Closson v. Billman’s Empirical Analysis
1904
Citation profile
5 federal appellate · 27 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 34 later decisions — most recently August 1958 · most notably Knight & Jillson Co. v. Castle (1909), Seaboard Surety Co. v. Standard Accident Insurance (1938)
5 federal appellate · 27 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 Wills v. Ross · LaRose v. Logansport National Bank · Belloni v. . Freeborn · Singer Manufacturing Co. v. Forsyth · Furst & Bradley Manufacturing Co. v. Black
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 34 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The bond provides that Worley is to build, construct, and complete the residence `according to his contract,' and it was as much his duty to deliver the house free of liens on account of materials as it was to use materials which belonged to him. To hold, in the face of the bond and contract, that the construction and completion of the building in accordance with the plans and specifications was a compliance with the bond, although the owner would be compelled to pay out large sums in excess of the amount stipulated in the contract, to discharge liens for the purchase price of materials, would be to keep the word of promise to the ear but break it to the hope.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.