Savings Bank v. Ward’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

93 federal appellate · 24 district · 276 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 446 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[bjeyond all doubt, the general rule is that the obligation of the attorney is to his client and not to a third party ...”

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 104 Wash. 2d 181 - Bowman v. John Doe · Thorsen v. Richmond Soc'y for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

2. ““ * * * It is not every one wlio suffers a loss from the negligence of another that can maintain a suit on such grounds. On the contrary, the limit of the doctrine relating to actionable negligence, says Beasley, O. J., is, that the person occasioning the loss must owe a duty, arising from contract or otherwise, to the person sustaining such loss. Such a restriction on the right to sue for a want of care in the exercise of employments or the transaction of business is plainly necessary to restrain the remedy from being pushed to an impracticable extremo. There would be no hounds to actions and litigious intricacies if the ill effects of the negligence of men may be followed down the chain of results to the final effect. Kahl v. Love, 37 N. J. L. 5 , 8.””

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. American Surety Co. v. Citizens' Nat. Bank of Roswell · Stevinson v. East Ohio Gas Co.

3. “"When a person adopts the legal profession and assumes to exercise its duties in behalf of another for hire, he must be understood as promising to employ a reasonable degree of care and skill in the performance of such duties; and if injury results to the client from a want of such a degree of reasonable care and skill, the attorney may be held to respond in damages to the extent of injuries sustained. * * * if he [attorney] acts with a proper degree of skill and with reasonable care and to the best of his knowledge, he will not be held responsible." National Savings Bank of District of Columbia v. Ward, 100 U.S. 195 , 25 L.Ed. 621 (1880).”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Frank v. Bloom · Ahlhauser v. Butler