Desper v. Starved Rock Ferry Co.’s Empirical Analysis
1952
Citation profile
203 federal appellate · 7 district · 43 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 389 later decisions (24 by the Supreme Court) — most recently September 2013 · most notably McDermott International, Inc. v. Wilander (1991), Chandris, Inc. v. Latsis (1995)
203 federal appellate · 7 district · 43 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedDesper v. Starved Rock Ferry Co. (from Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 33 U.S.C. § 901 · 45 U.S.C. § 51 (Federal Employers' Liability Act)
Relies on Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen · Davis v. Department of Labor & Industries · Libby, McNeill & Libby v. Alaska Industrial Board · Parker v. Motor Boat Sales, Inc.
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 389 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“... he was a probable navigator in the near future, but the law does not cover probable or expectant seamen but seamen in being. It is our conclusion that while engaged in such seasonal repair work Desper was not a 'seaman' within the purview of the Jones Act. The distinct nature of the work is emphasized by the fact that there was no vessel engaged in navigation at the time of the decedent's death.”
17 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“Any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment may, at his election, maintain an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury, and in such action all statutes of the United States modifying or extending the common-law right or remedy in cases of personal injury to railway employees shall apply.”
4 later decisions 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.