Ernst & Ernst v. Hochfelder et al.

Decided March 30, 1976. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 74-1042 · 425 U.S. 185 (1976) · Cited 3,533 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 6–2.

“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.

• Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores · 421 U.S. 723 (1975)
• Affiliated Ute Citizens of Utah v. United States · 406 U.S. 128 (1972)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. Capital Gains Research Bureau, Inc. · 375 U.S. 180 (1963)
• Superintendent of Insurance of New York v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co. · 404 U.S. 6 (1971)
• Addison v. Holly Hill Fruit Products, Inc. · 322 U.S. 607 (1944)
• Coates v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 394 U.S. 976 (1969)
• Foremost-McKeeson, Inc. v. Provident Securities Co. · 423 U.S. 232 (1976)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• United States v. United Mine Workers of America · 330 U.S. 258 (1947)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• J. I. Case Co. v. Borak · 377 U.S. 426 (1964)
• F. D. Rich Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Industrial Lumber Co. · 417 U.S. 116 (1974)
• Tcherepnin v. Knight · 389 U.S. 332 (1967)
• Securities & Exchange Commission v. National Securities, Inc. · 393 U.S. 453 (1969)
• Schwegmann Bros. v. Calvert Distillers Corp. · 341 U.S. 384 (1951)
• Manhattan General Equipment Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue · 297 U.S. 129 (1936)
• Packard Motor Car Co. v. National Labor Relations Board · 330 U.S. 485 (1947)
• Dixon v. United States · 381 U.S. 68 (1965)
• Rondeau v. Mosinee Paper Corp. · 422 U.S. 49 (1975)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Fruit & Vegetable Packers & Warehousemen, Local 760 · 377 U.S. 58 (1964)
• United States v. Oregon · 366 U.S. 643 (1961)
• United States v. Wrightwood Dairy Co. · 315 U.S. 110 (1942)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Bunte Bros. · 312 U.S. 349 (1941)
• Kern County Land Co. v. Occidental Petroleum Corp. · 411 U.S. 582 (1973)

Cited by

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

• Aaron v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 446 U.S. 680 (1980)
• Lorenzo v. SEC. & Exch. Comm'n · 587 U.S. 71 (2019)
• Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd. · 551 U.S. 308 (2007)
• Central Bank of Denver, N. A. v. First Interstate Bank of Denver, N. A. · 511 U.S. 164 (1994)
• Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston · 459 U.S. 375 (1983)
• Musick, Peeler & Garrett v. Employers Ins. of Wausau · 508 U.S. 286 (1993)
• Touche Ross & Co. v. Redington · 442 U.S. 560 (1979)
• Santa Fe Industries, Inc. v. Green · 430 U.S. 462 (1977)
• Basic Inc. v. Levinson · 485 U.S. 224 (1988)
• Dirks v. Securities & Exchange Commission · 463 U.S. 646 (1983)
• Lampf, Pleva, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow v. Gilbertson · 501 U.S. 350 (1991)
• Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. · 561 U.S. 247 (2010)
• Chiarella v. United States · 445 U.S. 222 (1980)
• Rubin v. United States · 449 U.S. 424 (1981)
• Pinter v. Dahl · 486 U.S. 622 (1988)
• Bullock v. BankChampaign, N. A. · 569 U.S. 267 (2013)
• Thole v. U. S. Bank N. A. · 590 U.S. 538 (2020)
• United States v. Naftalin · 441 U.S. 768 (1979)
• Schreiber v. Burlington Northern, Inc. · 472 U.S. 1 (1985)
• TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc. · 426 U.S. 438 (1976)
• Shearson/American Express Inc. v. McMahon · 482 U.S. 220 (1987)
• Gustafson v. Alloyd Co. · 513 U.S. 561 (1995)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran · 456 U.S. 353 (1982)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. Daniel · 439 U.S. 551 (1979)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo · 544 U.S. 336 (2005)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. · 490 U.S. 477 (1989)

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).