Whitney v. Butler’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

49 federal appellate · 9 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 169 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““That the creditors of a national bank are entitled to know who, as shareholders, have pledged their individual liability as security for its debts, engagements, and contracts; that if a person permits his name to appear and remain in its outstanding certificates of stock, and on its register, as a shareholder, he is estopped, as between himself and the creditors of the bank, to deny that he is a shareholder; and that his individual liability continues until there is a transfer of the stock on the books of the bank, even where he has in good faith previously sold it and delivered to the buyer the certificate of stock, with a power of attorney in such form as to enable the transfer to be made.””

   6 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Snyder v. Roster · McDonald v. Dewey

2. ““But it will be found, upon careful examination, that in no one of the cases upon which these general principles have been announced, as between creditors and shareholders, does it appear that the precaution was taken, after the sale of the stock, to surrender the certificates therefor to the bank itself, accompanied (where such surrender was not made by the shareholder in person) by a power of attorney, which would enable its officers to make the transfer on the register. The position of the seller, in such a case, is analogous to that of a grantor of a deed deposited in the proper office to be recorded. The general rule is that the deed is considered as recorded from the time of such deposit. 2 Washb. Real Prop. bk. 3, e. 4, par. 52. Where the seller delivers the stock certificate and power of attorney to the buyer, relying upon the promise of the latter to have the necessary transfer made, or where the certificate and power of attorney are delivered to the bank without communicating to its officers the name of the buyer, the seller may well be held liable as a shareholder until, at least, he shall have done all that he reasonably can do to effect a transfer on the stock register. In the case before us the personal presence of the defendants at the bank was not required, in order to secare their release from liability as shareholders. Besides, the certificate of stock authorized them to act by attorney. Through their agents, the brokers who sold the stock, and through whom ”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Young v. McKay · State v. Ware