Jurisprudence Commons^™

The Varying Meaning And Legal Effect Of The Word "Void", Abraham J. Levin

Michigan Law Review

To interpret properly what has been said or written necessitates our going beyond the dictionary into the sphere of action and reality. In its narrowest sense the, meaning of a word is the single effect which is given to it in the specific case. Insofar as nature repeats itself are we able to build up concepts and symbols which function in substantially the same way in different cases. But the mind must always be ready to discard an accepted definition of a word symbol for the particular legal effect which the circumstances demand. The same word or symbol with the …

The Meaning Of "Heirs" In Willsa Suggestion In Legal Method, Lewis M. Simes, Lorentz B. Knouff, George E. Leonard Jr.:

Michigan Law Review

A major task of the lawyer is the prediction of judicial action. No less than a quarter of a century ago Justice Holmes referred to the law as a body of "systematized prediction." Today legal scholars are not content to base their predictions solely upon the body of rules announced in judicial opinions. By means of elaborate fact studies they have sought to ascertain how rules of law actually function in society. Not only have these studies dealt with problems of procedure and the administration of courts, they have also invaded the fields of commercial and property law. Among such …

Constitutional Law-Stare Decisis

Michigan Law Review

The defendant corporation, a lessee of school lands from the state of Oklahoma, protested the right of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to tax its net income. Held, under the rule of Gillespie v. Oklahoma, the income cannot be taxed without interfering with a state instrumentality. Four dissenting justices-Stone, Brandeis, Roberts, and Cardozo--admitted the applicability but denied the wisdom of the Gillespie case and the inability of the court to overrule itself, in Burnet v. Coronado Oil and Gas Co.

The Case Method Of Studying Law, Henry Rottschaefer

Michigan Law Review

A review of THE CASE METHOD OF STUDYING LAW By Jacob Henry Landman.

The Paradoxes Of Legal Science: A Review, Rousseau A. Burch

Michigan Law Review

This book by the distinguished Chief Judge of the New York court of appeals deals with difficulties of the judicial process when its function is creative; that is, when a judge makes law for novel situations.

The title of the book assumes there is a science of law, and the introduction takes analogues of physical science for a starting point. In physics there are rest and motion, static and dynamic ; in social affairs there are stability and changes, conservation and progress. In making decisions, the judge may be concerned with the yea of action in alteration, and the nay …

Juristic Idealism And Legal Practice, Joseph H. Drake

Michigan Law Review

The relation of the "idea" of just law to the "principles" [Grundsaetze] of just law and the "model" [Vorbild] of just law is somewhat difficult to grasp and Stammler's application of the idea, through the intermediate principles and model, to the practice of just law, has given much trouble to the critics. A rule of law may be thought of as a particular conclusion, a principle as a general conclusion, while a standard or norm is a means of reaching conclusions. This is of course the old logical division of conceptions into particular, general and universal, …

The Power Of The Written Assertion, Gustavus Ohlinger

Michigan Law Review

In his Outline of History Mr. Wells comments on the exaggerated estimate which people generally, through reading the Old Testament account, have come to entertain of the wisdom of Solomon and of the glory and prestige of the Israelitish Kingdom during his reign. By way of contrast, the facts, which are readily available and discernable even in the scriptural narrative, reveal this much advertised monarch as a rather insignificant chieftain and his kingdom as a pawn in the policies of his powerful neighbors-a striking example, according to Mr. Wells, of the power of the written assertion over realities in men's …

The Significance Of The Endowment, John M. Zane

Michigan Law Review

Engraven over the entrance to this building are the words "The Character of the Legal Profession Depends on the Character of the Law Schools. The Character of the Law Schools Forecasts the Future of America."

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Legal Standards And Ideals, Sir Paul Vinogradoff

Michigan Law Review

Provisions for the settling of conflicts constitute the greater part of any legal system. These conflicts are not entirely governed by self interest and the idea of ethical duty does not disappear from them: it asserts itself in the shape of the balance to be established ·by the court: while every litigant presses for the satisfaction of his own claims society is called upon to adjudicate fairly between the parties: the moral notion of justice appears as the impartial attribution of what everyone in society ought to have by right. We make distinctions between men in accordance with their greater …

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

The Machinery Of Procedural Reform, Edson R. Sunderland

Michigan Law Review

Much has been said and written about the imperfections of legal procedure. It is a subject of great interest and concern to the bar and to the public. Since rules of practice prescribe the conditions under which rules of law may be made operative, in so far as they fail of their purpose the law itself becomes ineffective. Lord Campbell is reported to have said that "The due distribution of justice depends more upon the rules by which suits are conducted than on the perfection of the code by which rights are defined."

Book Reviews

Michigan Law Review

A collection of book reviews by multiple authors.

Fundamextal Tendencies In Modern Jurisprudence, Rudolph Stammler

Michigan Law Review

Empiricism is a variety of skepticism. Both refuse to consider the possibility of a fundamental ordering of the mental life. But they are differentiated one from the other in the manner of working out this refusal.

Fundamental Tendencies In Modern Jurisprudence, Rudolf Stammler

Michigan Law Review

In his treatise on "CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY" (1904) Ward has collected no less than twelve meanings of the term "Sociology." He could undoubtedly have found more meanings for this iridescent word; all of which shows that the term has no significance whatsoever as a uniform characterization of a definite field of human knowledge. However, there has been very noticeable, running through these different meanings, one definite tendency. It is characterized by its very great reliance upon the methods of natural science in dealing with the physical world, and by certain far-reaching "analogies," by which modem jurisprudence is to be guided …

Fundamental Tendencies In Modern Jurisprudence, Rudolf Stammler

Michigan Law Review

The reception of Roman law presented new problems to jurisprudence.

At the end of the fifteenth century the reception of Roman law and canon law, together with the Lombard feudal law, was complete throughout the entire continent of Europe.

As a matter of fact, Roman law had come northward in the East from Constantinople at the same time that it was coming into Germany from the South and West; but that is for our question of no particular importance. The chief point is that everywhere there was the need of becoming familiar with this foreign law, so far as that …

The Law Book Of The Future, William W. Cook

Michigan Law Review

In an article published in November, 1922, in the American Bar Association Journal on the "Power and Responsibility of the American Bar and its Relations to Democratic Institutions," the author pointed out the achievements of the profession in developing the law to meet the political and industrial needs of the American people. There is still other important work for the profession to do. Blackstone's and Kent's Commentaries have been outgrown and there is an imperative demand for a comprehensive and practical American treatise on all law for the use of law students and lawyers, legislators and the educated classes generally. …

Ministerial And Discretionary Official Acts, Edwin W. Patterson

Michigan Law Review

Two recent cases, one in Michigan and one in Iowa, bring up again the insistent question of judicial control over administrative action and the oft-repeated distinction between "ministerial" and "discretionary" official acts.

Social And Economic Interpretation Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Robert Eugene Cushman

Michigan Law Review

For those who love precision and definiteness the question of the application of the Fourteenth Amendment to social and economic problems remains an irritating enigma. The judicial construction of due process of law and the equal protection of the law has from the first discouraged systematic analysis and defied synthesis. More than one writer has emerged from the study of the problem with a neat and compact set of fundamental principles, only to have the Supreme Court discourteously ignore them in its next case. But paradoxical as it may seem, those who long for a wise and forward-looking solution of …

Book Reviews, Edwin W. Patterson, Edson R. Sunderland, C E. Griffin

Michigan Law Review

The title of this brilliant little volume might, more accurately, have been, "The Spirits of the Common Law," for it depicts the common law as the battleground of many conflicting spirits, from which a few relatively permanent ideas and ideals have emerged triumphant. As a whole, the book is a pluralistic-idealistic interpretation of legal history. Idealistic, because Dean Pound finds that the fundamentals of the 'common law have been shaped by ideas and ideals rather than by economic determinism or class struggle; he definitely rejects a purely economic interpretation of legal history, although he demands a sociological one (pp. io-ii). …

Net Income And Judicial Economics, Henry Rottschaefer

Michigan Law Review

A legal system does not function in a vacuum of abstractions. It is part of a general institutional framework of an organized society. Its content is determined by concrete individual and social needs and activities. Hence modern jurisprudence conceives of law as a means for securing interests. The appraisal of its rules and principles requires an evaluation of the significant elements of the situation to which they apply. A narrow, complacent formalism is the penalty of failure in this regard. No one would deny the emphasis modern society places upor its commercial and industrial interests, nor the many points of …

Book Reviews, Nathan Isaacs, Horace Lafayette Wilgus, Arthur H. Basye, Leonard D. White, Victor H. Lane, Edwin D. Dickinson

Michigan Law Review

What does a judge do when he decides a case? It would be interesting to collect the answers ranging from those furnished by primitive systems of law in which the judge was supposed to consult the gods to the ultra-modern, rather profane system described to me recently by a retrospective judge: "I make up my mind which way the case ought to be decided, and then I see if I can't get some legal ground to make it stick." Perhaps the widespread impression is the curiously erroneous one lampooned by Gnaeus Flavius (Kantorowitz). The judge is supposed to sit at …

Book Reviews, Joseph H. Drake

Michigan Law Review

The appearance in permanent form of these five lectures, which were first published in the Fortnightly Review in 1878 and i879, will be welcomed by all interested in the history of jurisprudence, since they put forth in most attractive form several of the basic principles of the subject as they were understood by learned English jurists forty years ago. They are reissued in practically unchanged form, with annotations by Professor Lefroy, whose untimely death apparently occurred before the volume was printed, though there is no notice of that sad event in the book itself.

Liability Of A Carrier Under A Bill Of Lading When The Goods Have Not Been Received By The Carrier, H S. Ross

Michigan Law Review

The coming into force on January I, 1917 in the United States of the FXDMAL BILL Or LADING AcT1 has given new interest to a question which was at one time much debated, namely: should a carrier whose shipmaster or agent has signed a bill of lading be liable to an innocent holder for value of such bill of lading if the carrier can show that the goods were never shipped?

Equity In Rem, Edgar N. Durfee

Michigan Law Review

Perhaps the most important legal publication of the past year is a monograph, by Charles Andrews Huston, which is published as the first volume of Harvard Studies in jurisprudence. It is inscribed as a dissertation submitted to the faculty of Harvard Law School in compliance with the terms of the Research Scholarship, and is dedicated to Roscoe Pound, to whom, the author tells us in his preface, he is indebted for the suggestion of the field of investigation, for constant inspiration, and for concrete suggestion and criticism.

Note And Comment, Joseph H. Drake, Hollis Harshman, Marcy K. Brown, Leslie C. Mcclelland

Michigan Law Review

The Law School opens with an attendance of 500, the decrease from last year's numbers (on account of the increased requirements for admission) being less than was anticipated.

English Judicature Act Of 1873, Willis B. Perkins

Michigan Law Review

It seems to be the general impression that reform in judicial procedure is a new and radical thing in the history of jurisprudence. This is far from the fact. It is as old as jurisprudence itself. From Solon to Justinian, from Justinian to the Magna Charta, from the Magna Charta to Bentham, from Bentham to Field, and in every civilized country, radical changes have taken place from time to time, touching both procedure and substantive law. Court systems have been codified, systematized and rearranged to meet advancing and changing social and industrial conditions. From the religious ceremonies, constituting the methods …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Appeal and Error--Meaning of "Person Aggrieved"; Bankruptcy--dower Rights of Bankrupt's Wife; Bankruptcy--Mechanic's Lien--Set Off; Bills and Notes--Usury--when note is Void as to Both Principal and Interest; Boundaries--Meander Line--Riparian Rights; Citizenship--Marriage of Alien Woman to a Citizen--Naturalization; Constitutional law--Constitutionality of Office of Supreme Judge--Construction of State Constitution; Constitutional Law--Full Faith and Credit--Chancery Power to Affect Foreign Property; Constitutional Law--Police Power--License and Registration of Automobiles; Contracts--Restraint of Trade--Limitation as to Time; Damages--Breach of Warranty of Title--Attorney's Fees and Costs; Deeds--Support and Maintenance as Consideration--Condition Subsequent; Evidence--Crimes Affecting Credibility of Witnesses; Evidence--Letters Between Husband and Wife--Not Privileged in Hands of Third Parties; Husband …

Roman Law And Mohammedan Jurisprudence, Part 3, Theodore P. Ion

Michigan Law Review

After having, in a summary manner, reviewed the historical connection existing between the Roman and Mohammedan laws, and examined the social condition of their respective people, we now come to our last theme, namely, the comparison of their laws proper, which will show their similarity in more than one point. This examination-which will be preceded by an explanation of jurisprudence in both systems and an attempt to show the likeness of their respective jurisconsults-will be limited to certain subjects of personal law and contracts, and concluded with a few observations on judicial organization.

Roman Law And Mohammedan Jurisprudence, Part 2, Theodore P. Ion

Michigan Law Review

In examining the early life of the Romans and comparing it with the social condition of the people of the Arabian peninsula in the pre-Islamic times, who are rightly considered the best type of the race, amongst those who embraced the faith of Mohammed, we are immediately struck with the great similarity that existed between the Roman gens; or the Greek ϒένος; and the Arabian Akila, though it cannot thereby be concluded that this likeness necessarily denotes a descent from the same stock. A distinguished French orientalist, in observing this striking similarity, ventured to conjecture that both …