2002 Pa. Super. 178 - MacKall v. Fleegle’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

22 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) the nature and quantity of the interest conveyed must be ascertained from the instrument itself and cannot be oral ly shown in the absence of fraud, accident or mistake and we seek to ascertain not what the parties may have intended by the language but what is the meaning of the words; (2) effect must be given to all the language of the instrument and no part shall be rejected if it can be given a meaning; (3) if a doubt arises concerning the interpretation of the instrument it will be resolved against the party who prepared it; (4) unless contrary to the plain meaning of the instrument, an interpretation given it by the parties themselves will be favored; (5) to ascertain the intention of the parties, the language of a deed should be interpreted in the light of the subject matter, the apparent object or purpose of the parties and the conditions existing when it was executed.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Murphy, H. v. Karnek, S. · 2015 Pa. Super. 184 - Vosburg, III, A. v. NBC Seventh Realty

2. “‘Generally, an appeal will only be permitted from a final order unless otherwise permitted by statute or rule of court.’ Johnston the Florist, Inc. v. TEDCO Constr. Corp., 441 Pa.Super. 281 , 657 A.2d 511, 514 (1995). An appeal from an order denying post-trial motions is interlocutory. Id.; Pa.R.A.P. 301(a), (c), and (d). An appeal to this Court can only lie from judgments entered subsequent to the trial court’s disposition of post-verdict motions, not from the order denying post-trial motions. Id. However, in Bonavitacola v. Cluver, 422 Pa.Super. 556 , 619 A.2d 1368 (1993), a panel of this Court allowed an appeal to proceed, despite the fact that there was no judgment entered, in the interest of judicial economy. The reasoning behind this decision was that if the order from which an appeal is taken “was clearly intended to be a final pronouncement on the matters discussed in the opinion [accompanying the order], ... the appeal is properly before us and ... we have jurisdiction to address the parties’ claims. Bonavitacola, supra. As our Court explained in Bonavitacola, ‘[t]he rationale behind treating this appeal as one from an entered judgment is to allow the appeal which is in progress to proceed, economizing judicial resources. Were we to quash an appeal from an order which, except for the entry of judgment, is otherwise final, we would expend judicial resources in the decision to quash, one of the parties would inevitably praecipe the prothono-tary to enter judgment, and ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2013 Pa. Super. 167 - Zitney v. Appalachian Timber Products, Inc.

3. “in the interests of judicial economy we will 'regard as done that which ought to have been done.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. U.S. Bank, N.A. v. Hua, T.