City of Findlay v. Pertz’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 federal appellate · 4 district · 4 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 41 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Any agreement or understanding between one principal and tbe agent of another, by which such agent is to receive a commission or reward if he will use his influence with his principal to induce a contract, or enter into a contract.for his principal, is pernicious and corrupt, and cannot be enforced at law. This principle is founded upon the plainest principles of reason and morality, and has been sanctioned by the courts in. innumerable cases. ‘It has its foundation in the very constitution of our nature,’ says Judge Dillon, ‘for it has authoritatively been declared that a man cannot serve two masters, and is recognized and enforced wherever a well-regulated system of jurisprudence prevails.’ 1 Dill. Mun. Corp. (4th Ed.) § 444. ‘An agent cannot be allowed to put himself in a position in which his interest and his duty will be in conflict.’ Beake, Oont. (3d Ed.) 409. The tendency of such an agreement is to corrupt the fidelity of the agent, and is a fraud upon his principal, and is not enforceable, ‘even though it does not induce the agent to act corruptly.’ ‘It would be most mischievous to hold that a man could come into a court of law to enforce such a bargain on the ground that he was not in fact corrupted. It is quite immaterial that the employer was not damaged.’ Wald's Pol. Cont. (2d Am. Ed.) 245, 246, and note a, citing Harrington v. Dock Co., 3 Q. B. Div. 549, and other cases. See, also, Taussig v. Hart, 58 N. Y. 425 ; United States Rolling Stock Co. v. Atlantic & G. ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Alger v. Anderson

2. ““Any agreement or understanding between one principal and the agent of another, by which such agent is to receive a commission or reward if he will use his influence with his principal to induce a contract, or enter Into a contract for his principa], is pernicious and corrupt, and cannot be enforced at law. This principle is founded upon the plainest principle of reason and morality, and has been sanctioned by the courts in innumerable cases.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Continental Trust Co. v. Toledo, St. L. & K. C. R.

3. “utterly vicious, unspeakably pernicious, and an unmixed evil”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. United States v. Gaytan