Mull v. Colt Co.’s Empirical Analysis
1962
Citation profile
4 federal appellate · 7 district · 17 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 47 later decisions — most recently March 2012 · most notably My Bread Baking Co. v. Cumberland Farms, Inc. (1968), Walkovszky v. Carlton (1966)
4 federal appellate · 7 district · 17 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 Conley v. Gibson · Erie Co v. Tompkins · Pepper v. Litton · Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co. · MacPherson v. . Buick Motor Co.
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 47 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"In essence, the rule to be applied and the standard by which a given set of facts are to be judged is one of equity and justice. `What the formula comes down to, once shorn of verbiage about control, instrumentality, agency and corporate entity, is that liability is imposed to reach an equitable result.' Latty, Subsidiaries and Affiliated Corporations 191 (1936);".”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Whether an agency in fact existed, which corporation was the parent and which were the subsidiaries, and whether they were operated as one economic unit are all questions of fact which plaintiff will have to prove at trial. If plaintiff can show that there was such a unity of interest and ownership that the independence of the corporations had in effect ceased or had never begun, an adherence to the fiction of separate identity would serve only to defeat justice and equity by permitting the economic entity to escape liability arising out of an operation conducted by one corporation for the benefit of the whole enterprise. His opportunity to do so may not be foreclosed peremptorily by these motions to dismiss.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“To permit the creation of an inadequately capitalized corporation as a separate entity is incompatible with the concepts underlying an independent existence. Where it is sought on the one hand to make available to general or tort creditors only an illusory amount compared with the size of the business and the public responsibility inherent in its very nature, while on the other hand advancing necessary expenses through secured devices, it would be a gross inequity to allow such a flimsy organization to provide a shield for personal liability. Courts will not tolerate arrangements which throw all the risks on the public and which enable stockholders to reap profits while being insulated against losses.”
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.