Daily Income Fund, Inc., et al. v. Fox

Decided January 18, 1984. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-1200 · 464 U.S. 523 (1984) · Cited 281 times

Holding

Rule 23.1 does not apply to an action brought by an investment company shareholder under 36(b), and thus the plaintiff in such a case need not first make a demand upon the company's directors before bringing suit.

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 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.

• Hawes v. Oakland · 104 U.S. 450 (1882)
• Burks v. Lasker · 441 U.S. 471 (1979)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Delaware & Hudson Co. v. Albany & Susquehanna Railroad · 213 U.S. 435 (1909)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v. National Sea Clammers Assn. · 453 U.S. 1 (1981)
• Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston · 459 U.S. 375 (1983)
• Ross v. Bernhard · 396 U.S. 531 (1970)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran · 456 U.S. 353 (1982)
• United Copper Securities Co. v. Amalgamated Copper Co. · 244 U.S. 261 (1917)
• Corbus v. Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Co. · 187 U.S. 455 (1903)
• Hanna v. Plumer · 380 U.S. 460 (1965)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Koster v. (American) Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. · 330 U.S. 518 (1947)
• Walker v. Armco Steel Corp. · 446 U.S. 740 (1980)
• Sibbach v. Wilson & Co. · 312 U.S. 1 (1941)
• California v. Sierra Club · 451 U.S. 287 (1981)
• Mississippi Publishing Corp. v. Murphree · 326 U.S. 438 (1946)
• Price v. Gurney · 324 U.S. 100 (1945)

Cited by

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

• Kamen v. Kemper Financial Services, Inc. · 500 U.S. 90 (1991)
• Lawson v. FMR LLC · 571 U.S. 429 (2014)
• Thompson v. Thompson · 484 U.S. 174 (1988)
• Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson · 478 U.S. 804 (1986)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).