Tankersley v. Peabody Coal Co.

202 N.E.2d 498 (1964)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Tankersley v. Peabody Coal Co.

Illinois Supreme Court
202 N.E.2d 498 (1964)

Facts

George Tankersley (plaintiff) owned a tract of land and leased the surface of the land for farming purposes to John Norville (plaintiff). The Peabody Coal Company (Peabody) (defendant) owned the mineral rights under the land, having taken them over from a predecessor company that had operated a mine. That company dissolved. The mining operations (those of Peabody and the predecessor company) caused surface subsidence in the land. Tankersley and Norville sued Peabody for removing the subjacent support under the land, which caused the subsidence. Peabody claimed pretrial that it could not be responsible for the subsidence caused by the predecessor company’s operations because Peabody had not expressly assumed such liability and had no connection to that entity. The court disagreed, concluding that Peabody could be responsible for such damage. The case went to trial, and the jury returned verdicts for Tankersley and Norville. Peabody appealed, again claiming that it could not be responsible for areas that the predecessor had mined. The intermediate appellate court reversed, applying another case it had recently decided to conclude that successor entities could not be liable for actions of predecessor miners absent express assumption of liability. Tankersley and Norville appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Underwood, J.)

What to do next…

  1. 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 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. 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.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 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 815,000 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
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 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

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership