Hennessey v. Woolworth’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

68 federal appellate · 18 district · 52 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 182 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “‘"Specific performance is not of absolute right. It rests entirely in judicial discretion, exercised, it is true, according’ to settled principles of equity, and not arbitrarily or capriciously, yet always with reference to the facts of the particular case. Willard v. Tayloe, 8 Wall. 557 , 567; Marble Co. v. Ripley, 10 Wall. 339 , 357; 1 Story’s Eq. Jur. § 742; Seymour v. Delancey, 6 Johns. Ch. 222 , 224. The question in cases of specific performance, Lord Eldon said, is not what the court must do, but what, under the circumstances, it may do, in the exercise of its discretion to grant or withhold relief of that character. White v. Damon, 7 Ves. 30, 35; Radcliffe v. Warrington, 12 Ves. 326, 331. Tt should never be granted unless the terms of the agreement sought to be enforced are clearly proved, or where it is left in doubt whether the party against whom relief is asked in fact made such an agreement.””

   7 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. White v. Wansey · Jones v. Byrne