Matthews v. . Coe’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 15 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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““The agreement between the parties” said Judge Allen, in 70 N. Y. at page 242 [ 26 Am. Rep. 583 ], “was in form the usual commercial contract by which a commission merchant contracts with a dealer in produce or other merchantable commodity for the loan or advance of his money at the legal rate of interest, to enable the dealer to purchase or carry his merchandise, and also for an agreed commission to undertake the care, management, and sale of the commodity. Such contracts, proper and usual in form, may be made-covers for usury, and, when this fact is established by competent proof, they are within the condemnation of the laws against usury, and void. The question is upon contracts for the transaction of a commission business in connection with the use of money, whether a fair, reasonable, usual, and customary allowance for the trouble and inconvenience of transacting the business only has been secured, or whether, under the guise of a commission for services, trouble, and expenses, the lender has sought to and has reserved and secured to himself compensation for the use of his money in excess of the rate of interest allowed by law. The contracts are not necessarily usurious, and the onus is upon the party, seeking to impeach them for usury, to prove the guilty intent, and that the contract is a cover for usury, and for the loan of money upon usury.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. In re Liberty Doll Co.