From our private database of 37,200+ case briefs...

Braniff Airways, Inc. v. Exxon Co., U.S.A.

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

814 F.2d 1030 (1987)

Facts

Before filing bankruptcy, Braniff Airways, Inc. (Braniff) (plaintiff) contracted with Exxon Co. (defendant) for jet fuel and oil products. Under the fuel contract, Braniff prepaid Exxon each week for the amount of fuel Braniff estimated it needed. Under the oil contract, Braniff had an open account and paid after purchase. Braniff prepaid $530,000 for fuel for the following week two days before filing bankruptcy, then used only $96,252 in fuel, such that Exxon owed Braniff a refund of $434,972. Meanwhile, Braniff had paid Exxon $145,745 to cover purchases on the open account during the 90 days before bankruptcy. After filing for reorganization, Braniff sued to recover part of the open-account payments. Braniff stipulated that some of the payments were not recoverable because they paid ordinary business debts but sought recovery of $64,992. The district court found Exxon could not set off Braniff’s claim for $64,992 against the $434,972 that Exxon owed Braniff for fuel prepayments, reasoning that the debt Exxon owed Braniff was created by the bankruptcy-court judgment post-petition. Exxon appealed.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Hill, J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 630,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 630,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 37,200 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 630,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
37,200 briefs - keyed to 984 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support