261 N.C. App. 30 - Shell v. Shell’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

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

1. “This appeal arises from the modification of a 2012 custody order. Plaintiffs, David and Donna Shell, are the paternal grandparents of the children, Sam and Kim. Defendant David Shell is the son of plaintiffs and father of Sam and Kim. Defendant Nicole Green is the children's mother and has married since the prior order and is now Nicole McKiernan. We will identify all parties by their relation to Sam and Kim. Therefore, plaintiffs will be referred to as the "Grandparents," defendant Shell as "Father" and defendant Green as "Mother." Although both parents are "defendants," the interests of defendant Father are aligned with plaintiff Grandparents and are opposed to the interests of defendant Mother. The prior custody order was entered in May 2012. Father was granted sole legal and physical custody of the children and Mother had visitation rights. ... On 3 June 2016, Mother moved to modify custody alleging that since the prior custody order there had been a substantial change of circumstances affecting the welfare of the children because she had remained sober for several years, maintained a job for over two years, and gotten remarried. She also alleged that Father had become more difficult to deal with regarding visitation. He refused to send the children's homework so the children could complete it during visits with Mother, and he denied Mother information about the children's school activities and would not allow her to participate. On 17 and 30 January 2017, the trial court”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 264 N.C. App. 608 - Watauga Cnty. ex rel. Mckiernan v. Shell

2. “Father also contends that even if Mother's sobriety is a change of circumstances, it has no effect on the children. This argument is difficult to understand, since Father contended-quite correctly-in 2012 that Mother's substance abuse was still having detrimental effects on the children, even after she had been sober for a few months. Her life was still unstable, even if she was not actively using drugs or alcohol. Considering the other findings in the order regarding the positive changes in Mother's life which have accompanied her sobriety, this argument is entirely without merit. The trial court's order includes many findings detailing these effects-Mother's involvement with the children, her ability to provide a home and support them, and her becoming a caring parent instead of a selfish and unreliable one.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Walsh v. Jones