Brown v. . Foster’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 federal appellate · 2 district · 54 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 68 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Nor can he, as is suggested, elect to have his use of the machine after complaint made treated as a trespass. He had received the consideration on which his promise to pay depended, and the obligation so incurred could be discharged only by performance. If an omission of that duty gives occasion for an action, its nature cannot be determined at his choice. He could not require the defendant [vendor] to treat the use of the machine as a tort, and be satisfied with damages as for a conversion. If in favor of either such right of election existed, it was because of the plaintiff’s conduct and was cast upon the vendor, but he might very well refuse to regard as unlawful an act which came directly within the contract, and the accomplishment of which was on the vendee’s part its sole object.” (Page 891.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dougherty Bros. Tent & Awning Co. v. Peru-Van Zandt Implement Co.