Tiernan v. Poor’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The deed in this case was clearly intended to be a mortgage to secure the payment of the complainant’s debt, and was no doubt meant by the parties to be clothed with all the formalities and solemnities necessary to give it a legal and effective operation as such. Its design and meaning was to secure a particular debt, and to charge it as a lien on the wife’s separate property. If it be deprived of legal validity for the want of a privy examination, we are still at liberty to look at it as illustrating and evidencing the agreement of the parties, and will coerce its execution according to that original design. Such a course would be demanded by the first principles of equity. For what could be more inequitable than to permit a party to escape from the fulfillment of his contracts, by the mere omission of legal forms ? — in which omission too, he may have been the sole actor, and in all cases a participator, and to allow him to reap the advantages from such omission, of all the consideration which constituted his inducement, for entering into the contract.” [ 1 G. & J. 227 -228]”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Adams v. Avirett