Markert v. Behm’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

12 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 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In this case the issue of paternity has been decided in a prior adjudication; the final decree of divorce between Linda and Alan Markert provided that Alan was Natalie’s father. In addition, a divorce decree constitutes a final judgment on the merits for the purposes of res judicata and collateral estoppel. See Ruprecht v. Ruprecht, 255 Minn. 80, 90 , 96 N.W.2d 14, 22 (1959). Finally, Linda Markert was a party to the divorce decree, and she was given a full and fair opportunity to be heard on the issue of Natalie’s paternity. In fact, the finding that Alan is Natalie’s father was undoubtedly based in large part on Linda’s own testimony to that effect. Now that Linda has succeeded in having Alan named as Natalie’s father for the purpose of collecting child support, she challenges his paternity, in direct contradiction to her own prior testimony. Clearly, Linda would be both collaterally and equitably estopped from challenging this adjudication because it was based on her own testimony.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Moore v. Com., Cabinet for Human Res.

2. “Appellants also seek to have Natalie added as a co-plaintiff in this action. This motion appeal's to be nothing more than a thinly disguised attempt to bolster appellants’ case by using the child as a party. If Natalie were placed in such a position by appellants, she would share their interests and therefore would be in privity with them. Natalie’s action would then be collaterally estopped by the previous divorce decree. As stated above, collateral estop-pel bars relitigation of the same issues by those in privity with the original parties as well as by the original parties themselves.”

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

3. “[a] man is presumed to be the natural father of a child if: (a) He and the child’s natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage, or within 280 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, dissolution or divorce or after a decree of legal separation is entered by a court.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Marriage of Clay v. Clay