C. & A. Construction Co. v. Benning Construction Co.’s Empirical Analysis
1974
Citation profile
10 federal appellate · 61 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 89 later decisions — most recently April 2020 · most notably First Nat. Bank of Crossett v. Griffin (1992), Langley v. Allstate Insurance Company (1993)
10 federal appellate · 61 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 Easton v. Washington County Insurance · Logan v. Wiley · McCarty C. Mercury Metalcraft Co. · Wood v. Kelsey · Paepcke-Leicht Lumber Co. v. Talley
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 89 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(1) A course of dealing is a sequence of previous conduct between the parties to a particular transaction which is fairly to be regarded as establishing a common basis of understanding for interpreting their expressions and other conduct. (2) A usage of trade is any practice or method of dealing having such regularity of observance in a place, vocation, or trade as to justify an expectation that it will be observed with respect to the transaction in question. The existence and scope of such a usage are to be proved as facts. If it is established that such a usage is embodied in a written trade code or similar writing the interpretation of the writing is for the court. (3) A course of dealing between parties and any usage of trade in the vocation or trade in which they are engaged or of which they are or should be aware give particular meaning to and supplement or qualify terms of an agreement. (4) The express terms of an agreement and an applicable course of dealing or usage of trade shall be construed wherever reasonable as consistent with each other; but when such construction is unreasonable express terms control both course of dealing and usage of trade and course of dealing controls usage of trade. (5) An applicable usage of trade in the place where any part of performance is to occur shall be used in interpreting the agreement as to that part of the performance. (6) Evidence of a relevant usage of trade offered by one party is not admissible unless and until he has give”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“In the above instruction the court told the jury that, as a matter of law, for the time stated, the merchandise was on consignment. In our opinion the contract is not so clear and free of ambiguity that the court could say what it meant as a matter of law. In a situation of this kind it must be left to a jury to determine what was the intention of the parties. Ordinarily it is the duty of the Court to construe a written contract and declare its meaning to a jury, but, where there is a latent ambiguity, parole [sic] evidence is admissible to explain the meaning of the parties, and then it is a question for the jury and should be submitted to a jury. Regardless of whether the ambiguity is patent or latent, if the intention of the parties is not clear it is a question for the jury.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.