Phelps v. Hamilton’s Empirical Analysis
120 F.3d 1126 · 1997
Citation profile
23 federal appellate · 13 district · 8 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 66 later decisions — most recently October 2018 · most notably Lyndell Mitchell v. The City of Moore Oklahoma Mike Drea Bruce Storm Gary Tipps (2000), Robinson v. City of Edmond (1998)
23 federal appellate · 13 district · 8 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Applies 28 U.S.C. § 1291 · 28 U.S.C. § 1738 · 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (Civil Rights Act of 1871 / Section 1983 (Ku Klux Klan Act)) · 42 U.S.C. § 1988
Relies on Hensley v. Eckerhart · Farrar v. Hobby · Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · Texas State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Independent School District · Blanchard v. Bergeron
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 66 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In short, a plaintiff 'prevails' when actual relief on the merits of his claim materially alters the legal relationship between the parties by modifying the defendant's behavior in a way that directly benefits the plaintiff.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“by examining: (1) the difference between the judgment recovered and the judgment sought; (2)”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“provide a concise but clear explanation of its reasons for the fee award.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.