Railroad Company v. Soutter et al.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

25 federal appellate · 16 district · 33 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 92 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Who are the complainants? Are they not the very bondholders, self-incorporated into a body politic, who, through their trustee and agent, effected the sale which was declared fraudulent and void, as against creditors, and made the purchase which has been set aside for that cause? Was it ever known that a fraudulent purchaser of property, when deprived of its possession, could recover for his repairs or improvements, or for incumbrances lifted by him whilst in possession? * * * But the complainants are wrong in asserting that the property was not theirs. It was theirs. Their purchase was declared void only as against the creditors of the Ra Orosse and Milwaukee Railroad Company. In other words, it was only voidable, not absolutely void. By satisfying those creditors they could have kept the property, and their title would have been good, as against all the world. The property was theirs; but, by reason of the fraudulent sale, was subject to incumbrance of the debts of the La Crosse Company. This was the legal effect -of the decree declaring their title void. Therefore they were, in fact, paying off an incumbrance on their own property when they paid into court the money which they are now seeking to recover back.””

   5 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. German Savings & Loan Soc. v. Tull · Crawford v. Broussard