Falk v. Finkelman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

6 federal appellate · 2 district · 95 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 108 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Upon the facts disclosed by the record it is obvious the defendant’s violation of the ordinance was not an effective and contributing cause of the injury unless in accordance with the usual experience of mankind the result of that violation of law ought to have been foreseen and apprehended. One is bound to anticipate and provide against what usually happens and what is likely to happen, but is not bound in like manner to guard against what is unusual and unlikely to happen, or what, as is sometimes said, is only remotely and slightly probable. [Citing cases.] Tried by this test the defendant should not be held to have been negli gent in not anticipating that an alarm of fire in the vicinity would bring the fire apparatus upon Shirley avenue, and that in passing the defendant’s car the driver of one engine would lose control of his engine, collide with another, and from the force of that impact be cast against the defendant’s automobile with force to drive it up on the sidewalk and against any person or thing then thereon. The defendant violated no legal duty owed the plaintiff. The unlawful occupation of the street by the defendant’s car was simply a condition and not a contributing cause of the accident. The defendant’s motion for a directed verdict should have been allowed.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bracy v. Lund

2. “[defendant's violation of the ordinance was not an effective and contributing cause of the injury because it was not in accordance with the usual experience of mankind that the result of that violation of law ought to have been foreseen and apprehended .... The defendant [in exceeding the parking time limit] violated no legal duty owed the plaintiff.... Judgment for defendant.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Murphy v. United States

3. “what is unusual and unlikely to happen, or what, as is sometimes said, is only remotely and slightly probable.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Stephen Fithian Jr Stephen Fithian Sr et al. v. Edward Reed and Martha Reed