2011 Pa. Super. 4 - Richner v. McCance’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 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 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “With respect to the first requirement, while in an attenuated sense, Richner’s tort action against McCance and [his employer] and the coverage issue with Erie both “arise” from the automobile accident between Richner and McCance, in fact Richner’s dispute with Erie arises from the formation of the insurance contract between Richner’s parents and Erie. More specifically, the dispute arises from interpretation of the language of the “regularly used, non-owned vehicle” exclusion clause in said contract. Richner’s tort claims against [defendants], including all questions of duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages, will be resolved through reference to what occurred during and after the automobile accident. The respective rights and obligations of Richner and Erie, in contrast, will derive entirely from the language of the UIM provisions of the Erie insurance contract. With respect to the second requirement, no questions of law are common to both actions. The trial court found that a common nexus of fact exists between the two cases, namely Richner’s use of his employer’s vehicle on the day of the accident, [trial court citation omitted]. That Richner was operating his employer’s vehicle at the time of the accident with McCance, however, is far from dispositive evidence that Richner “regularly” used the vehicle. Richner’s use of his employer’s vehicle on a single occasion does not demonstrate frequency or regularity of his use of the car in question. For these reasons, we con”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Kujawski v. Fogmeg

2. “In its analysis of Pa.R.C.P. 2229(b), the trial court erroneously applied the reasoning of various common pleas courts favoring “the tort claim and the UIM issue proceeding as one case.” (Citations omitted). The case law cited by the trial court deals with the joinder of third party liability claims with plaintiffs’ claims against UIM insurance carriers for benefits. In these cases, the trial courts concluded that Pa.R.C.P. 2229(b) was satisfied because the third party claims and the underinsured motorist claims arose of the same occurrence, i.e., the motor vehicle accident, and involved the same factual questions of liability and damages. The analysis of this joinder issue is inapposite to the one we decide in this case. We emphasize that we are not here deciding the propriety of the joinder of third party liability claims with post -Koken UIM benefit claims.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Kujawski v. Fogmeg