Shapleigh v. Baird’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Allowing partial assignments still to be valid, as they were previous to its enactment, the section (39) abolishes all provisions in such assignments which give preferences among the creditors selected, and requires the assignee to treat such provisions as nullities and distribute the effects pro rata. In cases of a general assignment of all the debtor’s property to his creditors, which I presume is the usual and common form of such instruments, this section will accomplish everything that could be desired. It prevents all classification of creditors in such deeds; an evil much complained of, and doubtless within the mind of the legislature. But so long as partial assignments are permitted; and a debtor can transfer his property by such instruments to any portion of his creditors he desires, this section of the Revised Code of 1855 is totally ineffective to prevent preferences among creditors. The enactment may be always evaded by the selection of a single creditor, or any number of creditors sufficient to exhaust the effects assigned. Indeed, if the legislature wish to strike at the root of the evil they must go back to the old principle of the common law, which permits a debtor to prefer one creditor to another. Without, however, undertaking to suggest any views of our own as to the true policy which should prevail, and how far the legislature may with safety go to the abolition of this ancient principle, it is sufficient that the legislature has not yet, in our opinion, a”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Martin v. Hausman