Fox v. Merfeld’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 district · 7 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In no material respect does it differ from the ease of Buckey v. Snouffer, 10 Md. 149 [ 69 Am. Dec. 129 ], which settled the law in this state, and has only recently been approved by this court in Gaither v. Stockbridge, 67 Md. 228 [ 9 Atl. 632 , 10 Atl. 309 ]. It is the declared doctrine in this state that, when a debtor applies for the benefit of our insolvent laws, his property passes in custodia legis for the benefit of his creditors, and, it being well settled that goods in custodia legis are not liable to be distrained upon, it follows necessarily that the distresses, or either of them, cannot be sustained, as the property, at the time when the warrants were issued, had passed beyond the reach of any legal right to distrain. It is also clearly settled law in this state that rent is not per se a lien on goods found on the demised premises, unless the same have been seized under a legal distress. In this case the rent had been due since the 15th of December, 1893, but Fox slept upon his rights and allowed Coblens to apply for the benefit of the insolvent law before he issued his first distress. He was then without a remedy, as the property of the insolvent had passed into the custody of the law, subject only to such liens or incumbrances as had been acquired before Coblens’ ap-. plication. * * * It was contended at the hearing in this court that Buckey v. Snouffer, supra, was decided when Acts 1805, c. 110, § 7, was in force, and that the then terms of the act were wholl”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. In re Chaudron