Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. John W. Banks, II

Decided January 24, 2005. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-892 · 543 U.S. 426 (2005) · Cited 166 times

Holding

When a litigant’s recovery constitutes income, the litigant’s income includes the portion of the recovery paid to the attorney as a contingent fee.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Lucas v. Earl · 281 U.S. 111 (1930)
• Helvering v. Horst · 311 U.S. 112 (1940)
• Commissioner v. Sunnen · 333 U.S. 591 (1948)
• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Commissioner v. Glenshaw Glass Co. · 348 U.S. 426 (1955)
• City of Riverside v. Rivera · 477 U.S. 561 (1986)
• Commissioner v. Culbertson · 337 U.S. 733 (1949)
• Helvering v. Eubank · 311 U.S. 122 (1941)
• United States v. Basye · 410 U.S. 441 (1973)
• Commissioner v. Jacobson · 336 U.S. 28 (1949)
• Venegas v. Mitchell · 495 U.S. 82 (1990)
• Commissioner v. First Security Bank of Utah, N. A. · 405 U.S. 394 (1972)
• Commissioner v. Indianapolis Power & Light Co. · 493 U.S. 203 (1990)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. · 604 U.S. 321 (2025)
• Moore v. United States · 602 U.S. 572 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2005). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).