Carter v. Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

20 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. “The factual allegations in both bills were identical. The original bill claimed that the proponents exercised “undue influence” in procuring the will. The amended bill claimed that the proponents exercised “undue influence and fraud” in the procurement of the will. Therefore, the sole amendment was the insertion of the words, “and fraud,” following the words, “undue influence.” The trial court denied the plea, reasoning that the contestants, having timely filed their original bill, could raise “new grounds” that would not constitute a new and separate cause of action. We agree. Generally, amendments will be permitted when their object is “the trial and determination of the subject matter of the controversy upon which the action was originally based.” New River Min. Co. v. Painter, 100 Va. 507, 510 , 42 S.E. 300, 301 (1902). When the plaintiff in the amended bill attempts to assert rights and to enforce claims “arising out of the same transaction [or] act,” however great the difference in the form of liability as contained in the amended bill from that as stated in the original bill, the amendment will not be viewed as stating a new cause of action. Id. Thus, an amendment does not constitute a new or different cause of action if it “only varied the mode of demanding the same thing.” Id. at 511 , 42 S.E. at 301-02 . Accord Vines v. Branch, 244 Va. 185, 188 , 418 S.E.2d 890, 892-93 (1992).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Wallace v. Zoller