Swain v. Seamens’s Empirical Analysis
76 U.S. 254 · 1869
Citation profile
53 federal appellate · 7 district · 40 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 153 later decisions (16 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2005 · most notably Stearns Co of Boston Mass v. United States (1934), Phœnix Insurance v. Erie & Western Transportation Co. (1886)
53 federal appellate · 7 district · 40 state decisions — followed in 20 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 153 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Where a person tacitly encourages an act to be done, he cannot.' afterwards exercise his legal right in opposition to such consent, if his. conduct or acts of encouragement, induced the other party to change-his position, so that he will be pecu-niarily prejudiced by the assertion of sueh adversary claim.””
6 later decisions quote this exact passage““After the agreement has been reduced to writing, it is competent for the parties, at any time before breach of it, by a new contract not in writing, either altogether to waive, dissolve, or annul the former agreement, or in any manner to add to or subtract from or vary or qualify the terms of it, and thus to make a new contract.””
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““ Section 160. No' estate or interest in land, other than for leases for a term not exceeding one year, or any trust or power over or concerning lands, or in any manner relating thereto, shall hereafter be created, granted, assigned, surrendered, or declared, unless by act or operation of law, or by deed or conveyance in writing, subscribed by the party creating, granting, assigning, surrendering, or declaring the same, or by his lawful agent thereunto authorized by writing.” “ Section 162. Every contract for the leasing for a longer time than one year, or for the sale of any lands or interest in lands, shall be void, unless the contract, or some note or memorandum thereof expressing the consideration, be in writing and be subscribed by the party by whom the lease or sale is’to’ be made.””
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Dunphy v. Ryan
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.