O'Malley v. McMullen’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It should be noted that the recommended form for final judgment of foreclosure (form No. 1.996) in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, 31 F.S.A. specifies that the clerk of the court shall sell the property at public sale “to the highest bidder for cash.” Courts have uniformly held that promissory notes or personal checks are not acceptable tender at a public sale for cash. Hence, the question might properly be asked whether that language, assuming it be traditional language, would mandatorily require the clerk to insist on cash or its equivalent to be furnished at the time of making a bid. The fact that there is so little law on this subject suggests the probability that the clerks of our circuit courts are able to work it out along practical lines such as that followed in Pinellas County. Obvi ously, it would be ridiculous to require each bidder to come to a public sale with a satchel full of money, and one could not very practically bring certified checks because he would not know how much it was going to take in order to become the successful bidder. If the highest bidder is given a reasonable time within which to come up with the cash, no one should be hurt. The determination of what constitutes a reasonable time is left to the clerk under the supervision of the court. 8”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Smith v. First National Bank of Pompano Beach