Young v. Macrae
England and Wales High Court of Justice
(1862) 3 B. & S. 264, 122 Eng. Rep. 100, 9 Jur. N.S. 538, 27 J.P. 132, 32 L.J.Q.B. 6, 7 L.T. 354, 1 New Rep. 52, 11 W.R. 63 (1862)

- Written by Sarah Hoffman, JD
Facts
Young (plaintiff) manufactured and sold paraffin oil. Macrae (defendant) sold oil made by Portland Kerosine Company. Both were lamp oils. Macrae published and distributed a report that compared the two oils and claimed that Young’s oil was inferior in several respects, including that it burned less brightly and with a disagreeable odor. Young filed suit against Macrae, claiming his business had been injured by the publication. In the suit, Young alleged that the publication represented the oil sold by Macrae in a falsely positive light but did not allege that the statements made about Young’s oil were false.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cockburn, C.J.)
Concurrence (Wightman, J.)
Concurrence (Blackburn, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 964,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,006 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.
- AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New
Understand your casebook readings in seconds
Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.
Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,006 law school casebooks.

