Litigation Commons^™

Agenda: Federal Lands, Laws And Policies And The Development Of Natural Resources: A Short Course, University Of Colorado. School Of Law, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources: A Short Course (Summer Conference, July 28-August 1)

Even before the [Natural Resources Law] Center was established [in the fall of 1981], the [University of Colorado] School of Law was organizing annual natural resources law summer short courses. To date four programs have been presented:

- July 1980: "Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources"

- June 1981: "Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues"

- June 1982: "New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: lnterbasin Transfers"

- June 1983: "Groundwater: Allocation, Development and Pollution"

(Reprinted from Resource Law Notes, no. 1, Jan. 1984, at 1.)

Instructors for this conference included University …

The Jurisdictional Scheme On The Public Lands, David E. Engdahl

Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources: A Short Course (Summer Conference, July 28-August 1)

7 pages.

Personal Jurisdiction And Choice Of Law, James Martin

Michigan Law Review

The time has come for the Supreme Court to declare that a state may not apply its own law to a case unless it has the "minimum contacts" required by International Shoe for the exercise of specific personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Although the present state of the law is less than certain, the Supreme Court has not yet required that a state show it has minimum contacts with a defendant before applying its law. As a result, in some cases where a state has obtained personal jurisdiction because of a defendant's contacts unrelated to the case - contacts such …

Proposed Citizens Right To Standing Act-Finding The Keys To Unlock The Courthouse Doors, Harold W. Wood, Jr.

Seattle University Law Review

Recent Supreme Court decisions severely restrict the right of citizens to litigate in federal courts. The Court's standing requirements not only limit the ability of citizens to successfully invoke federal court jurisdiction, but also confuse lower courts and litigants attempting to apply the requirements. Standing requirements have met with increasing criticism. And Congress is now considering legislative modification of standing doctrine. Unfortunately, the Court's employment of constitutional foundations in establishing current standing requirements imposes substantial roadblocks Congress must avoid to enact remedial standing legislation. This comment examines the constitutional and pragmatic difficulties of statutory modification of standing requirements and recommends …

On Reading Cramton, Currie & Kay -- Reflections And Prophecies For The Age Of Interest Analysis, Aaron Twerski

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Obtaining Personal Jurisdiction Over Alien Corporations--A Survey Of U.S. Practice, John D. Gleissner, David C. Veeneman, S. Rodgers Wheaton

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With the increase in international trade, civil litigation between persons of different nationalities has become increasingly important. Today alien and foreign corporations are being brought before American courts to defend actions arising out of products liability, contract, and tort. There is considerable authority holding alien and foreign corporations amenable to jurisdiction on the basis of a single act or business transaction. The states themselves are affecting international trade since state law is chosen to determine the amenability of alien and foreign corporations to suit in diversity actions in federal court.

This survey presents a cross-section of recent cases and attempts …

The Consumer Class Action, Arthur H. Travers Jr., Jonathan M. Landers

Publications

No abstract provided.

Jurisdiction--Libel--First Amendment's Role In Determining Place Of Trial In Libel Actions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The seeming unfairness of basing jurisdiction solely on such ordinarily inconsequential acts as mailing a newspaper into another state has troubled some courts. Traditionally, the validity of such a jurisdictional basis would be judged against the fourteenth amendment standard of "fair play." In several recent cases, however, courts have brought to bear constitutional standards of free speech as well as of fairness in dealing with the problem of jurisdiction over the out-of- state defendant in a libel action. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in deciding New York Times Co. v. Connor, ruled that "First Amendment considerations …

The Effect Of Diversity Jurisdiction On State Litigation

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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 …