Gray v. Merriam’s Empirical Analysis
1893
Citation profile
1 federal appellate · 21 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 22 later decisions — most recently March 1936
1 federal appellate · 21 state decisions
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 National Bank v. Graham · Preston v. Prather · Smith v. First National Bank · Michigan Central Railroad v. Carrow · Whitney v. First National Bank
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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Story, after stating the rule that when the bailment is for the sole benefit of the bailor, the law requires only slight diligence on the part of the bailee, subsequently adds that in every case good faith requires a bailee without reward to take reasonable care of the deposit, ‘and what is reasonable care must materially depend upon the nature, value and quality" of the thing, the circumstances under which it is deposited, and sometimes upon the character and confidence and particular dealings of the parties.’ ””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““A mandatary or bailee, who undertakes, without reward, to take care of the pledge, or perform any duty or labor, is required to use in its performance such care as men of common sense and common prudence, however inattentive, ordinarily take of their own affairs, and they will be liable only for bad faith, or gross negligence, which is an omission of that degree of care.” (p. 171.)”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Maddock v. Riggs
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.