformity Rule, William C. Whitehead

Michigan Law Review

From the words of the Federal Constitution the federal courts have spelled out the rule that maritime matters shall be governed by a uniform set of laws. These laws consist of the general maritime law at the adoption of the Constitution plus regulations subsequently promulgated by Congress. The decisions which have outlined the "uniformity rule" have concerned themselves with admiralty's interrelationship with interstate commerce. A recent application of the rule suggests another problem which uniformity is designed to circumvent--the difficulty of enforcing local rules against subjects on navigable waters. The federal courts have not always been precise in their application …

Federal Courts - Review Of State Courts Decision Involving Federal And Nonfederal Ouestions, John C. Johnston

Michigan Law Review

In exercising appellate jurisdiction over federal questions raised in the highest court of a state, the Supreme Court of the United States has refused to adopt the view that the existence of a federal question in the record or decision of the state court will empower it to decide every other question that is raised in the case. Correlated to this refusal to review the nonfederal question is the further self-imposed limitation that where the decision of the state court rests upon a nonfederal ground sufficient in itself to support the judgment of the state court, the Supreme Court will …

Conflict Of Laws - Workmen's Compensation - Local Statute As A Defense To A Local Cause Of Action, John C. Johnston

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff resided and was employed in Texas as the manager of a local store owned by a corporation which operated a chain of stores in various states. While visiting the main office of his employer in Illinois, he was injured through the negligence of the defendant taxicab company. After applying for and receiving compensation from his employer under the Workmen's Compensation Law of Texas, plaintiff then brought action in Illinois against defendant to recover damages for his personal injuries. Under the Workmen's Compensation Act of Texas an employee who has received compensation under the act may bring an action against …

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 …

Securities Legislation - Public Utility Holding Company Act Jurisdiction Of The Securities And Exchange Commission, Robert Kneeland

Michigan Law Review

In 1935 the International Paper and Power Company filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to secure permanent exemption from the provisions of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. While this application was pending, the company formed a plan for recapitalization of its stock, and applied to the commission for an order validating the plan. The report of the commission on this plan was approved by the requisite number of shareholders of the company, whereupon the commission entered an order purporting to exempt from the provisions of the act the stock and the warrants for stock …