Ward v. Johnson’s Empirical Analysis
1880
Citation profile
5 federal appellate · 1 district · 32 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 41 later decisions — most recently June 1940 · most notably City of Marion Ill v. Sneeden (1934), People Ex Rel. Nelson v. Wiersema State Bank (1935)
5 federal appellate · 1 district · 32 state decisions — followed in 16 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Railway Company v. McCarthy · Whitney Arms Co. v. . Barlow · Bradley v. Ballard · Darst v. Gale · Mechanics & Traders' Bank v. Farmers & Mechanics' National Bank
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 41 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““We do not regard the by-law directing the investment of savings deposits otherwise than as binding upon the officers and members of the banking corporation alone. The general rule is, that the by-laws of a corporation are binding upon none but its members and officers. Angelí & Ames on Corp. § 359. “We do not think, in any view, the proof shows that these certificate holders had such knowledge of the by-laws of this corporation as to be bound and concluded by them. They were, practically, strangers to the corporation, and could not hence be affected by any disobedience of its officers or directors to its by-laws, of whose contents they were ignorant. Their good faith is unquestioned by the proof, and they are entitled to the protection given them by the decree of the Appellate Court.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““The proof shows that the money for -which the certificates of investment were issued went into the general business of the 'bank, and was used for paying everything for which the bank used money. “The contract, therefore, having been in good faith performed by the certificate 'holders, and the bank having had the full benefit of the contract, it is not allowed to interpose the defence of ultra vires.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.