Griffiths v. Helvering’s Empirical Analysis
308 U.S. 355 · 1939
Citation profile
372 federal appellate · 25 district · 22 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 800 later decisions (21 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2015 · most notably Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Court Holding Co (1945), Higgins v. Smith (1940)
372 federal appellate · 25 district · 22 state decisions — followed in 10 states
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.
Appellate journey
reviewedCommissioner v. Griffiths (from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Gregory v. Helvering · Lucas v. Earl · Corliss v. Bowers · Oklahoma v. Texas
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 800 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“may be exercised through specific retention of legal title or the creation of a new equitable but controlled interest, or the maintenance of effective benefit through the interposition of a subservient agency. 308 U.S. at 357-358, 60 S.Ct. at 278. 6 41 The mere transfer of bare legal title to property is not enough to constitute a”
23 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“by anticipatory arrangements and contracts, however skilfully devised ... by which the fruits are attributed to a different tree from the one on which they grew.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“That was the crux of the business to [Blake] * * *, and that is the crux of the business to us”
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.