Phillips v. Harmon’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

31 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 31 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[Ljitigation may be reasonably foreseeable to the defendant based on . . . circumstances[ ] such as the type and extent of the injury; the extent to which fault for the injury is clear; the potential financial exposure if faced with a finding of liability; the relationship and course of conduct between the parties, including past litigation or threatened litigation; and the frequency with which litigation occurs in similar circumstances. Thus, it may be appropriate to consider, in determining whether the defendant actually did or reasonably should have foreseen litigation by the plaintiff, not only what the plaintiff did or did not do after the injury and before the evidence in question was lost or destroyed, but also what the defendant did or did not do in response to the injury, including the initiation and extent of any internal investigation, the reasons for any notification of counsel and insurers, and any expression by the defendant that it was acting in anticipation of litigation.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Reid v. Waste Indus. USA, Inc. · LOEHLE Et Al. v. GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY Et Al.

2. “the destruction or failure to preserve evidence that is relevant to contemplated or pending litigation.”

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. 347 Ga. App. 469 - Wilkins v. City of Conyers. · Anthem Cos. v. Wills

3. “a rebuttable presumption or adverse inference jury instruction ... is to be given as a remedy for spoliation of evidence only in exceptional cases [and] the greatest caution must be exercised in its application. ...”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Anthem Cos. v. Wills · 343 Ga. App. 235 - Denny Express Vinyl Siding, Inc. v. Boatright Roofing and General Contracting, Inc.