Hoffman v. Palmer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

72 federal appellate · 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 124 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “dripping with motivations to misrepresent.”

   9 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Miller v. Warren Memorial Hospital, Inc. · 141 Ill. 2d 40 - People v. Smith

2. “It is not a record made for the systematic conduct of the business as a business. An accident report may affect that business in the sense that it affords information on which the management may act. It is not, however, typical of entries made systematically or as a matter of routine to record events or occurrences, to reflect transactions with others, or to provide internal controls. The conduct of a business commonly entails the payment of tort claims incurred by the negligence of its employees. But the fact that a company makes a business out of recording its employees' versions of their accidents does not put those statements in the class of records made `in the regular course' of the business within the meaning of the Act.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Miller v. Warren Memorial Hospital, Inc. · 141 Ill. 2d 40 - People v. Smith

3. “Under the broad language of this Act, we find no error in the admission in evidence of the hospital record in the court below. The Act applies to every business, profession, occupation and calling of every kind. The Act also provides that all other circumstances of the making of such writing or record, including lack of personal knowledge by the entrant or maker, may be shown to affect the weight, but not the admissibility thereof. The purpose of the Act is to put an end to narrowness in the use of the familiar rule of evidence that the person whose statement is received as testimony should speak from personal observation or knowledge, and to bring the rule of evidence nearer to the standards in responsible action outside of the courts. 5 Wigmore on Evidence, 3d Ed., Sec. 1530a. Therfore, this Court holds that a hospital record containing the history of a patient’s case is admissible in evidence, whether or not the statements therein were made by the patient himself.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. State v. Garlick