Ritchie v. Waller’s Empirical Analysis
1893
Citation profile
11 federal appellate · 123 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 136 later decisions — most recently March 1999 · most notably Healey v. Cockrill (1918), Yanish v. Barber (1956)
11 federal appellate · 123 state decisions — followed in 34 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.
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 136 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““In cases where the deviation is .slight and not unusual, the ¡court may and often will, as matter of law, determine that the servant was still executing his master’s business. So, too, where the deviation is very marked ■and unusual, the court in like manner may determine that the .servant was not on the master’s business at all, but on his own. Cases falling between these extremes will be regarded as involving merely a question of fact, to be left to the jury or other trier of such questions. ’ ’”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Healey v. Cockrill“If the servant in going extra viam is really engaged in the execution of the master's business within the scope of his employment, it is immaterial that he joined with this some private business or purpose of his own. Thus in Patten v. Rea, 2 Com. Bench (N.S.) 605, the servant started out on business of the master, and also to see a doctor on his own account. While on his way to see the doctor, he negligently drove against a horse and killed it, and the master was held responsible.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage““In making the detour Blackwell was still in charge of his master’s team, though on a roundabout way home, carting manure to his master’s farm. That was his main purpose and object throughout the entire transaction. In the language of the case last cited (Quinn v. Power, 87 N. Y. 535 [ 41 Am. Rep. 392 ]), even if the motive was some purpose of his own, he was still about his usual employment, although pursuing it in a way and manner to subserve such purpose also.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.