Harbit v. Harbit’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “We are not aware of any Mississippi statute that authorizes a chancellor to award attorney’s fees, as part of costs, to a prevailing party in a divorce proceeding. While there is plenty of authority authorizing a chancellor, in the chancellor’s discretion, to award attorney’s fees to a party in a divorce action, that authority is decisional law and is based on financial needs of the party. Therefore, we find that the chancellor erred in using Rule 68 to calculate the amount of attorney’s fees awarded....”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 64 So. 3d 547 - Hubbard v. Delta Sanitation of Mississippi

2. “At any time more than fifteen days before the trial begins, a party defending against a claim may serve upon the adverse party an offer to allow judgment to be taken against him for the money or property or to the effect specified in his offer, with costs then accrued.... If the judgment finally obtained by the offeree is not more favorable than the offer, the offeree must pay the cost incurred after the making of the offer.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 64 So. 3d 547 - Hubbard v. Delta Sanitation of Mississippi

3. “An appellate court may affirm a trial court on other grounds if it finds that the trial court reached the right result despite its flawed or erroneous premises.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. He Shao v. University of Mississippi Medical Center