Knaggs v. Mastin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 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 action was tried by the court below without the intervention of a jury. The court found generally for the defendant and against the plaintiffs. No special findings of either law or fact were made by the court. A few of the facts are admitted by the pleadings, but the most of them are controverted. A few more of the facts may be said to be admitted by the evidence, as the evidence concerning them is clear, conclusive, and all one way. But a very large proportion of the facts, probably a majority of them, is not only controverted by the pleadings, but is also controverted by the evidence — the evidence concerning them being conflicting and contradictory. Where the facts are admitted by the pleadings, or where the evidence concerning them is clear, and all one way, we shall take the facts as so established, whether they are in favor of the plaintiffs or the defendant. But where the facts are controverted by the pleadings, and the evidence concerning them is conflicting and contradictory, we shall consider that they have been established in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiffs. Where facts are established by a general finding of a court, it must always be presumed that all the controverted facts are established in favor of the party for whom the court finds, and against the party against whom the court finds. Therefore, whenever some of the facts might be found in favor of one of the parties, and some of them might be found in favor of the other party, it would ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Mason v. Harlow