Bixler v. Summerfield’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In Green v. Hedenberg, 159 Ill. 489 , we said (p. 493): ‘It is well settled in this State, that, where the officers of a corporation wrongfully deal with its property to the injury of stockholders, the latter may maintain a bill against the company and its officers for relief against such misappropriation. ’ If, as is alleged in substance in the bill, the stock held by the appellant was impaired in value by a misappropriation of the corporate funds, there is no good reason why the appellant might not, as might any other stockholder, maintain his bill for relief. Such misconduct of the corporate officers may be no cause for a dissolution of the corporation at the suit of a minority stockholder. (Waterbury v. Merchants’ Union Express Co. 50 Barb. 157 ; Belmont v. Erie Railway Co. 52 id. 637; 2 Cook on Corp.—4th ed.—sec. 629, note 5.) But where the board of directors of a corporation ‘vote large pay to themselves, evidently in bad faith, and with a view to depriving the corporation of more than a reasonable proportion of its net earnings, a dissenting stockholder may file a bill in equity to have the amount recovered back. ’ (2 Cook on Corp.—4th ed.—sec. 657, and cases cited in notes.) If one family, holding the majority of the stock of a corporation, vote away the corporate profits for salaries, the minority may call upon a court of equity to remedy the fraud. (Ibid.; Sellers v. Phoenix Iron Co. 13 Fed. Bep. 20).””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Forster v. Fruin & Walker Co.