Roberts v. Williamson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 district · 88 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 92 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Although related, the two sections pose separate inquiries. Section 33.012 controls the claimant’s total recovery, while section 33.013 governs the defendant’s separate liability. Under section 33.012, the Williamsons’ total recovery, including amounts received in settlement, is limited to $2,935,000, so they can receive no more than $2,466,250 ($2,935,000-$468,750) in satisfaction of this judgment. This limit, however, is independent of section 33.013’s limitation on a particular defendant’s percentage of responsibility. And section 33.013(a) specifically pertains to defendants who, like Dr. Roberts here, are not jointly and severally liable. That section provides that a severally-liable defendant’s monetary liability is calculated by multiplying the damages found by the trier of fact by the defendant’s percentage of responsibility. See C & H Nationwide, Inc. v. Thompson, 903 S.W.2d 315, 321 (Tex.1994) (“Section 33.013(a) sets the liability to the claimant of each [severally hable] defendant at an amount equal to that defendant’s percentage of responsibility multiplied by the damages found by the trier of fact.”). The trial court did this when it multiplied the jury’s damage award by the 15 per cent of proportionate responsibility it assigned to Dr. Roberts. Because Dr. Roberts’ liability for $440,250, does not exceed the limit placed on the amount of damages the Williamsons may recover under section 33.012, no further credit [from the settlement] is required.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Pilgrim's Pride Corp. v. Cernat · Martin K. Eby Construction Co. v. LAN/STV

2. “In Broders , the trial court excluded expert testimony from an emergency-room physician who was prepared to testify about the cause of death in a medical malpractice action. The patient had suffered a head injury during an assault and was thereafter admitted to a hospital for observation and treatment. The patient was released the next day by her attending physician but returned to the hospital a few hours later, complaining of an intense headache, nausea, and sensitivity to light. A neurosurgeon examined her this time and determined that she had a fractured skull, with bleeding and swelling in the brain. The swelling could not be controlled, and the patient died the next day. The decedent’s parents brought a wrongful death action against the hospital and three doctors. The defendants argued that the assault had caused an irreversible, untreatable, and fatal brain injury. No treatment, they said, whether negligent or not, could have been a cause in fact of the patient’s death. The defendants presented expert testimony from two neurosurgeons to support their position. The plaintiffs expert would have testified that had the patient’s head trauma been promptly diagnosed and treated during her first hospitalization, the patient would, in all medical probability, have survived. The court of appeals reversed and remanded, concluding that the trial court had erred in excluding this testimony. We held that the trial court had correctly excluded this testimony because the emergency-ro”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Livingston v. Montgomery Ex Rel. Colter

3. “(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) ..., a liable defendant is liable to a claimant only for the percentage of the damages found by the trier of fact equal to that defendant’s percentage of responsibility with respect to the personal injury, property damage, death or other harm for which the damages are allowed. (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), each liable defendant is, in addition to his liability under Subsection (a), jointly and severally liable for the damages recoverable by the claimant under Section 33.012 with respect to a cause of action if the percentage of responsibility attributed to the defendant is greater than 50 percent.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Cheshier & Fuller, L.L.P. (In Re Sunpoint Securities, Inc.)