Rodgers v. McElroy’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Based on the foregoing, I conclude that Alabama’s wrongful-death statute, § 6-5-410, Ala.Code 1975, creates a ‘statutory trust’ in that it gives both the capacity and the right, and indeed even the obligation should a wrongful-death cause of action exist, solely to a decedent’s personal representative to bring a wrongful-death action on behalf of the decedent’s next of kin based on the death of the decedent by wrongful act. Although nothing in § 6-5-410 provides for a fair compensation to be paid to the personal representative for bringing such an action, neither does anything expressly prohibit a fair compensation from being paid to a personal representative who has successfully brought a wrongful-death action pursuant to that section, payable from the proceeds resulting therefrom. Thus, I submit that general rules of trust law should govern personal-representative compensation in wrongful-death actions, and either based upon equitable principles or pursuant to § 19-3B-708, Ala.Code 1975, the personal represéntative/quasi-trus-tee should be allowed to receive compensation for services relative to the non-probate administration of a statutory trust. Ex parte Taylor, 93 So.3d [118] at 118 [ (Ala.2012) ] (Murdock, J., concurring specially and stating that the personal representative acts as a quasi-trustee upon recovery in a wrongful-death action).””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Rodgers v. McElroy

2. ““ § 43-2-848(b) does not entitle McEl-roy, the personal representative, to any fee from the wrongful-death proceeds because the recovery in the wrongful-death action was not for the estate. Alabama law mandates the payment of wrongful-death proceeds to the heirs of the deceased. The clear language of the wrongful-death statute provides that proceeds from a wrongful-death action ‘are not subject to the payment of the debts or liabilities’ of the decedent. § 6-5-410(c), Ala.Code 1975. There is no allowance in the wrongful-death statute for payment of expenses of the administration of the decedent’s estate, which would include personal-representative compensation. See § 43-2-371, Ala. Code 1975 (setting out the order of preference of debts against the estate). Under the combined effect of §§ 6-5-410 and 43-2-848(a) and (b), Ala.Code 1975, McElroy was not entitled to be paid from the proceeds of the wrongful-death recovery either reasonable compensation for her services or extraordinary compensation for her services.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Rodgers v. McElroy

3. ““Although I concur with the main opinion, I posit that the unjust result obtained for the personal representative in this case may well be avoided prospectively on the basis of the finding of a statutory trust in successful wrongful-death actions brought by the personal representative, with reasonable and just compensation being fixed as trustee fees and paid from the trust res in those actions.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Rodgers v. McElroy