Upton Assignee v. Tribilcock’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

132 federal appellate · 29 district · 347 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 689 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It will not do for a man to enter into a contract and, when called upon to respond to his obligations, to say that he did not read it when he signed it, or did not know what it contained. If this were permitted, contracts would not be worth the paper on which they were written; but such is not the law. The contractor must stand by the words of his contract, and, if he will not read what he signs, he alone is responsible for his omission.””

   32 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Wagner v. National Life Ins. Co. of Montpelier · New York Cent. & H. R. R. v. Difendaffer

2. ““Equity will'not assist a man whose condition is attributable only to that want of, diligence which may be fairly expected from a reasonable person.””

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Latimer v. Bard · Burk v. Johnson

3. ““The capital stock of a moneyed corporation is a fund for the payment of its debts. It is a trust fund, of which the directors are the trustees. It is a trust to be managed for the benefit of its shareholders during its life, and for the benefit of its creditors in the event of its dissolution. This duty is a sacred one, and cannot be' disregarded. Its violation will not be undertaken by any just-minded man, and will not be permitted by the courts. The idea that ihe capital of a corporation is a football to bo thrown into the market for the purposes of speculation, that its value may be elevated or depressed to advance the interests of its managers, is a modern and wicked invention. Equally unsound" is the opinion that the obligation of a subscriber to pay his subscription may be released or surrendered to him by the trustees of the company. This has been often attempted, but never successfully. The capital paid in, and promised to be paid in, is a fund which the trustees cannot squander or give away. They'are bound to call in wbat is unpaid, and carefully to husband it when received.””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Hamor v. Taylor-Rice Engineering Co. · Keith v. Kilmer