Declaratory Judgments

Abstract

You may think it a little presumptuous, and I guess it is, to have a man come here from the East and undertake to point out any defects in the law of Ohio. My interest in the subject of declaratory judgments is such, however, that I have ventured to incur whatever dangers there may be in that undertaking. I was the more disposed to run those risks because what I hope to discuss today is not anything really new, but is an institution that England has had for over fifty years and which has been adopted in some twenty-three states in the United States. The declaratory judgment procedure has been adopted by nearly every neighbor that Ohio has, including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan; so that, unless Ohio does come into line, it may soon be called a "backward state". For that reason I ventured to come west to see if I could not, in conference with lawyers at the bar, persuade you of the merits of this procedure, for I think you will agree, before I have gone very far, that there are numerous situations in life requiring judicial settlement that are not covered by the existing procedure.