Meng v. Penner’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It is an elementary and general rule of law that persons suddenly placed in a position of peril or impending danger do things which ordinarily would constitute negligence, but these acts are not to be judged by ordinary rules. If an act has to be performed in a brief period [and if you further find that said emergency required immediate and rapid action] with no time for determination [and that Ford did not have time to deliberate or reflect] of the best course of action [upon the preferable or better course to pursue], negligence cannot be predicated thereon. One who acts in a sudden emergency according to his best judgment [and that Ford acted upon the belief that there was danger of an immediate fire], or one who, because of want of time in which to form a judgment [and that Ford did not have time to deliberate or reflect upon the preferable or better course to pursue when faced with that emergency], omits to act in the most judicious manner [the law does not require a person faced with an emergency to select the most favorable course of action available], is not chargeable with negligence even though there may be lamentable results. Such a person is to be dealt with in the light of his surroundings at the time, and he is not necessarily negligent even though his judgment was wrongly exercised.” (The language in brackets is from instruction B.)”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Taylor v. Riddle