Vaughn Development, Inc. v. Westvaco Development Corp.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 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. “Historically, the recovery of prejudgment interest was severely limited. Michael S. Knoll, A Primer on Prejudgment Interest 75 Tex. L.Rev. 293, 294-98 (1996). “The roots of prejudgment interest law are based on centuries-old moral and religious proscriptions against interest and loans. Both the ancient Israelites and Greeks viewed the taking of any interest as usurious.” Martin Oyos, Comment, Prejudgment Interest in South Dakota, 33 S.D. L.Rev. 484, 485-86 (1988). With the shift from agrarian economies in the common law European countries, and the emphasis in this country from the beginning on the mercantile influence, prejudgment interest has become more favored and the courts now allow prejudgment interest on liquidated amounts. James L. Bernard, Note, Prejudgment Interest and the Copyright Act of 1976 5 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 427 , 433 (1995). There has been, however, “growing dissatisfaction with the distinction between liquidated and unliquidated damages. As a result, many jurisdictions abandoned it.... With the breakdown and rejection of the distinction between liquidated and unliquidated damages, courts established more liberal rules for awarding prejudgment interest. Some courts looked to whether the claim was ‘ascertainable.’ ” Id. at 434-436 . This liberalization of prejudgment law has even led to recovery of prejudgment interest for personal injury damages, usually calculable from the time of a settlement offer or demand. See generally Diane M. All”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dixie Bell, Inc. v. Redd