Gulf Oil Co. et al. v. Bernard et al.

Decided June 1, 1981. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-441 · 452 U.S. 89 (1981) · Cited 973 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.

• Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin · 417 U.S. 156 (1974)
• In Re Primus · 436 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders · 437 U.S. 340 (1978)
• Deposit Guaranty National Bank v. Roper · 445 U.S. 326 (1980)
• United Mine Workers v. Illinois State Bar Ass'n · 389 U.S. 217 (1967)
• Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia Ex Rel. Virginia State Bar · 377 U.S. 1 (1964)
• United Transportation Union v. State Bar of Michigan · 401 U.S. 576 (1971)

Cited by

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

• Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. v. Sperling · 493 U.S. 165 (1989)
• Elonis v. United States · 575 U.S. 723 (2015)
• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart · 467 U.S. 20 (1984)
• Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Jean v. Nelson · 472 U.S. 846 (1985)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).