Sommer v. Sommer’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

27 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 27 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Spousal support is appropriate when a party has been disadvantaged as a result of the marriage. Weigel v. Weigel, 2000 ND 16, ¶¶ 11-14 , 604 N.W.2d 462 ; Brown v. Brown, 1999 ND 199, ¶ 32 , 600 N.W.2d 869 (“A ‘disadvantaged’ spouse is one who has ‘foregone opportunities or lost advantages as a consequence of the marriage and who has contributed during the marriage to the supporting spouse’s increased earning capacity.’ ” (quoting Riehl v. Riehl, 1999 ND 107, ¶ 9 , 595 N.W.2d 10 )). Certainly in the case of long-term marriages, permanent spousal support may be appropriate, but it should not be the norm when rehabilitative support can overcome the disadvantage resulting from the marriage. I am reassured by the longstanding position of this Court that rehabilitative, not permanent, spousal support is preferred. See, e.g., van Oosting v. van Oosting, 521 N.W.2d 93, 100 (N.D.1994); Welder v. Welder, 520 N.W.2d 813, 818 (N.D.1994); Wiege v. Wiege, 518 N.W.2d 708, 711 (N.D.1994); Roen v. Roen, 438 N.W.2d 170, 172 (N.D.1989).”

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