Harless v. Malcolm’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"The evidence to prove that this road was apparent and that it had been in use for any certain time or was reasonably necessary for the beneficial enjoyment of the several tracts of land at the time that Conrad Sharrett divided and willed the 600 acres to his several devisees is meager and may not establish an easement by necessity. Jennings v. Lineberry, 180 Va. 44 , 21 S.E.2d 769 ; Muse v. Gish, 114 Va. 90 , 75 S.E. 764 ; 1 Minor, Real Property (2d ed.), § 98. But we need not decide the question of whether or not an easement of necessity over the 97-acre tract in favor of the William R. Sharrett tract of 108 acres was intended by the testator or created in the division of his estate. The evidence is ample to sustain the finding and complainants concede that an easement along this road was actually granted in 1909 in favor of one tract of land bordering thereon, though the instrument creating it was never recorded. Complainants now claim that the Robert W. Sharrett tract of 109 1/2 acres was the sole dominant estate in this admitted grant. Yet the action of the landowners along the road, including that of complainants, show that they all construed the easement as beneficial to the three tracts of land of 109 1/2 acres, 108 acres, and 97 acres, which were then owned respectively by Robert W. Sharrett, Edward T. Large and R.N. Crowell. "All parties who have acquired property along this road's entire length of some three-fourths of a mile, who were successors in title to those ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Elder v. Northwest Timber Co.