Robinson v. United States’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

41 federal appellate · 12 district · 41 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 125 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In the absence of an express direction on tho subject, extrinsic evidence must oí necessity be resorted to in order to find out which mode was adopted by the parties; and what extrinsic evidence is better to ascertain this than that of usage? If a person of a particular occupation in a certain place makes an agreement by virtue of which something is to be done in that place, and this is uniformly done in a certain way by persons of the same occupation in the same place, it is but reasonable to assume that the parties contracting about it, and specifying no manner of doing it different from the ordinary one, meant that the ordinary one and no other should be followed. Parties who contract on a subject-matter concerning which known usages prevail, by implication incorporate them into their agreements, if nothing is' said to the contrary.””

   11 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Albion Phosphate Min. Co. v. Wyllie · United States v. Kerr

2. “[C]ustom or usage was properly received to ascertain and explain the meaning and intention of the parties to a contract, whether written or parol, the meaning of which could not be ascertained without the aid of such extrinsic evidence, and that such evidence was thus used on the theory that the parties knew of the existence of the custom or usage and contracted in reference to it.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. WESTERN STAR MILL COMPANY v. Burns · Tidewater Contractors, Inc. v. United States