Saxman v. Christmann’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

24 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “"A clearly defined distinction is drawn by the authorities between agreements which create a lease of the land for mineral purposes and those which are simply a license giving to the licensee authority to enter and operate for minerals. While under a lease an interest or estate in the land itself is created, under a license a licensee has no interest or estate in the land itself, but only in the proceeds, * * * not as realty, but as personal property, and his possession is the possession of the owner. In general, a contract simply giving a right to take ore from a mine, no interest or estate being granted, confers a mere license, and the licensee acquires no right to the ore until he separates it from the freehold."”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Radke v. Union Pacific Railroad Company · City of Phoenix v. South Bank Corp.

2. ““A license to do an act upon land involves the exclusive occupation of the land by the licensee, so far as is necessary to do the act, and no further, whereas a lease gives the right of possession of the land, and the exclusive occupation of it for all purposes not prohibited by its terms. “Whether an instrument is a license or a lease depends generally on the manifest intent of the parties gleaned from a consideration of its entire contents.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Lee v. North Dakota Park Service