Griswold v. Hazard’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

52 federal appellate · 19 district · 82 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 192 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““ ‘The contract of suretyship/ says Mr. Story, ‘imports entire good faith and confidence between the parties in regard to the whole transaction. Any concealment of material facts, or any express or implied misrepresentation of such facts, or any undue advantage taken of the surety by the creditor, either by surprise or by withholding proper information, will undoubtedly furnish a sufficient ground to invalidate the contract.’ Again: ‘If a party taking a guaranty from a surety, conceals from him facts which go to increase his risk and suffers him to enter into the contract under false impressions, as to the real state of the facts, such a concealment will amount to a fraud, because the party is bound to make the disclosure.’ ””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Maryland v. Moshier · W. I. Carpenter Lumber Co. v. Hugill

2. ““Yet the rule that an admitted or clearly established misapprehension of the law does create a basis for the interference of courts of equity, resting on discretion and to be exercised only in the most unquestionable and flagrant cases, is certainly more in consonance with the best considered and best reasoned cases upon this point, both English and American.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Burk v. Johnson · Griswold v. Hazard

3. “About the last of October or the 1st of November, 1868, along that time, I met Mr. Griswold on Thames Street, in Newport, near my office. He spoke of this bond as if it were a bail bond. I said, `No; it is a bond upon which you may be liable to pay money. If, for example, the court should find a judgment against Durant for any sum of money and he did not pay it, you could be held for the amount named in these bonds.' He said, `Well, I guess you are right, but I must see Durant about it. He must do something about it.' I asked him, `Why, he is rich enough, isn't he?' and Mr. Griswold said, `Yes; he is rich enough, but he is reckless, and there is no telling how long such a man may stay rich, and he must give me security.' I would like to add here that I mentioned this to Mr. Honey last winter. Mr. Honey said that he was confident, from conversations he had had with his client, Mr. Griswold, that Mr. Griswold had no recollection of any such conversation with me, and I replied that if Mr. Griswold did not recollect it I should hesitate about swearing to it, and that I did not think I would swear to it under those circumstances, and that certainly I would not like to do so. Still I have felt bound to state it here, upon further reflection with these explanations.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Griswold v. Hazard