Fitzgerald v. Fitzgerald’s Empirical Analysis
1983
Citation profile
71 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 73 later decisions — most recently January 2022 · most notably Turgeon v. Turgeon (1983), Blake v. Blake (1989)
71 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 Weiman v. Weiman · Koizim v. Koizim · Venuti v. Venuti · Dubicki v. Dubicki · Kaplan v. Kaplan
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 73 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Counsel fees are not to be awarded merely because the obligor has demonstrated an ability to pay. "Courts ordinarily award counsel fees in divorce cases so that a party (usually the wife) may not be deprived of her rights because of lack of funds. Krasnow v. Krasnow, 140 Conn. 254 , 265 , 99 A.2d 104 (1953); Steinmann v. Steinmann, 121 Conn. 498 , 504 , 186 A. 501 (1936).' Ridolfi v. Ridolfi, 178 Conn. 377 , 380 , 423 A.2d 85 (1979). Jn making its determination regarding attorney's fees the court is directed by General Statutes 46b-62 to consider the respective financial abilities of the parties. Murphy v. Murphy, 180 Conn. 376 , 380 , 429 A.2d 897 (1980). Where, because of other orders, both parties are financially able to pay their own counsel fees they should be permitted to do so.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“[i]n Fitzgerald v. Fitzgerald, 190 Conn. 26 , 459 A.2d 498 (1983), we further refined Koizim by setting forth guidelines to aid the trial court in making its determination. We there stated (p. 34) "if, based on the total financial resources of the parties, the trial court concludes that denying an award of counsel fees would not undermine its purpose in making its prior financial orders, the court should allow each party to pay his or her own counsel fees. If, on the other hand, the trial court concludes, based on the total financial resources of the parties, that denying an award of counsel fees would undermine its prior financial orders, then it may award counsel fees to the requesting party.'”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“permits, without requiring, a trial court to award attorney's fees after considering the respective financial abilities of the parties and the criteria set forth in section 46b-82.”
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.