347 Pa. Super. 11 - Serhan v. Besteder’s Empirical Analysis
1985
Citation profile
12 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 12 later decisions — most recently November 2018
12 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 318 Pa. Super. 90 - Delahanty v. First Pennsylvania Bank, N.A. · 320 Pa. Super. 444 - Burch v. Sears, Roebuck and Co. · 298 Pa. Super. 92 - Pratt v. Stein · 316 Pa. Super. 565 - Fish v. Gosnell
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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Miss Serhan’s business was veiy small in scope. In 1977 she grossed only $11,805. Her profit was $4,237. Her capital investment involved principally the purchase and installation of sewing machines in her basement. Virtually, the entire business was based on her labors. She acted as an interior decorator and visited customers in their homes to solicit contracts, and before the accident she made all the drapes herself. She used independent contractors for installation and slipcover work only. The fact that she had the expense of subletting drapery work after the accident was a clear measure of a portion of her damages and proof of the value of her services to the business, not a reason to deny her a recovery. Under those circumstances, the tax records were admissible to prove the amount of the loss____An appropriate instruction regarding lost earnings should have been given.” Serhan , 347 Pa. Super, at 19, 500 A.2d at 134 . (citation omitted)”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“The consideration of loss of earning capacity is not solely the comparative amount of money earned before or after an injury. The true test is whether or not there is a loss of earning power, and of ability to earn money.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“With respect to impairment of earning capacity, the law requires only proof that the injured person's economic horizons have been shortened as a result of the tortfeasor's negligence.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.