McKey v. Steger’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 federal appellate · 1 district ·

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. ““In the present proceeding there is no conflict about the facts, and the trustee therefore contends that the bankruptcy court had summary jurisdiction to compel Steger to surrender possession by the summary process of a contempt order or other summary means. His argument is that, * * * the legal proceedings being taken against the defendant therein while the defendant was insolvent, we might have no difficulty, the facts being undisputed, in determining that the adverse holder’s claim of legal right to retain possession was so clearly without substance, so void of color, as to bring him within the summary jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court. But it seems to us that a controversy may be as substantial in regard to the legal rights of a party on undisputed facts as is a controversy wherein the only conflict is on the facts. Our observation and experience is that there are fully as many controversies in plenary suits over the question of legal rights on undisputed facts as there are controversies respecting the facts.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In re Midtown Contracting Co.