Patel v. Patel’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

88 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 88 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “(1) duration of the marriage; (2) physical and emotional health of the parties; (3) educational background of the parties; (4) employment history and earning potential of the parties; (5) standard of living established during the marriage; (6) current and reasonably anticipated earnings of the parties; (7) current and reasonably anticipated expenses of the parties; (8) marital and nonmarital properties of the parties; (9) custody of children; (10) marital misconduct or fault; (11) tax consequences; and (12) prior support obligations; as well as (13) other factors the court considers relevant.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. King v. King · LaFrance v. LaFrance

2. “[a]lthough the legislature gives family court judges the authority 'to order joint or divided custody [when] the court finds it is in the best interests of the child,' ... joint or divided custody should only be awarded [when] there are exceptional circumstances.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Burgess v. Arnold · Clark v. Clark

3. “Although there is no rule of law requiring custody be awarded to the primary caretaker, there is an assumption that custody will be awarded to the primary caretaker.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bojilov v. Bojilov