Bailey v. Bailey’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “When a trial judge gives no explanation for a discretionary decision, the parties and an appellate court are left to speculate about the decisional process.... [Ajdjudicative discretion — discretion which determines or directly affects the outcome of litigations— demands a reasoned explanation. Child support and attorney fee awards fall into this latter category. They represent important components in the outcome of divorce litigation. Moreover, the obligation to state reasons is heightened where, as here, the discretionary acts have been deemed important enough to warrant legislative guidelines.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Monica Garner v. Christopher Garner

2. “Awards of child support and attorney fees are committed to the trial court’s sound discretion. However, they are not insignificant — or worthy only of summary treatment — merely because they are discretionary. When a judge rules on child support, he dedicates a certain level of future resources to the care and development of children. His ruling profoundly affects the standards of living enjoyed by the children and by both of their parents.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Monica Garner v. Christopher Garner

3. “at a minimum should note the existence of the legislative guidelines and should identify those factors which the judge has weighed in arriving at his decision.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Jones v. Jones