Norfolk Southern Railway Company v. James N. Kirby, Pty Ltd., Dba Kirby Engineering, and Allianz Australia Insurance Limited

Decided November 9, 2004. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 02-1028 · 543 U.S. 14 (2004) · Cited 539 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.

• Kossick v. United Fruit Co. · 365 U.S. 731 (1961)
• Great Northern Railway Co. v. O'Connor · 232 U.S. 508 (1914)
• Robert C. Herd & Co. v. Krawill MacHinery Corp. · 359 U.S. 297 (1959)
• Foremost Insurance v. Richardson · 457 U.S. 668 (1982)
• Exxon Corp. v. Central Gulf Lines, Inc. · 500 U.S. 603 (1991)
• Stewart Organization, Inc. v. Ricoh Corp. · 487 U.S. 22 (1988)
• Romero v. International Terminal Operating Co. · 358 U.S. 354 (1959)
• Pope & Talbot, Inc. v. Hawn · 346 U.S. 406 (1953)
• United States v. Gonzales · 520 U.S. 1 (1997)
• American Dredging Co. v. Miller · 510 U.S. 443 (1994)
• Wilburn Boat Co. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance · 348 U.S. 310 (1955)
• Yamaha Motor Corp., USA v. Calhoun · 516 U.S. 199 (1996)
• Green v. Biddle · 21 U.S. 1 (1823)
• Sisson v. Ruby · 497 U.S. 358 (1990)
• Garrett v. Moore-McCormack Co. · 317 U.S. 239 (1942)
• The Lottawanna · 88 U.S. 558 (1875)
• North Pacific Steamship Co. v. Hall Bros. Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Co. · 249 U.S. 119 (1919)
• New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad v. Nothnagle · 346 U.S. 128 (1953)
• National Labor Relations Board v. International Longshoremen's Ass'n · 447 U.S. 490 (1980)

Cited by

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

• Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. v. Regal-Beloit Corp. · 561 U.S. 89 (2010)
• CITGO Asphalt Refining Co. v. Frescati Shipping Co. · 589 U.S. 348 (2020)
• Great Lakes Ins. SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co. · 601 U.S. 65 (2024)
• Dutra Group v. Batterton · 588 U.S. 358 (2019)

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).