Plath v. Schonrock’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 district · 99 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 101 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) the amount and character of the services rendered; (2) the labor, time and trouble involved; (3) the character and importance of the litigation in which the services were rendered; (4) the amount of money or the value of the property to be affected; (5) the professional skill and experience called for; (6) the attorneys' character and standing in their profession; and (7) the results secured by the services of the attorneys.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Marriage of Rhonda and Donald Damsc · Kenyon-Noble Lumber Co. v. Dependant Foundations, Inc.

2. “The District Court erred when it ruled treble damages would not be awarded because the evidence did not support a finding generally associated with punitive damages. The purpose of the trebling provision of the Montana Consumer Protection Act is to promote or encourage private individuals to pursue violations of Montana’s Consumer Protection Act by making it more economically feasible to pursue those claims where actual damages are minimal. Montana’s treble damages provision is purely a discretionary function of the district court and such awards should be determined on a case-by-case basis. A district court decision whether or not to award treble damages under the Act should be guided by the overall purpose of the Act itself, which is to protect the public from unfair or deceptive practices engaged in by trade or commerce. The specific purpose of the treble damage provision is to encourage consumers to bring these civil actions by making it more economically feasible.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Vader v. Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.

3. “[W]hile the pre-trial order may be the beginning, it is never the end of a matter of this sort. It normally controls the subsequent course of the action, but not if it is modified at the trial to prevent manifest injustice. The judicial function does not terminate upon discovery that an issue is unspecified, but extends to a determination as to whether the ends of justice implore that the issue nonetheless be introduced into the litigation. This frequently involves a delicate balance of competing considerations, variable from case to case, in order that the decision may be soundly made. And absent perceptible irregularity in a process so largely discretionary, we are loath to disturb the result.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Security Abstract & Title Co. v. Smith Livestock, Inc.