Downey v. Dixon’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

26 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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “A motion to strike is addressed to the sound discretion of the [circuit court] and will not be disturbed in the absence of a clear showing of prejudicial error.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Skywaves I Corp. v. Branch Banking & Trust Co. · Karppi v. Greenville Terrazzo Co., Inc.

2. “The rights of discovery provided by the Rules were not protected in any way. Neither was Ms. Downey accorded the rights of discovery provided by the Rules, nor was the sanction imposed against Mr. Dixon a meaningful deterrent to those who might fail to submit to discovery in the future. (It is perfectly obvious that few, if any, litigants would willingly submit to the discovery provided by the Rules if the alternative were simply paying $50.). Indeed, it can be argued that the sanction imposed in the instant case tended to encourage, rather than discourage, noncompliance with the Rules.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Samples v. Mitchell

3. “Exclusion of a witness is a sanction which should never be lightly invoked.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Karppi v. Greenville Terrazzo Co., Inc.