Nelson v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 16 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 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““* * * this holding is not determinative of this point. Before one may proceed in the courts to prosecute a claim in which another has a beneficial interest it must be determined whether or not the assignment was made to accomplish an illegal purpose. Section 6-0-24 prohibits the practice of law by laymen. The courts themselves will not permit laymen to appear in court in a representative capacity. The policy of the courts and the legislature in this regard may not be circumvented by the subterfuge of a layman taking an assignment to permit him to carry on the business of practicing law. “The casual assignment for procedural convenience falls in an entirely different class. See comment in Graustein v. Barry, 315 Mass. 518 , 53 N.E.2d 568 . The casual assignment does not constitute a business of collecting claims for others. Rather such assignments are made for procedural and administrative convenience and permit groups of persons collectively to pursue a similar or common right. There may well be legitimate purposes for the taking of an assignment by one engaged in the business of collecting claims for others. But collection agencies as a part of their business of serving others, clearly should not be permitted to prepare legal papers, commence suits, appear in court, prepare judgments and generally manage law suits for its various customers. * * * It does not matter what particular form or name they give their procedure the practice of furnishing or performing legal services”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 168 W. Va. 758 - State Ex Rel. Frieson v. Isner · State Ex Rel. Norvell v. Credit Bureau of Albuquerque, Inc.

2. ““* * * it is clear that any attorney furnished to perform the legal services which the defendants agree, as a usual business practice, to perform or cause to be performed would be the employee of the defendants. There would, under these circumstances, be no contract or privity between the owners of the various claims and the attorneys furnished by the defendants. The fee allowed by the owners of the claims to compensate defendants for the services rendered are deducted by the defendants for their own use and benefit. The services so rendered are such as are usually and customarily rendered by an attorney in the practice of his profession. Under the allegations any attorney retained to perform such services in the enforcement of such claims would be the defendants’ employee or agent. Such a business conducted for the purpose of bringing legal actions on claims owned by third parties and consisting of the payment of all costs and the furnishing of all legal services incident to the bringing of the actions is the practice of law. Where, as here, the agency rendering the service is a, lay agency, it is the illegal practice of -law. Such is the almost uniform holding of the authorities as applied to collection agencies operating along similar lines.” (Citations omitted.) Nelson v. Smith, 107 Utah 391, 397 , 154 P.2d 638 , 641.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State Ex Rel. Norvell v. Credit Bureau of Albuquerque, Inc.

3. “The practice of law is so affected with the public interest that the state has both a right and a duty to control and regulate it in order to promote the public welfare.... It is the attorney who first sits as judge of the merits of every case, who decides whether or not suit should be commenced. The court and the public are interested in having that decision rendered by those qualified so to do_ The public is directly concerned with the functioning of the machinery set up for the purpose of handling judicial work.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bd. of Com'rs, Utah State Bar v. Petersen