Denning Warehouse Co. v. Widener’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 federal appellate · 2 district · 11 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 37 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““As Chief Judge Learned Hand puts it: ‘The presumption on which the bailor may rely is a mere rule for the conduct of the trial. It puts upon the bailee the risk of a directed verdict if he does not meet it, but it does no more; once he has done so, it disappears from the case. Thus, it can never concern the jury.’ Alpine Forwarding Co. v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 2 Cir., 60 F.2d 734, 736 . Although there is some confusion and variation along the way, 6 Amer.Juris., Sec. 364, it is undoubtedly the great weight of decisional law that the so-called bailment presumption does not shift the burden of proving lack of due care from the bailor to the bailee, but merely calls upon the bailee to come forward with evidence sufficient to overcome the legal ' presumption. See Annotations 9 A.L.R. 59 ; 71 A.L.R. 767 ; 151 A.L.R. 717 ; 6 Amer.Juris. Secs. 364-381; 8 C.J.S. Bailments § 50, p. 344.” See also Buntin v. Fletchas, 5 Cir., 257 F.2d 512 .”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 177 F. Supp. 869 - Cook & Co. v. Gulf Shipside Storage Corp. · Cargill, Inc. v. Commodity Credit Corp.

2. ““Prior to and independent of the adoption of the Uniform Warehouse Receipts Act (Comp.St.1921, § 11123 et seq.), which became effective in this state on June 22, 1915, the cases in this state dealing with bailments generally held that, where property was destroyed or lost while in the possession of the bailee and the bailor sought to recover, the court held that the burden was upon the plaintiff to maintain his action, and that such burden continued throughout the case. * sjc * * * * * * * ‘“We are not in accord with the views of those courts holding that where recovery is sought, based on the negligence of the warehouseman, the statute has changed the rule as to the burden of proof, for the reason that the statute under consideration deals only with the rights, duties, and liabilities of the parties under the contract of bailment as embodied in the warehouse receipt. The act does not deal with the burden of proof in actions sounding in tort, or with the law of negligence, and nowhere evinces an intention on the part of the Legislature to in any manner modify the rules at common law in cases founded on negligence. “ ‘Under the statute, the warehouseman is made liable for any loss or injury to the goods caused by his failure to exercise such care in regard to them as a reasonably careful owner of similar goods would exercise, but he is not rendered liable, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, for any loss or injury to the goods which could not have been avoided by t”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hogan v. Allison

3. ““The effect of the Act as thus construed is to place the burden upon him who is best able to discharge it. It is a salutary rule, based upon experience. Any other construction would certainly dilute or completely vitiate the clear meaning of. the statute.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Cole v. Younger