Chose in action
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 321 U.S. 233 - Anderson Nat Bank v. Luckett · 1944Most cited · 786 citing opinions
A bank account is a chose in action of the depositor against the bank, which the latter is obligated to pay in accordance with the terms of the deposit.
How the Supreme Court has restated “Chose in action”
Each Supreme Court definition of “Chose in action,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “Chose in action”
Court decisions citing the 8 opinions that defined “Chose in action” — 2,309 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 8 definitions, chronological · 1839–1944
- ORIGINAL
this right to purchase, we consider nothing more than a contract by which the party was entitled, if he had elected to have done so, upon certain terms, to secure to himself certain benefits. In other words, at the time of the levy of the appellant's executions, Shields had a conditional right to purchase, which, in effect, was nothing more than a chose in action. We do not think it necessary to refer to authorities to sustain a proposition so well settled, as that an execution of fieri facias cannot be levied on a chose in action.
not subject to fi.fa.
The term 'chose in action' is one of comprehensive import. It includes the infinite variety of contracts, covenants, and promises, which confer on one party a right to recover a personal chattel or a sum of money from another, by action.
The distinction, as it respects the application of the 11th section of the Judiciary Act to a suit concerning a chose in action is this—where the suit is brought to enforce the contract, the assignee is disabled unless it might have been brought in the court, if no assignment had been made; but, if brought for a tortious taking or wrongful detention of the chattel, then the remedy accrues to the person who has the right of property or of possession at the time, the same as in case of a like wrong in respect to any other sort of personal chattel.
assignee clause distinction
under that comprehensive description are included all debts and all claims for damages for breach of contract, or for torts connected with contract
The restriction on jurisdiction is limited to cases where A is indebted to B on an express or implied promise to pay; B assigns this debt or claim to C, and C, as assignee of such debt, sues A thereon or to foreclose the security. Or where A has contracted with B, and B assigns the contract to C, who sues to enforce his rights, by bill for specific performance, or by an action for damages for breach of the contract. The prohibition applied not only to suits on instruments which might be said to have 'contents,' but also to suits for the recovery of 'all debts, and all claims for damages for breach of contract, or for torts connected with contract,' but not to suits 'to recover possession of the specific thing, or damages for its wrongful caption or detention.
The phrase 'to recover upon any * * * chose in action,' under the decisions of this court, includes a suit to compel the specific performance of a contract or otherwise to enforce its stipulations.
the interest of the decedent in the partnership... was simply a right to share in what would remain of the partnership assets after its liabilities were satisfied. It was merely an interest in the surplus, a chose in action. It is an intangible, and carries with it a right to an accounting.