Lamb v. Lamb’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 10 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. “"The wife's suit for divorce (based on adultery) and the husband's suit for divorce (based on living apart for one year) are suits between the same parties and have the same object (the same "thing demanded"), but are not suits on the same cause of action.1 C.C.P. Art. 531. Cause in C.C. Art. 2286 (mistranslated from the French as "cause of action") is the juridical or material fact which is the basis of the right claimed or the defense pleaded, and for the purpose of res judicata (or lis pendens) cause of action essentially refers to the grounds upon which the demand is based. Mitchell v. Bertolla, 340 So.2d 287 (La.1976). 1 If the wife had litigated her suit for divorce based on adultery and had lost, she could have immediately filed a suit for divorce grounded on a separation of one year, and the judgment in the adultery suit clearly would not constitute a res judicata bar to the second suit (even if the one-year cause of action had accrued before the judgment). Similarly, the wife's adultery suit does not bar the filing by the other party of a divorce suit based on another cause of action (other grounds). The wife's recourse, after the husband filed a no fault divorce suit, was not to retard that suit by the filing of an exception of lis pendens (particularly on the last day of an extended period for filing responsive pleadings), but to seek consolidation or to reconvene for alimony based on her freedom from fault...."”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 452 So. 2d 426 - Haynie v. Haynie

2. ““[C]ause in Art. 2286 (mistranslated from the French as ‘cause of action’) is the juridical or material fact which is the basis of the right claimed or the defense pleaded, and for the purpose of res judi-cata (or lis pendens) cause of action essentially refers to the grounds upon which the demand is based. Mitchell v. BertOlla, 340 So.2d 287 (La.1976).””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Boudreaux v. Boudreaux

3. “for the purpose of res judicata or (lis pendens) cause of action essentially refers to the grounds upon which the demand is based_ Because the two actions for divorce are based on different causes of action, C.C.P. Art. 531 does not apply, and the court of appeal erred in maintaining the exception.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Rodrigue v. Rodrigue