Walters v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis
1947
Citation profile
16 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 18 later decisions — most recently January 2000
16 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 Scott v. Moore · Cheatham v. Taylor · Springer v. Gaddy · Akers v. Mathieson Alkali Works · Payne v. Godwin
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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““ ‘Easements are sometimes created by estoppel', for example, if the vendor of land actually or constructively makes representations as to the existence of an easement appurtenant to the land sold to be enjoyed in land which the vendor has not sold. Thus, where a vendor describes the land sold as bounded on a street described as running through the vendor’s unsold land, the vendor is, as against his vendee, (though not necessarily as against the public, or third persons), estopped to deny the existence of such a street, the conveyance practically creating a private right of way over the vendor’s land along the route described in favor of the grantee.’ ””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““The private right of Mrs. Smith to an easement in the alley is sustained by her contract with the grantor in her deed, irrespective of the status of the 20 foot strip of land as a public street or alley. No abandonment by the public •could affect her private right to an easement appurtenant to her land. At the time of her purchase, as we have noted, John Banner was the owner of all the property contiguous to that portion of the alley in which her claim is asserted. It is not denied that Banner had the right to convey to Mrs. Smith a right of way over the alley to Mill Road. That he did so is evidenced by the language of his deed to her and his uncontradicted representations as to the existence of the alley.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Magee v. Omansky
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.