Marek et al. v. Chesny, Individually, and as Administrator of the Estate of Chesny

Decided June 27, 1985. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-1437 · 473 U.S. 1 (1985) · Cited 923 times

Holding

Petitioners are not liable for the attorney's fees incurred by respondent after petitioners' offer of settlement.

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 6–3.

“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.

• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. August · 450 U.S. 346 (1981)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper · 447 U.S. 752 (1980)
• General Telephone Co. of Southwest v. Falcon · 457 U.S. 147 (1982)
• Hughes v. Rowe · 449 U.S. 5 (1980)
• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 434 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Hanna v. Plumer · 380 U.S. 460 (1965)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Maine v. Thiboutot · 448 U.S. 1 (1980)
• Califano v. Yamasaki · 442 U.S. 682 (1979)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security · 455 U.S. 445 (1982)
• Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co. · 392 U.S. 409 (1968)
• American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson · 456 U.S. 63 (1982)
• Sibbach v. Wilson & Co. · 312 U.S. 1 (1941)
• Ragan v. Merchants Transfer & Warehouse Co. · 337 U.S. 530 (1949)
• Lynch v. Overholser · 369 U.S. 705 (1962)
• Northcross v. Memphis Board of Education · 412 U.S. 427 (1973)
• United States v. Brown · 333 U.S. 18 (1948)
• McGrath v. Kristensen · 340 U.S. 162 (1950)
• United States v. Campos-Serrano · 404 U.S. 293 (1971)
• Harrison v. Northern Trust Co. · 317 U.S. 476 (1943)
• Summit Valley Industries, Inc. v. Local 112, United Brotherhood of Carpenters · 456 U.S. 717 (1982)

Cited by

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

• Evans v. Jeff D. Ex Rel. Johnson · 475 U.S. 717 (1986)
• Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy · 548 U.S. 291 (2006)
• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk · 569 U.S. 66 (2013)
• Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources · 532 U.S. 598 (2001)
• Chambers v. Nasco, Inc. · 501 U.S. 32 (1991)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Budinich v. Becton Dickinson & Co. · 486 U.S. 196 (1988)
• City of Riverside v. Rivera · 477 U.S. 561 (1986)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. · 599 U.S. 419 (2023)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1985). 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).