Story Parchment Co. v. Patterson Parchment Paper Co.
United States Supreme Court
282 U.S. 555 (1931)
- Written by Emily Laird, JD
Facts
Story Parchment Co. (Story) (plaintiff) sued Paterson Parchment Paper Co. and other parchment companies (collectively, Story’s competitors) (defendants) under the Sherman Antitrust Act, alleging a conspiracy to monopolize interstate trade and commerce in vegetable parchment, a conspiracy that destroyed Story’s business. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Story, but it found in the alternative for Story’s competitors “if, as a matter of law, [Story] is not entitled to a verdict." The district court approved the jury’s verdict in favor of Story and entered judgment for Story. Story’s competitors appealed to the appellate court, which vacated the district court’s judgment and remanded the case to the district court. The appellate court directed the district court to enter judgment for Story’s competitors, holding the verdict was unwarranted because it provided recovery for damages that were uncertain as to the total amount. The court held that because Story did not prove the value of monetary damages it claimed to have suffered, Story did not meet its burden of proving it suffered damages for which it could recover.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sutherland, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 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.
