Kelley v. Curtiss’s Empirical Analysis
1954
Citation profile
6 federal appellate · 6 district · 52 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 66 later decisions — most recently March 2012 · most notably State v. Gonzalez (1977), McAndrew v. Mularchuk (1960)
6 federal appellate · 6 district · 52 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
Relies on Kelleher v. Lozzi · Batts v. Joseph Newman, Inc. · 29 N.J. Super. 291 - Kelley v. Curtiss · Bango v. Ward · Wilson v. Brauer
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.
““Viewed as alternative findings, the judgment is determinative in Curtiss’ favor upon both grounds. Such is the rule followed in most jurisdictions, 65 Harv.L.Rev., supra, at p. 845; it is the rule favored by the Restatement, Judgments, sec. 68, comment n. The rule rests upon the rationale that ‘Where the judgment is based upon the matters litigated as alternative grounds, the judgment is determinative on both grounds, although either alone would have been sufficient to support the judgment. * * * a judgment for the defendant is not based on one of the issues more than on the other; and it must be said either that both are material to the judgment or that neither is material. * * * and hence both should be held to be material.’ Restatement, supra, comment n. The alternative choice of no collateral estoppel as to either finding is not favored. Scott, Collateral Estoppel by Judgment, 56 Harv.L.Rev. 1, 11 (1942).””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“considerations of fundamental fairness that, if the employee is not to be held responsible for his wrongdoing, the employer whose liability is asserted solely upon the basis of imputed responsibility for his employee's wrong cannot in fairness and justice be required to respond in damages for it.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“a verdict which exonerates the employee from liability requires also the exoneration of the employer.”
1 later decision 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.