Pearson v. McGraw’s Empirical Analysis
308 U.S. 313 · 1939
Citation profile
7 federal appellate · 4 district · 14 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 44 later decisions (17 by the Supreme Court) — most recently January 1985 · most notably Miller Bros. v. Maryland (1954), Helvering v. Le Gierse (1941)
7 federal appellate · 4 district · 14 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 Burnet v. Wells · Curry v. McCanless · Frick v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania · Minnesota Tea Co. v. Helvering · Blodgett v. Silberman
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 44 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““On the facts of this case we believe that the various steps in the series must be considered as constituting but one integrated and indivisible transaction — a transfer by decedent of intangibles in contemplation of death. And we reach this result though each step in the series was real and though none was camouflaged or concealed. For basically the sale of intangibles, the acquisition of federal reserve notes, and their transfer under the agreement of August 15, 1935, were interdependent. [Citing cases.] From decedent’s point of view, completion of the series of steps was necessary for consummation of his program to utilize $450,000 of his estate to provide for certain designated members of his family. Any step short of the final transfer would not have done it. The mere sale of the intangibles and the acquisition of the federal reserve notes had no functional or business significance apart from the August 15, 1935, transfer. That is emphasized here because they created no legal relations and gave rise to no vested rights interfering with decedent’s continuing power of disposition. Taken as isolated transactions, they have meaning and significance only in relation to- the third step, a conclusion made especially evident by the close sequence of events. Hence, it is no answer to say that because the first two steps were not irrevocable but could be recalled, the third step was not a necessary one in the series. For that is as immaterial as is the revocability of any donor’s ”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.