Legal Profession Commons^™

Judicial Controls And The Civil Litigative Process: Discovery, Paul R. Connolly, Edith A. Holleman, Michael J. Kuhlman

Federal Judicial Center Reports

This report should be viewed as a beginning. It explores from one perspective the operation of the federal rules governing discovery as revealed in more than 7,000 docketed requests appearing in more than 3,000 terminated cases in six United States district courts, (A survey of practitioners in the six districts suggests that the docketed requests cover the great bulk of discovery activity.) The report is a continuation of the Center's District court studies Project, the first report of which (Case Management and Court Management in United States District Court) appeared several months ago.

Improving On The Contingent Fee, Kevin M. Clermont, John D. Currivan

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Two basic fees--contingent and hourly--dominate the variety of fees that lawyers charge clients for pursuing damage claims. Each of these two types has its advantages; each is plagued with substantial disadvantages. This Article proposes a new type of fee, one that preserves the respective advantages of the two present fees while minimizing their distinct disadvantages.

In essence, the proposed fee calls for the payment, on a contingent basis, of an amount computed by adding one component tied to hours worked and another component linked to amount recovered. The preferability and feasibility of this proposed fee argue for the abolishment, or …

Survey Of Developments In West Virginia Law: 1976

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Attorney-Client Privilege—Contempt: The Dilemma Of Non-Disclosure Of Possibly Privileged Information.—Dike V. Dike, 75 Wash. Dec. 2d 1, 448 P.2d 490 (1968), Anon

Washington Law Review

A recent Washington case examines the attorney's dilemma. In Dike v. Dike, the Washington Supreme Court reviewed a summary contempt conviction imposed upon an attorney for refusing to reveal the whereabouts of his client, the defendant in a pending divorce action. The client had removed her daughter from the temporary court-awarded custody of a third party, and would not return the child. Having failed to answer a motion to hold his client in contempt for violating the custody order, the attorney was directed to appear, and either produce the defendant or show cause why he could not produce her. The …

Depositions And Power Of Notary To Punish For Contempt In Ohio, Richard W. Schwartz

Cleveland State Law Review

The deposition plays an important role in the modern-day practice of law. The enormous backlog of cases in the courts requires preservation of precious testimony during the long wait prior to trial. In addition, the deposition is a valuable tool in evaluating a case, especially during settlement negotiations. Finally, the deposition is a prime means of discovering vital information. The notary public presides at the deposition, and is invested with quasi-judicial powers, including the power to punish for contempt. This paper will briefly survey both the procedural aspects of the deposition and the quasi-judicial power of the notary public.

Abstracts Of Recent Cases, Charles David Mcmunn

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Lecture On Appellate Advocacy, Karl N. Llewellyn

Addison Harris Lecture

No abstract provided.

Evidence - Rules Of Evidence In Disbarment, Habeas Corpus, And Grand Jury Proceedings, Paul S. Gerding S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to examine three common-law proceedings in which rules of evidence are generally not governed by statute, to determine whether the liberalism expressed in administrative hearings has extended to non-statutory areas. Specifically, to what extent have the exclusionary rules of evidence, which rest on the theory of preventing the jury from being misled (the "jury theory"), been abandoned in disbarment, habeas corpus, and grand jury proceedings?

Evidence - Rules Of Evidence In Disbarment, Habeas Corpus, And Grand Jury Proceedings, Paul S. Gerding S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to examine three common-law proceedings in which rules of evidence are generally not governed by statute, to determine whether the liberalism expressed in administrative hearings has extended to non-statutory areas. Specifically, to what extent have the exclusionary rules of evidence, which rest on the theory of preventing the jury from being misled (the "jury theory"), been abandoned in disbarment, habeas corpus, and grand jury proceedings?

Vanderbilt: Cases And Materials On Modern Procedure And Judicial Administration, Charles W. Joiner

Michigan Law Review

A Review of CASES AND MATERIALS ON MODERN PROCEDURE AND JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION by Arthur T. Vanderbilt.

Attorney And Client - Malpractice - Accrual Of Action - Statute Of Limitations

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, in March, 1934, while in the employ of a manufacturing concern, suffered severe injuries. In September, 1935, he employed the defendant, an attorney, to present and prosecute a claim for compensation. The claim was filed in March, 1937; it was dismissed by the Industrial Commission on the ground that it was barred by the two-year statute of limitations governing such claims. Apparently the attorney, continuing his efforts on behalf of his client, persuaded the employer to make a voluntary settlement, for the plaintiff alleges that, in May of 1940, he endorsed the employer's check over to the attorney, accepted …

Discovery Before Trial, George Ragland Jr.

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The purpose of this volume is to present in a convenient and usable form a comparative study of the expedients which are being employed in various American and English jurisdictions for the purpose of facilitating pre-trial practice, to describe the practical operation of the different devices, and to show their effect upon the general administration of justice. An analysis of the statutory and case law has been combined with data which shows the practical operation of the procedure in the everyday work of the lawyer and judge. Field studies were made by the author in different cities of the following …

Process--Privilige Of Nonresident Attorney

Michigan Law Review

The defendant, an attorney at law and resident of Minnesota, came into Wisconsin to take depositions to be used in suits pending in Minnesota. Upon arrival he and the witnesses were served with an injunction restraining the taking of the depositions. While awaiting a hearing upon the injunction, in which he intended to appear in his own behalf and as attorney for the witnesses, personal service of a Wisconsin summons in the instant action was made upon him, naming as defendants himself and the law firm of which he was a member. A motion to set aside the service of …

A Foundation For Procedural Reform, Hugh Evander Willis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Trial Brief, Edson R. Sunderland, Clifford W. Crandall

Book Chapters

From the chapter Introduction: "The object of the preceding chapters is to show the brief maker where to find the material for his brief, how to find it, and how to select out of the mass of material found that which will be suitable for his use.... The present purpose is to outline a course of investigation suitable to the preparation of a case for trial and to suggest methods of making the material collected during the search for authorities readily available." [p.417-418]

The Reform Of Civil Procedure, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

Professor Sunderland addresses the pernicious involvement of legislators in legal reform, contrary to the English model. This duty should be left to those who know the Law better than any: "The courts constitute the judicial department of the state, and the judges who preside and the lawyers who practice in them are the selected group of trained men charged with the responsibility for administering the law."

An Inquiry Concerning The Functions Of Procedure In Legal Education, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

Procedure has always been the bete noire of the law school teacher. No other subject has developed such divergent opinions or such endless debates. None recurs with such periodic frequency and in no field of legal pedagogy has discussion seemed so barren of results. Three different general sessions of the Association of American Law Schools during the last ten years have been devoted largely or wholly to the subject of teaching procedure, and yet no substantial progress seems to have been made toward a standardized scheme of treatment. Individual teachers and schools have their individual views and policies, and they …

An Inquiry Concerning The Functions Of Procedure In Legal Education, Edson R. Sunderland

Other Publications

Procedure has always been the bete noire of the law school teacher. No other subject has developed such divergent opinions or such endless debates. None recurs with such periodic frequency and in no field of legal pedagogy has discussion seemed so barren of results. Three different general sessions of the Association of American Law Schools during the last ten years have been devoted largely or wholly to the subject of teaching procedure, and yet no substantial progress seems to have been made toward a standardized scheme of treatment. Individual teachers and schools have their individual views and policies, and they …

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). …

A Plan For The Reform Of Legal Procedure, Hugh Evander Willis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Patent Law, John Barker Waite

Books

The comparatively small size of the book is not due to any conscious superficiality of treatment nor omission of pertinent subject matter. It purports to cover only the substantive law of patents, their nature, validity, effect, and their characteristics as property. Matters of procedure in securing patents or suing on them, and the difficult subject of the amount of compensation recoverable by suit, would require a volume for themselves and are not included here. But of the matter which is included, it has been my desire to present every issue which has come before the courts....

This book is intended …

Our Game Of Legal Procedure, Hugh Evander Willis

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Trial Brief, Edson R. Sunderland

Book Chapters

From the chapter Introduction: "The object of the preceding chapters is to show the brief maker where to find the material for his brief, how to find it, and how to select out of the mass of material found that which will be suitable for his use.... The purpose of this lesson is to outline a course of investigation suitable to the preparation of a case for trial, and to suggest methods of making the material collected during the search for authorities readily available." [p.353]

Cases On Procedure, Annotated. Common Law Pleading, Edson R. Sunderland

Books

“No subject is more intimately connected with the history and development of our law than common law pleading. In sharp contrast with the other great system of law, that founded by the Romans, the common law has not been the product of legislation, but of litigation. It has grown up in the atmosphere of courts of justice. Such a genesis would necessarily give it a strong procedural favor, and would tend to emphasize remedies at the expense of rights. Procedure might therefore be expected to play a much larger part in the development of the common law than in the …

Cases On Procedure, Annotated. Trial Practice, Edson R. Sunderland

Books

“The present volume is intended to develop and disclose the rational basis for the main principles of practice employed in the trial of civil actions at law. Recourse has been had to the whole body of American case law, and the choice of cases has been determined by the clearness with which the court has shown a logical justification for the decision made….

“The cases have been very freely edited, and everything not germane to the subject for which the case was chosen has been omitted….” --Preface

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Bankruptcy--rights of Action Passing to Trustee--Injury to Property; Banks and Banking--Who May Question the Power of National Banks to Take Real Estate in Trust; Bills and Notes--Avoidance of Indorser's Liability by Fraudulent Representations of Indorsee; Carriers--Is the Ticket Conclusive Evidence of the Passenger's Right to be Carried?; Carriers--When does the Liability of a Carrier change to That of A Warehouseman?; Constitutional Law--Equal Protection of the Law--Right to Hunt and Fish; Constitutional law--Liberty and Freedom of Conscience--Right to Wear a Religious Garb in Public Schools--Power of the Legislature; Contracts--Implied Contracts--Persons in Family Relations; Contributory Negligence--Acts in Emergency--Emergency Caused by Party Injured--Saving …

The Trial Brief, Edson R. Sunderland

Book Chapters

Professor Sunderland writes in introduction to his chapter: "As this is not a book of practice, an extended discussion of the general subject of 'Preparation for Trial' would manifestly be out of place.... The purpose of this part is to outline a course of investigation suitable in preparing a case for trial and to suggest methods for making the materials so obtained readily available." [p.207]

Prosecuting And District Attorneys, Henry M. Bates

Book Chapters

Professor Bates defines his subject matter "Prosecuting and district attorneys are judicial officers of the state, within their respective districts, although not officers of the state at large. Under some statutes they are county officers, while under others they are not, but are circuit or district officers.... Like other attorneys, prosecuting and district attorneys are officers of the court; but they are not a part of the court because of their office." A two-page outline precedes the entry.

Process, Edson R. Sunderland

Book Chapters

Professor Sunderland's chapter on Process: "Process, in the sense in which it is employed in the present title, means the writ, notice, or other formal writing, issued by authority of law, for the purpose of bringing defendant into a court of law to answer plaintiff's demands in civil action, although in a more technical and limited sense the term is frequently applied only to those writs or writings which issue out of a court." The chapter features an 8-page outline introductory.

Pleading, Edson R. Sunderland

Book Chapters

Professor Sunderland's 780-page chapter on Pleadings: "Pleadings are statements, in logical and legal form, of causes of action and grounds of defense, terminating in a single proposition affirmed on one side and denied on the other. They are intended to form the foundation of the proof to be submitted on the trial, and should advise the parties to an action what the opposite party relies upon either as a cause of action or defense or objection as the case may be." Preceded by a 41-page outline.