Longyear v. Gregory’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Not only did the defendants cut the timber from the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter, which belonged to the plaintiffs, but they also cut it from the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter. An inspection of their bill of sale would have indicated to them that they had no right to cut the timber from, both of these 40’s. Neither would it require a great amount of experience in the woods to indicate they had no right to cut over 80 acres, of land when they had title to but 40 acres. The record also discloses that when Mr. Lewis, acting for the plaintiffs, visited them, a large quantity of posts cut from this land were still on the land; other portions of the timber were near by, on an adjoining description; and, after they knew the title to the lumber and timber was not in them, the defendants shipped it away, and appropriated the proceeds to their own use. It cannot be the law that no degree of care is required of one who goes on land to cut timber, or that he may recklessly, and without trying to ascertain the facts, cut and carry away timber, and then say that the owner, who may have wanted to keep his timber, must content himself by receiving as his damages only what the timber was worth on the land. It was to meet such cases as the one at i$sue that the statute was passed.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Connor v. McRae