Spotts v. Spotts’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

11 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““It lies for error of fact not appearing on the face of the record, which fact was unknown to the court, and which, if it had been known, would .have prevented the rendition and entry of the judgment. .The court will not look into the cause of action on which the judgment was rendered, or consider any facts which were in issue and adjudicated, or which might have .been presented to the court, on the trial of the cause. The unknown fact to authorize the writ must be of such a character as would, if known, disable the court from rendering the judgment. In other words, the writ lies not for some unknown fact 'going to the merits of the cause, but for some unknown fact going to the right of the court to proceed, and which defeats the power of the court to' attain a valid result in the proceeding. So-, it ■has been held that the writ lies to vacate or correct judgments, obtained against minors, married women, slaves, deceased persons, or insane persons, or upon unauthorized appearance of counsel.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Veal v. Leimkuehler

2. ““A judgment rendered against an insane person without the intervention of a guardian; where, a defendant dies after service of process and before judgment;'where a married woman was sued without her husband being joined and judgment rendered against her (before the Married Woman’s Act); judgment against an infant without a guardian ad litem.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Casper v. Lee