Peterson v. Mayer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 17 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Of course, substantial, and not exact, performance, accompanied with good faith, is all the law requires in the case of any contract to entitle a party to recover on it. Although a plaintiff be not absolutely free from fault or omission in every particular, the court will not turn him away if he has in good faith made substantial performance, but will enforce his rights on the one hand, and preserve the rights of the defendant on the other, by permitting a recoupment. . . . Neither is the rule which we have applied to the present case to be extended so far as to forfeit wages already earned on a contract already fully performed and at an end. For example, in this case, had the plaintiff faithfully and honestly served the defendant during all of the first seven months, his wages for which were fully earned, they would not be forfeited by a breach of the contract for the eighth month. But in the present case, according to the answer, the plaintiff, whose duties included the constant and daily receipt of defendant’s moneys, failed to perform his contract for any month, having wilfully and dishonestly violated it in a most substantial and essential matter. Hence he never earned his wages for any of the months he was in defendant’s service.” (Ibid.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bessman v. Bessman