232 Pa. Super. 550 - Hersch v. Clapper’s Empirical Analysis
1975
Citation profile
32 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 32 later decisions — most recently June 2000 · most notably Alexander v. Jesray Construction Co. (1975), 253 Pa. Super. 386 - Ecumenical Enterprises, Inc. v. NADCO Construction, Inc. (1978)
32 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 BALK v. Ford Motor Co. · Kraynick v. HERTZ · Pappas v. Stefan · Hollinger v. Hollinger · Zellman v. Fickenscher
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 32 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““In the instant case, plaintiffs Complaint in Trespass and Assumpsit was served upon Sears on February 13, 1981. A default occurred on March 5, 1981, when no entry of appearance or responsive pleading was filed. Pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 237.1, plaintiff, by notice dated March 6, 1981, advised Sears of her intention to take a default. Despite said notice, an entry of appearance or responsive pleading was not filed. A default was then taken on March 17, 1981. The crux of the defendant’s Petition to Open is that there exist inherent delays in processing a Complaint through a complicated corporate structure such as the Sears, Roebuck Company, and because of such inherent delays, the twenty day period which is provided by the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure for answering a Complaint, is not practical. Defendant’s petition cites the step-by-step process by which the Complaint and Rule 237.1 notice was transferred through the various offices and agents of Sears before arriving in the hands of counsel. Here, the failure to enter an appearance or file an Answer cannot be excused merely because of the cumbersome and complicated structure the defendant itself has created for processing such complaints. This Court cannot elevate the defendant to a special status on its own initiative. To do so, would be a clear abuse of discretion and would infringe on the function of the Legislature. Thus, the second factor of the three prong test has not been met.” Trial Court Opinion at 1-2. (Empha”
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.