M/s Bremen v. Zapata off-Shore Company’s Empirical Analysis
1972
Citation profile
942 federal appellate · 851 district · 1,115 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 5,770 later decisions (38 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably Burger King Corporation v. Rudzewicz (1985), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc (1985)
942 federal appellate · 851 district · 1,115 state decisions — followed in 46 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
reviewedIn the Matter of the Complaint of Unterweser Reederei, Gmbh. Zapata Off-Shore Company v. M/s Bremen and Unterweser Reederei Gmbh (from Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert · United States v. Seckinger · National Equipment Rental, Ltd. v. Szukhent · Bisso v. Inland Waterways Corp.
Cited together with Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute · Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co. · Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp. · Mitsubishi Motors Corporation v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc Soler Chrysler-Plymouth Inc · Gulf Oil Corporation v. Gilbert
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 5,770 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“prima facie valid and should be enforced unless enforcement is shown by the resisting party to be 'unreasonable' under the circumstances.”
357 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“The expansion of American business and industry will hardly be encouraged if, notwithstanding solemn contracts, we insist on a parochial concept that all disputes must be resolved under our laws and in our courts.”
31 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[a]ny dispute arising must be treated before the London Court of Justice.”
25 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.