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32 Minn. L. Rev. 105 (1947-1948)
Contributory Negligence as Defense to Violation of Statute

handle is hein.journals/mnlr32 and id is 113 raw text is: MINNESOTA LAW REVIEW Journal of the State Bar Association VOLUME 32 JANUARY, 1948 No. 2 CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE AS DEFENSE TO VIOLATION OF STATUTE By WILLIAM L. PROSSER* D art v. Pure Oit Co.' is by way of being a celebrated case. After it was once argued before the supreme court of Minnesota, Justice Youngdahl left the bench to become governor. Whether on his departure the court found itself evenly divided as to the disposition of the case, whether its possible implications made the judges desire to be sure of their ground before coming to a decision, or whether there were other reasons for seeking further clarifica- tion of the issues, is of course a matter of conjecture. For whatever reason, the court ordered the case rebriefed and reargued, and took the unusual step of inviting three members of the bar of Minnesota2 to file briefs as amici curiae. As word spread around the state that the decision might be of considerable importance in the field of tort litigation, other attorneys became interested and asked leave to file additional briefs as amici. All such requests were granted, and in the end the court found itself with a large number of friends. Alto- gether some eighteen individual attorneys and firms3 appeared in the case. Its essential facts were quite simple. The defendant Pure Oil *Professor of Law, Harvard University. On leave of absence first semester, 1946-7. 1. (Minn. 1947) 27 N. W. (2d) 555. 2. Mr. De Parcq, Mr. Mulally, and the writer. 3. The alignment was as follows: For the plaintiff: Charles T. Wangensteen of Chisholm; David A. Bour- gin and Gust A. Koski of Virginia; William H. De Parcq of Minneapolis; T. 0. Streissguth of New Ulm; Frank E. McAllister, John Edmund Burke and Clifford W. Gardner of St. Paul. For the defendant: W. 0. Bissonett and the firm of Gillette, Nye, Harries & Montague of Duluth; J. H. Mulally and Philip Stringer of St. Paul; Wright W. Brooks, Paul 3. McGough and the firm of Faegre & Benson of Minneapolis; Roger L. Dell and Chester G. Rosengren of Fergus Falls. For the defendant on the law and the plaintiff on the facts: the writer.

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