98 Cal. App. 306 - O'Neil v. Ross’s Empirical Analysis
1929
Citation profile
9 federal appellate · 2 district · 19 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 32 later decisions — most recently April 1971 · most notably 132 Cal. App. 2d 343 - Ireland v. Pacific Home (1955), Brooks v. Yarbrough (1930)
9 federal appellate · 2 district · 19 state decisions
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 Morrison v. Land · Marti v. Anderson · Hardy v. Mayhew · Buckley v. Gray · Swan v. Talbot
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 32 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““It would be sufficient for the purposes of this case, had the findings merely determined that at the date of the transaction the contract was unilateral only. The contract is found to be entirely in writing and we do not find in it any written words over the signature of Martin Johnson by which he bound himself irrevocably to make that identical will with respect to the provisions under consideration here. It seems more reasonable to interpret the transaction to mean that Mary Johnson agreed to do certain things if Martin Johnson made the will and left it until the time of his death. Most of the authorities on contracts to make a will show that one of the parties to the contract has performed. In such cases equitable principles are invoked. One who has obtained a legacy or devise in consideration of an agreement to do certain things is not permitted to keep the benefits conferred upon him by such promise and at the same time repudiate and refuse to carry out the promise. Equity will impose a trust upon such property. After the death of Martin Johnson, his widow was obliged to carry out her agreement according to its true intent and lawful meaning.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.