West v. Camden’s Empirical Analysis
135 U.S. 507 · 1890
Citation profile
37 federal appellate · 18 district · 79 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 158 later decisions (9 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 1979 · most notably Olmstead v. United States (1928), Carlisle Packing Co. v. Sandanger (1922)
37 federal appellate · 18 district · 79 state decisions — followed in 29 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Oscanyan v. Arms Co. · Hobbs v. McLean · Oregon Steam Navigation Company v. Winsor · Wardell v. Railroad Co. · Mobile & Montgomery Railway Co. v. Jurey
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 158 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““These views cover also the last instruction to the jury; and it becomes unnecessary to examine the question raised as to the second instruction, which was to the effect that, as the alleged contract was not in writing, the plaintiff could not recover upon it, because it was invalid under the fifth clause of the fourth section of the statute of frauds of Maryland, as being an agreement not to be performed within the space of one year from the making thereof; for, even though that might have been an erroneous instruction, it did no harm to the plaintiff, because he could not recover in any event. Deery v. Cray, 5 Wall. 795 , 807 [ 18 L. Ed. 653 ]; The Schools v. Risley, 10 Wall. 91 , 115 [ 19 L. Ed. 850 ]; Deery v. Cray, 10 Wall. 263 , 272 [ 19 L. Ed. 887 ]; Brobst v. Brock, 10 Wall. 519 , 528 [ 19 L. Ed. 1002 ]; Barth v. Clise, 12 Wall. 400 , 403 [ 20 L. Ed. 393 ]; Tweed’s Case, 16 Wall. 504 , 517 [ 21 L. Ed. 389 ]; Walbrun v. Babbitt, 16 Wall. 577 , 580, 581 [ 21 L. Ed. 489 ]; Decatur Bank v. St. Louis Bank, 21 Wall. 294 , 301 [ 22 L. Ed. 560 ]; McLemore v. Louisiana State Bank, 91 U. S. 27 , 28 [ 23 L. Ed. 196 ]; Mobile & Montgomery Ry. Co. v. Jurey, 111 U. S. 584 , 593 [ 4 S. Ct. 566 , 28 L. Ed. 527 ]; Lancaster v. Collins, 115 U. S. 222 , 227, [ 6 S. Ct. 33 , 29 L. Ed. 373 ], and eases there cited; Evans v. Pike, 118 U. S. 241 , 250 [ 6 S. Ct. 1090 , 30 L. Ed. 234 ].””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““We think this principle is equally applicable, on the ground of public policy, although there was not to be any direct private gain to the defendant; for, as was said by the circuit court in this case, it was the right of the other stockholders in the Baltimore United Oil Company ‘to have the defendant’s judgment, as an officer of the company, exercised with a sole regard to the interests of the company.’ A personal liability for damages on the part of the defendant, in case the plaintiff should be removed after an agreement of the character alleged, was calculated to be a strong incentive to the defendant to act contrary to the true interests of the company and of its other stockholders.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“to the directors of a private corporation, charged with duties of a fiduciary character to private parties, * * * it is public policy to secure fidelity in the discharge of * * * [their] duties.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Glazer v. Glazer
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.