Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay et al.

Decided June 21, 1978. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-1836 · 437 U.S. 463 (1978) · Cited 3,269 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“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.

• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp. · 379 U.S. 148 (1964)
• Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin · 417 U.S. 156 (1974)
• Catlin v. United States · 324 U.S. 229 (1945)
• Abney v. United States · 431 U.S. 651 (1977)
• Cobbledick v. United States · 309 U.S. 323 (1940)
• United States v. MacDonald · 435 U.S. 850 (1978)
• United Airlines, Inc. v. McDonald · 432 U.S. 385 (1977)
• Baltimore Contractors, Inc. v. Bodinger · 348 U.S. 176 (1955)
• Mercantile Nat. Bank at Dallas v. Langdeau · 371 U.S. 555 (1963)

Cited by

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

• Microsoft Corp. v. Baker · 582 U.S. 23 (2017)
• Deposit Guaranty National Bank v. Roper · 445 U.S. 326 (1980)
• Sell v. United States · 539 U.S. 166 (2003)
• Digital Equipment Corp. v. Desktop Direct, Inc. · 511 U.S. 863 (1994)
• Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp. · 460 U.S. 1 (1983)
• Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp. · 485 U.S. 271 (1988)
• Richardson-Merrell Inc. v. Koller Ex Rel. Koller · 472 U.S. 424 (1985)
• Midland Asphalt Corp. v. United States · 489 U.S. 794 (1989)
• Behrens v. Pelletier · 516 U.S. 299 (1996)
• United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty · 445 U.S. 388 (1980)
• Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord · 449 U.S. 368 (1981)
• Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard · 486 U.S. 517 (1988)
• Mitchell v. Forsyth · 472 U.S. 511 (1985)
• General Telephone Co. of Southwest v. Falcon · 457 U.S. 147 (1982)
• Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter · 558 U.S. 100 (2009)
• Cunningham v. Hamilton County · 527 U.S. 198 (1999)
• Cuozzo Speed Technologies, LLC v. Lee · 579 U.S. 261 (2016)
• Lauro Lines S.R.L. v. Chasser · 490 U.S. 495 (1989)
• Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne Int'l Drilling Co. · 581 U.S. 170 (2017)
• Will v. Hallock · 546 U.S. 345 (2006)
• United States v. Hollywood Motor Car Co. · 458 U.S. 263 (1982)
• Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes · 564 U.S. 338 (2011)
• Johnson v. Jones · 515 U.S. 304 (1995)
• Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance · 517 U.S. 706 (1996)
• Caterpillar Inc. v. Lewis · 519 U.S. 61 (1996)
• Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. · 506 U.S. 139 (1993)
• Green Tree Financial Corp.-Alabama v. Randolph · 531 U.S. 79 (2000)
• Sinochem International Co. v. Malaysia International Shipping Corp. · 549 U.S. 422 (2007)
• Swint v. Chambers County Commission · 514 U.S. 35 (1995)
• Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. AnimalFeeds International Corp. · 559 U.S. 662 (2010)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).