Upson v. Fitzgerald’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 federal appellate · 38 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 47 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Generally, when a court is called upon to enforce a plain, valid statute, it gives no consideration whatever to the question of whether its enforcement appears to work an injustice in the case before it. To determine the wisdom vel non of a statute is not a judicial function. ‘Equity follows the law,’ is a familiar maxim. With respect, however, to this particular statute, there has arisen a doctrine, recognized in our jurisdiction, that courts of equity will not enforce same, when to do so plainly works a positive fraud. Where the consideration has been paid but nothing more done, it does not work a^ fraud to refuse to enforce an oral contract for the sale of land, since the value of the consideration may be recovered in an action at law on a quantum meruit.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Richardson v. Iley · Webb v. Bc Rogers Poultry Inc Bc

2. ““The first question for decision is whether the will of Lewis W. Florea, executed in 1910, constituted a sufficient memorandum of the contract under the above statute. We are referred to no decision by this court of the question of whether a will which makes no reference to a contract, but merely makes gifts of an estate in its entirety in the usual form of wills, is a sufficient memorandum under the above statute of frauds. In other jurisdictions, there is not complete harmony of decision on the question. The prevailing, and we think the better, rule is stated in 27 C.J., p. 259, in this language: ‘A will may be a sufficient memorandum, but not where it does not contain the contract in question, or does not coincide therewith, or where it fails to refer to, or show a connection with, the agreement or bargain in question.’ ””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Arnold v. Starke

3. ““ ‘ * * * Thus where before marriage the spouses orally agreed that neither should claim any interest in the estate of the other, it has been held that the agreement being entire and within the statute ‘as to the realty, it cannot be enforced as to the personalty. The same is held true as to an oral agreement to give by will both real and personal property in consideration of services to be rendered.’ ””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Arnold v. Starke