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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 …

Can Affidavits Of Jurors To Show Misconduct Be Admitted For The Purpose Of Setting Aside A 'Quotient Verdict'?, Grover C. Grismore

Articles

A recent Oklahoma case raises one phase of a question which has been perplexing the courts ever since jury trials were invented, and in regard to which there is a great contrariety of opinion. After a verdict had been rendered for the plaintiff in a personal injury suit, the defendant made a motion for a new trial on the ground of misconduct of the jury, and in support of his motion offered the affidavits of several of the jurors to the effect that the verdict was determined upon as the result of an agreement whereby each one of the jurors …

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]

Note And Comment, Joseph H. Drake, Frederick R. Shearer, Jack M. Hendrick, Peter Balkema, Wilson W. Mills

Michigan Law Review

Pecote: A Bit of Legal Archaeology - -In the case of Pusey v. Pusey, I Vern. 273 (1684), the "bil was, that a -horn, which time out of mind had gone along with the plaintiff's estate, and was delivered, to his ancestors in ancient times to hold their land by, might be delivered to him; upon which horn was the inscription, viz. pecote this horn to hold huy thy land." The bill was demurred to in that the plaintiff did not by his bill pretend to be entitled to this horn, either as executor or devisee; nor had he in …

Cases On Procedure, Annotated. Code Pleading, Edson R. Sunderland

Books

“In the present volume on Code Pleading, the editor has aimed to present the subject, in all of its more important features, as a complete working system of pleading. The code has frequently been treated as the mere ‘antithesis’ of common law pleading, and this has resulted in throwing the subject completely out of balance by unreasonably extending the discussion of those elements which are ‘characteristic’ of the code, while unduly restricting or entirely ignoring those principles which the code shares with the common law….

“The student should be able to obtain a clear conception of the system as a …

Directing A Verdict For The Party Having The Burden Of Proof, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

The practice of moving for a directed verdict is the modern substitute for the old demurrer to the evidence. The reason for its development at the expense of the older procedure is not far to seek. The demurrer to the evidence was in the first place cumbersome and difficult to draw, for it was required to contain a full written recital of all the facts shown in evidence by the opposite party, together with all reasonable inferences favorable to the party who introduced the evidence.1 The preparation of such a demurrer usually required the expenditure of much time and labor.

Note And Comment, Ralph W. Aigler, Wilson W. Mills, Sidney E. Doyle, Joseph J. Kennedy

Michigan Law Review

The Renvoi Theory Repudiated as a Test for Determining the Negotiability of a Note - A recent case decided by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma (Bell v. Riggs, 127 Pac. 427) involving, among others, a question as to what law governs the negotiability of a note made in one State and payable in another, though of little intrinsic value so far as that point is concerned, is of some interest because the attorney for the holder of the note made a curious attempt to adapt the renvoi theory to his case. The term renvoi is used as a convenient descriptive …

Note And Comment, Sigmund W. David, Newton K. Fox, Harold R. Curtis, Aquilla C. Lewis, Albert R. Dilley

Michigan Law Review

Civil Liability for False Testimony; Review by the Courts of the Decisions of the Land Department; Right of One Partner to Sue His Co-Partners in Conversion; Does a Tax Deed, Void on it Face, Give Color of Title; Interference With Employment by Trade Union;

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

Note And Comment, Gordon W. Stoner, Sigmund W. David, Victor R. Jose Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The Law School; Pleading Estoppel; Libels on Person and on Property; The Conflict Between a Patentee's Right to Monopoly and a State Anti-Monopoly Statute

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Attachment--Power of Notary Public to Take Affidavit Where He is an Attorney for One of the Parties; Bankruptcy--Effect of Discharge--Res Adjudicate; Bills and Notes--Presentment and Demand by Telephone; Constitutional Law--Commerce--State Regulation of Interstate Telegrams; Constitutional Law--community Property--Alienation Without Consent of Wife; Corporations--Criminal Responsibility--Imputation of Intent and Knowledge; Corporations--Dividends--Compulsory Declaration; Corporations--Stockholder's Right to Examine Books--Motive; Easements--Grants for Pipe Lines--Rights Acquired--Telephone Line; Evidence--Character of Disbarment Proceedings--Use of Deposition; Evidence--Uncorroborated Testimony of an Accomplice; Fraudulent Conveyances--Voluntary Conveyances--Solvency and Insolvency of Grantor; Homestead--When Liable for Debts; Husband and Wife--Exception to Presumption of Coercion--House of Ill Fame; Injunction--Action on Note by Attorney Against Client--Remedy at …

Liquidated Damages And Estoppel By Contract, Joseph H. Drake

Articles

In the last edition of "Sedgwick's Elements of the Law of Damages" the author says (p. 232) that the subject of liquidated damages has been put in a new light by the two cases of the Sun Printing and Publishing Association v. Moore1 and the Clydebank R. &S. Co. v. Castaneda,2 and that they may be expected to have a considerable effect upon the further development of the law on the subject. The learned author then presents the old canons of interpretation with full illustration from the cases, followed by the citation of the decisions above mentioned, and concludes that …

Quasi-Contractual Obligations Of Municipal Corporations, Jerome C. Knowlton

Articles

We have constructive fraud, constructive trusts, constructive notice, and why not constructive contract, a contractual obligation existing in contemplation of law, in the absence of any agreement express or implied from facts? With this apology we shall use the term quasi contract as covering an obligation created by law and enforceable by an action ex contractu. We are not for the present interested in the circumstances which may give rise to this obligation as between individuals; nor as between an individual and a private corporation, or quasi public corporation, so-called, as a railroad or other public utility. In these cases …

Pleading Estoppel, W. Gordon Stoner

Articles

No subject is fraught with more difficulties for the pleader than that of estoppel. The problems of "when" and "how" to plead seem never so perplexing as when they arise in connection with this subject. That these problems are not confined to any day or age is evidenced by the reports from the time of Lord COKE down to the latest advance sheets of the present day reporter systems, and the lawyers of no generation have been wholly agreed on their solution. No system of pleading yet established has been free from these questions and with each general change in …

Liability For Accidents In Aerial Navigation, Simeon E. Baldwin

Michigan Law Review

It cannot be long before the American courts will be called upon to decide whether, under the principles of the common law, aeronauts, who cause damage by a descent to the earth, are liable at all events, or only when chargeable with negligence or want of skill. Is there a right to navigate the air, corresponding to the right to navigate the sea? ·

Note And Comment, Henry M. Bates, Edson R. Sunderland, Harry W. Isenberg, James H. Brewster

Michigan Law Review

The Right of Privacy at Common Law; Limitation of a Carrier's Liability for Negligence; Validity of Corporate By-Law Vesting in Directors the Discretionary Power of Denying Stockholders the Right to Examine the Corporate Books; A Single Action of Successive Actions for a Nuisance; Status of One Holding Office Under an Unconstitutional Statute; Two Recent Decisions Preventing the Presbyterian Re-Union

Contract Limitations Of The Common Carrier's Liability, Edwin C. Goddard

Articles

When Mr. Justice NELSON, in the New Jersey Steam Navigation Company v. Merchants Bank, speaking of the power of a common carrier by special agreement to restrict his obligation, said for the court: "We are unable to perceive any well founded objection to the restriction," he opened the way for an amount of litigation which, in volume and expense, both to carriers and shippers, scarcely finds its equal on any other question. The Supreme Court of North Carolina was well within the limit when it said: "The right of a common carrier to limit or diminish his general liability by …

Statutory Abolition Of Defense Of Insanity In Criminal Cases, John R. Rood

Articles

The great lengths to which the defense of insanity has been carried in homicide cases has induced numerous legislative attempts to abolish the evil; and the fate which such legislation has met and deserves at the hands of the courts is a matter of considerable interest.

The German Law-Suit Without Lawyers, Simon E. Baldwin

Michigan Law Review

As in the Roman practice, during the formulary period, there were two judicial stages to every law-suit, one in which the issue was determined and: the mode of trial directed, and another for the trial itself, so there are two judicial stages to every German law-suit. In the first, the court finds out what is really in controversy; in the second is the trial. In most cases there must be written pleadings drawn by lawyers, and a trial conducted by lawyers. A plaintiff is not allowed to conduct his own cause in any of the higher courts. But the plaintiff …

Note And Comment, Edward S. Rogers, Horace Lafayette Wilgus, Edward A. Macdonald, Floyd Olds, J. Fred Bingham, Michael F. Shannon, Sidney F. Duffey

Michigan Law Review

The Doctrine of Unfair Trade; Valuing Property and Franchises of Public Service Corporations for Fixing Rates; Right of the Interstate Commerce Commission to Adduce Testimony; Rule in Shelley's Case controls Estate Created by Deed to Trustee; The Right of the Garnishee to Dispose of Goods in His Possession While the Litigation is Pending; The Police Power, Billboards and Sky Signs; How Far the Record of Voting Machines is Conclusive;

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]

Note And Comment, Harry B. Hutchins, Stephen W. Downey, Francis B. Keeney, Clyde A. Dewitt

Michigan Law Review

Suits Against Trustee; Bills and Notes--Nonnegotiable Notes--Liability of Indorser; Bonds--Joint Stock Association--Negotiability; Carriers--Free Transportation as a Penalty; Carriers--Waiver of Stipulations as to Suits; Constitutional Law--Due Process of Law--Indeterminate Sentence Law; Constitutional Law--Corporations--Foreign Corporations--Exclusion For Removal of Cause to Federal Courts; Constitutional Law--Powers of Constitutional Convention; Criminal Law--Capital Offense--Bail--When Granted; Criminal Law--Murder--Elements of Murder; Damages--Action by Husband for Loss of Wife's Services; Damages--Failure to Deliver Telegram--Mental Suffering--Near Relative; Deeds--Joinder of Infant Husband; Divorce--Temporary Alimony and Counsel Fees--Appeal--Decisions Reviewable; Equity--Sworn Answers as Evidence--Proof to Overcome; Evidence--Opinion Evidence in Action for Libel; Evidence--The Best Evidence Rule; Fraudulent Conveyances--Delivery and Change of Possession of …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Aliens - Right to Take Land by Descent - Loss of State's Right to Escheat; Bailment - Liability of Incidental Bailee; Bankruptcy - Preferences - Franchise Tax; Bankruptcy - Transfers Required to be Recorded - Preferences; Bills and Notes - Bona Fide Purchaser - Notice of Want of Power in Transferrer; Bills and Notes - Unrestricted Negotiability of Bills of Lading; Constitutional Law - Commerce Clause - Statute Relating to Interstate Carriers as Employers; Constitutional Law - Indeterminate Sentence Law; Courts - Rules of Property - Stare Decisis; Criminal Law - Exclusion of Public from Trials; Criminal Law - Impeachment …

The Standard Oil Fine, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

Articles

August 3, 1907, Judge Landis, in the United States District Court, for the Northern District of Illinois, sentenced the Standard Oil Co. to pay the largest fine ever inflicted upon any offender.1 The suit was an indictment on 1,903 counts for violations of the Elkins Rebate Law in receiving concessions on the movement of 1,903 cars of oil from Whiting, Indiana, to East St. Louis, Illinois, and from Chappell, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, during the eighteen months between September I, 1903, and March 1, 1905. Four hundred and forty-one counts were withdrawn as not necessarily involved in this case. …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Attorney--disbarment for Malpractice; Bills and Notes--Certification of Check; Bills and Notes--consideration--Illegal Use of Proceeds--Sunday Contracts; Bills and Notes--Notice of Protest; Carrier--Invalid Ticket--Tender of Cash Fare--Ejection of Passenger; Common Carriers--Express Companies--Municipal Tax on Delivery of Intoxicating Liquors--Mandamus to Compel Transportation; Common Carriers--Limitation of Liability by Special Contract--Hand Baggage; Constitutional Law--Obligation of Contract; Constitutional law--Privileges of Citizens--Interstate Commerce--Peddler's License; Corporations--conflict of Laws--Liability of Stockholders in Company Formed to Trade in a Foreign Country--Implied Authority to Pledge Personal Credit of Shareholders Under Foreign Law; Covenants--Privity of Estate; Criminal Law--False Pretenses--Post payable Check; Criminal Law--Presumption from Identity of Names; Deeds--Capacity of Grantor as Compared …

The Compensation Of Medical Witnesses, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

The power to compel testimony is inherent in every court, for without it justice could constantly be thwarted. Generally all persons may be compelled to give evidence that is relevant to the matter in controversy. If, therefore, a person who has been duly summoned as a witness at a particular trial absents himself therefrom, without just cause, or attending, refuses to give evidence or to answer questions when directed so to do by the court, he is liable to punishment for contempt.1 But there are limitations upon the general rule, some based upon principles of legal policy and some upon …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Adverse Possession--Boundaries--Mistake; Attachment--Fraudulent Conveyance--Damages for Breach of Promise of Marriage; Bailments--Liability of Private Carrier on a Special Contract; Bailments--Loss of Goods Resulting from Violation of Ordinance; Constitutional Law--Equal Protection of the Laws--Due Process--State's control of Fish and Game; Contributory Negligence--Passenger on Car Platform; Conveyance--Standing Timber--Recording--Bona Fide Purchaser; Deeds--Building Restrictions--Easements; Deeds--Rule in Shelley's Case; Equity--Mistake of Fact--Negligence; Evidence--Photograph--X-Ray; Executors and Administrators--Liability of Executrix to Account fo rTrust Estate Held by Her Testator; Foreign Corporations--Interstate Commerce; Garnishment--Situs of Debt; Gift-Parent and Child--Undue Influence--Presumption; Guardian and Ward--Filling of Blank After Execution; married Women--Separate Estate--Note and Mortgage to Secure Husband's Debt; Master and Servant--Independent …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Adoption--Inheritance by Representation; Adverse Possession--Effect of Former Judgment--Statute of Limitations; Adverse Possession--Statute of Limitations--Jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior; Concealed Property--Finder's Rights--Treasure Trove; constitutional Law--Eminent Domain--Taking Private Property for Private Use; Constitutional Law--Penalty for Breach of Labor contracts; Contract--Mutuality--Specific Performance; Corporations--contracts Between Corporations Having Common Shareholders and Officers--Suit in Name of Stockholder; Corporations--Liability of Officers--Negligent management--contracts Between Corporations Having Common Officers; Deed--Insane Person--Voidable Assignment; Ejectment--Impairment of Contract Obligation; Evidence--Confession--Admission; Evidence--Letters of Administration--How Far Evidence of Widowhood; Evidence--Personal Injury--Physical Examination of Plaintiff; Foreign Corporations--Business in Other States--License--Purpose of Incorporation--Evasion of State Laws; Fraud--Doctrine of Reasonable Inquiry; Guardian--Appointment--Jurisdiction--Sale of Ward's Lands; …

Note And Comment, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Law Review; Citizenship and Identity of Corporations Incorporated in Two States; Duty of Court to Limit by Instruction the Effect of Evidence; Land Records as Notice of Chattel Mortgage; Appeal from a Satisfied Judgment to Avoid Estoppel; When Government Surveys are not Conclusive; Jurisdiction over the Ohio River;

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Administrator--Appointment of, on Disappearance of Person; Agency--collection of Notes--Possession of the Instrument--Apparent Authority; Appeal--Right to Appeal After Satisfaction of Judgment; Attorney and Client--divorce Cases--contingent Fees--Prevention of Reconciliation; Attorneys--disbarment--Attacking Honesty of Judge; Bankruptcy--city Taxes--Priority; Carriers--Death by Wrongful Act--Stipulations Avoiding Liability for Negligence Toward free Passenger--Validity and Effect; Carriers--signed Ticket not the Contract; Constitutional Law--Class Legislation--Use of Flag for Advertising Purposes; Constitutional Law--Jurisdiction of Equity to Try Title to Office--Injunction; Contract--Validity--Conditions Attached to Goods--Purchase by Retail Trader from Wholesale Trader with Notice; corporations--forfeiture of Charter--Mandamus; Corporations--Garnishment of Stockholder for Unpaid Subscription; Criminal Law--Self-Defense; Deeds--Delivery--Testamentary Disposition; Ejectment--Description--Verdict--Judgment; Ejectment--Equitable Title in Plaintiff; Evidence--Admissions--Abandoned Pleadings; …