140 N.C. App. 91 - Patterson v. Taylor’s Empirical Analysis
2000
Citation profile
20
cited by 20 later decisions
1
states following
January 2018
most recently cited
20 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Hall v. SINCLAIR REFINING COMPANY · Davison v. Duke University · Moore v. Moore · 124 N.C. App. 548 - Bicket v. McLean Securities, Inc. · 71 N.C. App. 35 - Biggers v. Evangelist
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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In contract law, where the language presents a question of doubtful meaning and the parties to a contract have, practically or otherwise, interpreted the contract, the courts will ordinarily adopt the construction the parties have given the contract ante litem motam.” However, even where a trial court concludes that extrinsic evidence of the parties’ behavior implementing the agreement is probative of the parties’ intent at the time of the execution of the agreement, the court is not free to consider such evidence to the exclusion of other probative and admissible evidence of the parties’ intent when the agreement was executed. In other words, if a trial court considers extrinsic evidence pertaining to interpretation of an ambiguous term, it must consider all relevant and material evidence. It is then the responsibility of the trial court to determine the weight and credibility of that evidence.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“implies a relationship where each parent has a degree of control over, and a measure of responsibility for, the child’s best interest and welfare. Nevertheless, in the absence of a controlling statutory definition ... of the term ‘joint custody,’ difficulties may arise where the . . . [court] use[s] the term without detailing the means of its implementation.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“focus[es] on the best interests and welfare of the child [.]”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.