Chapman v. Kirby’s Empirical Analysis
1868
Citation profile
4 federal appellate · 61 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 68 later decisions — most recently June 2006 · most notably Joseph Guffey v. James a Smith (1915), 222 Ill. 2d 218 - Tri-G, Inc. v. Burke, Bosselman & Weaver (2006)
4 federal appellate · 61 state decisions — followed in 17 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.
Relationships
Relies on Green v. Williams · Cilley v. Hawkins · Chadwick v. Parker
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 68 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““As to the estimate of losses sustained by the breaking up of his established business, there would seem to be no well-founded objection. We all know that in many, if not all, profes sions and callings, years of effort, skill, and toil are necessary to establish a profitable business, and that when established it is worth more than capital. Can it then be said that a party deprived of it has no rerqedy, and can recover nothing for its. loss, when produced by another? It has long been well recognized law that, when deprived of such business by slander, compensation for its loss may be recovered in this form of action. And why not for its loss by this more direct means? And of what does this loss consist, but the profits that would have-been made had the act not been performed by appellants?' And to measure such damages, the jury must have some basis, for an estimate, and what more reasonable than -to take the-profits for a reasonable period next preceding the time when the injury was inflicted, leaving the other party to show that by depression in trade, or other causes, they would have been less? Nor can we expect that in actions of this character, the precise-extent of the damages can be shown by demonstration. But by this means they can be ascertained with a reasonable degree-of certainty.””
1 later decision 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.