Lear, Inc. v. Adkins

Decided June 16, 1969. John Marshall Harlan delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 56 · 395 U.S. 653 (1969) · Cited 551 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 5–3.

“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.

• Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. · 376 U.S. 234 (1964)
• Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co. · 376 U.S. 225 (1964)
• Scott Paper Co. v. Marcalus Manufacturing Co. · 326 U.S. 249 (1945)
• Brulotte v. Thys Co. · 379 U.S. 29 (1964)
• Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. v. Formica Insulation Co. · 266 U.S. 342 (1924)
• Graham v. John Deere Co. of Kansas City · 383 U.S. 1 (1966)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food MacHinery & Chemical Corp. · 382 U.S. 172 (1965)
• Sola Electric Co. v. Jefferson Electric Co. · 317 U.S. 173 (1942)
• Radio Station Wow, Inc. v. Johnson · 326 U.S. 120 (1945)
• New York Ex Rel. Cohn v. Graves · 300 U.S. 308 (1937)
• Pope Manufacturing Co. v. Gormully · 144 U.S. 224 (1892)
• Dewey v. Des Moines · 173 U.S. 193 (1899)

Cited by

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

• MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. · 549 U.S. 118 (2007)
• Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc. · 594 U.S. 559 (2021)
• Blonder-Tongue Laboratories, Inc. v. University of Illinois Foundation · 402 U.S. 313 (1971)
• Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron Corp. · 416 U.S. 470 (1974)
• Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. · 489 U.S. 141 (1989)
• Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC · 576 U.S. 466 (2015)
• F.T.C. v. Actavis, Inc. · 570 U.S. 136 (2013)
• Aronson v. Quick Point Pencil Co. · 440 U.S. 257 (1979)
• Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC. · 571 U.S. 191 (2014)
• General Motors Corp. v. Devex Corp. · 461 U.S. 648 (1983)
• Cantor v. Detroit Edison Co. · 428 U.S. 579 (1976)

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).