Spencer v. Rickard

I do not regard the result attained in this case as consistent with legal principles and orderly procedure. The true principles is declared in Crowley v. Fisher, 57 W. Va. 312, Chapman v. Maitland, 22 W. Va. 345, and Price v. Pinnell, 4 W. Va. 296. The general policy of the law is to save a litigant the benefit of all proper exceptions taken in due time. There can be no such thing as compulsory waiver. Voluntariness is the essential, dominant element of a waiver. The exception here presented, starting with the unfortunate suggestion in Wright v. Railway Co., 50 W. Va. 653, is the only…