6 (15)
Spent 24 years practicing law; not in courthouse for the latter part - "business lawyer"
Last 8 years (until pub of book) - judge of Supreme Bench - 5 in civil courts, 1 in equity, 2 in criminal
22 notebooks of 500 pages each on all cases heard before him
8 (17)
Johnson vs. Robinson - automobile accident - 1931 p 14 (23)
9 (18)
Ulman recognizes Johnson - plaintiff - a young lawyer he likes - gives impression of honesty; becomes partisan towards him - Johnson in the hospital for 4 weeks, left hand badly damaged - 1/3 of the hand removed in surgery; hand pretty much useless p 10 (19) - Ulman would have given verdict: "Plaintiff, $15,000" but jury gives verdict for the defendant p 12 (21) - "Johnson" is Calvin E. Cohen p (2)
40 (49)
A case in which Ulman disagreed with the jury on the verdict but $72,000 was awarded - still pending on appeal
Another case - Ulman would have awarded $75,000 but the jury only awarded $35,000 - jury compromise
42 (51)
Personal injury case - 50 year old woman, superficial injuries but great suffering - no objective evidence of them - traumatic neurosis
Another similar case but suffering was not as lengthy
43 (52)
Personal injury case - younger woman, head injury, fractured skull; verdict of $5,000 for plaintiff
45 (54)
Personal injury case - actress - vaudeville, concert - "The Sweet Singer of the South" - January, 1928 - problems with "scrim-drop" - case heard June, 1929 - jury awarded $50,000; Ulman would have awarded $40,000 but anything up to $75,000 would not have been excessive p 51 (60) June 7, 1929 - appeal dismissed July, 1929 "Elinor Standish" of Huntsville, Al
52 (61)
"Paul Lacotti vs. Pennsylvania Railroad Company" June 4, 1932 - Lacotti 68 years old, been in US for 25 years, speaks no English - court interpreter - collision between fast passenger train and manure wagon - Ulman very nearly took the case from the jury (told them they had to decide for the defendant) p 65 (74) - jury awards plaintiff $1200 p 66 (75)
70 (79)
In one year, Ulman presided over 132 jury verdicts and took the case away from the jury 28 times
77 (86)
A juror remained in the courtroom during the noon recess and engaged in conversation with the mother of a little girl who was the plaintiff; mother showed little girl's scars to juror - jury returned substantial verdict in favor of the plaintiff - the only occasion in which a case over which Ulman presided was granted a new trial because of misconduct; defendant's lawyers and Ulman did not know of this misconduct until after the trial
78 (87)
"Law-docket-day" - 7 motions for new trials that had been tried in the past 14 days - only case Ulman would have decided differently than the jury, but a very close case - liability under a lease - Ulman impelled by emotion toward the landlord's side; a similar emotional drive impelled the jury to believe the tenant - motion for new trial overruled
80 (89)
Ulman never had a case when he felt compelled to reduce the amount awarded by a jury
83 (92)
Ulman writes letters to each of the 24 jurors asking them to fill out an anonymous questionnaire - mentions "Mr. Rigger"
95 (104)
Ulman, as a lawyer, represented a developer of real estate - he made a contract with a builder for the erection of a row of houses and obtained a bond from a bonding company to guarantee performance of the builder's contract - builder failed, developer forced to borrow money with which to finish the houses at his own expense - developer brought suit against the bonding company on its bond - numberless technical defenses were interposed and the trial of the case on its merits was delayed for two years - the bonding company won the case - primarily because the developer comitted suicide three weeks before the trial, overburdened with the debt and discouraged by the delays
98 (107)
Case between the owner of a yacht and a boat builder who had installed a new steering device; case partly about poor workmanship - 80 foot yacht - case involved only four to five hundred dollars and a "matter of principle" - yacht was in Norfolk at the time of the trial, so could not be inspected by judge and jury - 2 marine engineers, one explained better than the other
100 (109)
Fall, 1929 - receives inquiry from research worker at Johns Hopkins Instititute of Law concerning his practice of bringing counsel to the bench just before a trial to inquire about the possibility of settlement - unable to explain in 1929 - in 1930, makes an effort to record in his notebooks those cases in which his intervention or negotiation brought about a settlement or shorter trial - 51 cases so settled in 1930 - saved about 200 hours of trial time
102 (111)
Case between 2 oriental immigrants; Ulman convinces them to reach a settlement; defendant agrees to pay $450, casts curse on the plaintiff
Conciliation Court idea (and pages preceding)
106 (115)
Ulman represented the defendant employer (quarry) in the case of a dynamite accident - plaintiff employee, Italian, Alisandro Boncore, won $4,000 - quarry appealed June 26, 1913 - quarry won appeal - Ulman very sympathetic to employee, found outcome "utterly repugnant to my sense of ordinary decency" Casparis Stone Co. v. Boncore, 121 Md. 449
108 (117)
Quote from speech by President Roosevelt (1908) to Congress on deplorable conditions facing government workers - discussion of workmen's compensation law
109 (118)
Quote from speech by President Taft (1912) on inconveniences of old common law liability rules - discussion of workmen's compensation law
111 (120)
Beginning of discussion of need for reform of traffic law by legislature
118 (127)
One side or the other objected to 830 questions; trial lasted 23 court days; 90 hours of witness testimony; defendants had 6 lawyers, one assigned to do the objecting
121 (130)
State Bank Examiner made his periodic examination, found one of the smaller banks to be short $200,000 - a young teller had stolen hundreds, even thousands per day and hid it through careful entries in the account books; money given to a bookie each day; 24 year old teller usually lost - teller sentenced to 12 years prison - "Mr. Book-maker" charged with obtaining stolen goods - first two trials result in hung juries; on third trial Mr. Book-maker sent to the penitentiary
312 (141)
Will contest - two disappointed nieces try to prove their deceased aunt was not of sound mind at the time her will was written; numerous other witnesses say she was - jury agreed with Ulman that the nieces are just disappointed with the small part of the estate they received; jury sustained will
137 (146)
Plaintiff - large department store - sued on an account of nearly 100 purchases made over a 2.5 year period - account ledgers were ruled inadmissable - not the original records, no way to tell who created the original records - they were the only evidence the plaintiff had - Ulman's oral opinion of disgust at the common law that rendered the books inadmissable led to prompt action by the legislature to allow books kept by modern means to be entered as evidence p 140 (149)
151 (160)
January (1930?) - Petition by corner grocery store owner against holder of a judgment note against him for $1500 - judgment obtained against petitioner December 10, 1929, sheriff was proceeding with tax sale of store and contents - petitioner claimed the note was paid off - Ulman could not do anything, as he was now a law judge instead of an equity judge due to judge rotation - petitioner's lawyer had to start an equity proceeding
163 (172)
Joseph Henderson wanted an injunction against Andrew Green - both had been partners in The H. G. Furniture Company - Partnership dissolved, Henderson allowed to keep name H.G.; Green supposed to use another name - uses A. G. - confused with H. G. - Ulman issued decree forcing Green to differentiate between his company and Henderson's - equity proceeding
165 (174)
Laundry company files suit against former driver who stole list of customers and solicited their business for his new employer - suit for money damages would have been worthless; equity enjoined driver to desist; persisting in these activities would have made him liable to arrest for contempt of court
166 (175)
Cleaning company released noxious fumes into neighborhood; Ulman granted injunction to require the shop to install certain devices to prevent the emission of noxious fumes; 6 months later the plaintiff returned to court - fumes were still being released - Ulman warns defendant that unless fumes completely eliminated, shop would be ordered to close
167 (176)
Equity court proceedings - one plaintiff could not read or write; another (different case) was aged and infirm - both wanted their contracts reformed - claimed their infirmities were taken advantage of and the contract they signed did not reflect what was agreed upon; Ulman refused to reform either contract
169 (178)
Book by Leon C. Marshall and Geoffrey May, Johns Hopkins Institute of Law - analyzes the 3,000 divorce cases instituted in MD in 1929
187 (196)
1896 MD law allowing local counties/election districts to decide for themselves whether they would be "wet" or "dry" - liquor interests wanted the law declared unconstitutional because it required that the voters' petitions be counted by a judge - Ulman wrote brief for the Court of Appeals case; one of his first major cases; felt important - Board of Sup'rs v. Todd, 97 Md. 247 April 15, 1903
190 (199)
Refers to Warren's The Supreme Court in the History of the United States
192 (201)
Refers to the power of the courts, Supreme Court in particular, to regulate rates of public service corporations
193 (202)
Refers specifically to the case UNITED RYS. & ELEC. CO. v. PSC, 157 Md. 70 (appeal) that came before him in equity court; record of PSC proceedings was upwards of 5000 pages
202 (211)
Murder case of Jeremiah Norwood "The Man Who Shot the Wrong Woman" Criminal Court February, 1927 - jury returned guilty verdict - motion for new trial filed; bastardy charges years before - motion for new trial abandoned, sentence of life imprisonment imposed p 221 (230)
211 (220)
Herman Webb Duker, 1928, inmate of the MD School for Boys, 18 years old - murder in the course of an act of banditry - placed in school for various thefts from apartments amounting to ~ $2,000 - murdered John W. Anderson, driver of a milk wagon, together with Dale Lambert, 19, April 20, 1931, during a robbery attempt - Duker sentenced to be hanged November 3, 1931; Lambert imprisoned for life; Duker case resulted in appeal to the governor for clemency - governor sent it back to Ulman for a hearing, Ulman would not change his sentence p 230 (239); Governor Ritchie later commuted his sentence to life imprisonment p 231 (240) - issues of insanity (but not legal insanity) as a mitigating circumstance against hanging - Duker case was written up in "the leading American psychiatric publication" three years before he murdered Anderson p 279 (288) - Duker v. State, 162 Md. 546
219 (228)
Refers to Dr. William A. White, "Insanity and the Criminal Law" (p 103); Edwin R. Keedy, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania
225 (234)
Two cases; at least one involved theft of money
232 (241)
"Country Carey" - inmate serving a life term of murder in the penitentiary killed a prison guard while trying to escape - Ulman sentenced him to death by hanging - 1927
Together with the Duker case, the only two murders for which Ulman considered imposing the death penalty
235 (244)
George Cain - prosecuting witness against his father for murderous assault - pleaded with Ulman for release of his father on a Wednesday in November 1931 - Ulman turned him over to court psychiatrist, who convinces him that imprisonment is best; Ulman received another "pathetic" letter pleading for his father's release June 1932 p 238 (247)
239 (248)
State vs. Paul Silver, Philip Jones and Paul Short - robbery with deadly weapons - pleaded guilty without a lawyer; had been arrested November 10 (1931?) p 242 (251) - sentenced to 10 years prison each - Jones reduced to 3 years prison; Short reduced to probation p 249 (258) - probation reports and letters June, August 1, 1932 p 250 (259)
243 (252)
William Andrews - charged with larceny of an automobile; charge reduced to unauthorized use of an automobile; convicted of several burglaries previously, last sentenced in 1928; alcoholic - sentenced to 1 year prison p 250 (259)
244 (253)
Bernard and Joseph Fox, colored - charged with failure to support their aged mother - charges against Bernard dismissed; Joseph sentenced to six months in prison, sentence suspended on condition of paying his mother $1 per week p 245 (254)
245 (254)
Sherman Newell - charged with bastardy, plead not guilty and chose a jury trial - motion for new trial on urging of Ulman - could be State vs. Nevin - motion for new trial heard 12/21/31; Ulman had presided at original trial and urged motion for new trial
255 (264)
Begins discussion of probation - Ulman was on the probation committee for the Supreme Bench
260 (269)
Refers again to United Railways and Electric Company vs. Public Service Commission in a discussion of appeals
262 (271)
Mentions Johnson vs. Robinson (from Chapters 2, 3) in a discussion of appeals; lawyer for Johnson did not appeal because he realized that not one of Ulman's rulings on law could be contested - "The jury licked us, and that's all there was to it."
266 (275)
Case with 830 rulings on evidence, 615 of those adverse to the defendant; defendant was acquitted by the jury - if the defendant had been convicted, he could have appealed, and there would have been 615 opportunities for reversal