Foster v. Atwater’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 14 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[T]he contract in this case was in writing, although it was not formally signed by the defendant. It has all the certainty of being his contract that it would have had if it had been so signed. The terms of the contract are in writing, and the defendant's acceptance of the deed, in which the contract exists, and of which it forms a part of the consideration, is equivalent to the signature of the defendant to the contract, for it can as easily, and with equal certainty, be shown to be his contract. A contract of this character is obviously not within the object of the statute. That statute was intended to do away with the temptation to commit fraud and perjury in attempting to make one party answer for the debt, default or miscarriage of another. In cases of this character no such temptation can by possibility exist, for the case is as much beyond the reach of fraud as it would be if the contract was formally executed by the defendant. Furthermore, all the cases hold that the contract stated in a deed poll is binding between the parties. The statute of frauds makes void all contracts within its provisions; hence, contracts stated in deed polls cannot be within the statute.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 181 Conn. App. 80 - Randazzo v. Sakon