EVIDENCE-DOCUMENTARY PROOF OF MARKET VALUE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY-ADMISSIBILITY-RELATIONSHIP TO ORAL TESTIMONY BASED THEREON

Authors

P. F. Westbrook, Jr. S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Even the most casual observer of modern business practices will accede to the general proposition that the most accurate reflection of market value for many commodities can be found in documentary sources. This is particularly true of those commodities of an homogeneous character which are sold in well-organized markets characterized by price uniformity and free access to price information. Of them, it may well be said that no more satisfactory evidence of market value than the newspaper market reports can be found, barring the possibility of personal observation of "the board" at the market itself. However, the average businessman will also rely on documentary indications of market value, such as price lists and catalogs, when dealing with articles of manufacture which, because of style variations or other peculiar characteristics, are not readily interchangeable with other articles of like design and manufacture. In addition, the business world will attach great significance to the influence of the document on the market in determining the credibility of price lists and similar documents where it appears that prices may be influenced by monopolistic control. It is proposed to examine herein the competency of all such documents as evidence of market value and to inquire as to the circumstances which control their admissibility.

Recommended Citation

P. F. Westbrook, Jr. S.Ed., EVIDENCE-DOCUMENTARY PROOF OF MARKET VALUE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY-ADMISSIBILITY-RELATIONSHIP TO ORAL TESTIMONY BASED THEREON, 45 Mich. L. Rev. 748 (1947).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol45/iss6/6