348 So. 2d 592 - Patterson v. Patterson’s Empirical Analysis
1977
Citation profile
34 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 34 later decisions — most recently February 1995 · most notably 377 So. 2d 798 - Armour v. Allen (1979), 383 So. 2d 700 - Turner v. Turner (1980)
34 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 Van Loon v. Van Loon · Blanton v. Blanton · Pottinger v. Pottinger · Teta v. Teta · Boyer v. Andrews
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 34 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"We are also compelled to reverse on the issue of attorney's fees. By statute, a party may be required to pay a reasonable amount for attorney's fees in an enforcement proceeding of the type involved here. Section 61.16, Florida Statutes. To support an award of attorney's fees, the prevailing party must establish that the fee is reasonable, that the requesting party is unable to pay the fee, and that the opposing party is able to pay. 10A Fla.Jur., `Dissolution of Marriage, etc.', Sections 225, 229. See also Johnson v. Johnson, 346 So.2d 591 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). It is not, of course, necessary that the requesting party, in order to establish inability to pay, be proven destitute. But, as the statute recites, the financial resources of both parties must be considered and when the requesting party has been shown to have the ability to pay for the services of his or her attorney then it is improper to require payment by the other party even though he or she may have the ability. * * *" ( 348 So.2d at page 596 ).”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“This statute vests authority in the trial court to order a party to pay a reasonable amount for attorney's fees for the other party after considering the financial resources of both parties. I do not construe this to mean that the party requesting an award of attorney's fees must be unable to pay the fees in order to secure such an award. This is particularly true where a party has become delinquent in child support payments, and it becomes necessary for the other party to bring a contempt proceeding to require that the court's order be complied with. A party bringing such a proceeding should not have the burden of showing that he or she cannot pay the fee in order to secure an award of his or her attorney's fees which were necessitated by the other party's noncompliance with the court order.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“The court may from time to time, after considering the financial resources of both parties, order a party to pay a reasonable amount for attorney's fees, suit money, and the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding under this chapter, including enforcement and modification proceedings. The court may order that the amount be paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in his name.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
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.