Lehman Brothers v. Schein et al.

Decided April 29, 1974. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 73-439 · 416 U.S. 386 (1974) · Cited 767 times

Holding

While resort to an available certification procedure, such as is available in Florida, is not obligatory where there is doubt as to local law, and its use in a given case is discretionary, resort to such procedure seems particularly appropriate here in view of the novelty of the question, the unsettled state of Florida law, and the fact that when federal judges in New York attempt to predict uncertain Florida law, they act as 'outsiders' not exposed to local law.

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.

• Meredith v. Winter Haven · 320 U.S. 228 (1943)
• Kaiser Steel Corp. v. W. S. Ranch Co. · 391 U.S. 593 (1968)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co. · 313 U.S. 487 (1941)
• Railroad Comm'n of Tex. v. Pullman Co. · 312 U.S. 496 (1941)
• Moragne v. States Marine Lines, Inc. · 398 U.S. 375 (1970)
• Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. City of Thibodaux · 360 U.S. 25 (1959)
• Hostetter v. Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp. · 377 U.S. 324 (1964)
• Clay v. Sun Ins. Office Ltd. · 363 U.S. 207 (1960)
• Western Pacific Railroad Corp. v. Western Pacific Railroad Co. · 345 U.S. 247 (1953)
• Reitz v. Mealey · 314 U.S. 33 (1941)

Cited by

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

• Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman · 581 U.S. 37 (2017)
• Mckesson v. Doe · 592 U.S. 1 (2020)
• Bush v. Gore · 531 U.S. 98 (2000)
• Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky · 585 U.S. 1 (2018)
• Salve Regina College v. Russell · 499 U.S. 225 (1991)
• Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona · 520 U.S. 43 (1997)
• City of Houston v. Hill · 482 U.S. 451 (1987)
• Greene v. Massey · 437 U.S. 19 (1978)
• Bellotti v. Baird · 428 U.S. 132 (1976)
• Nguyen v. United States · 539 U.S. 69 (2003)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Orville Douglas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1974). 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).