Sullivan v. Wickwire’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “There is considerable merit in plaintiffs claim .... In Iowa and elsewhere, an instruction submitted to the jury without objection becomes the law of the case and will not be disturbed on appeal. The [defendant] attempts to discredit the rule in the present case by arguing the jurors’ sole task was to find damages and allocate percentages of fault, leaving to the court the job of applying mathematical formulas to achieve the correct judgment. We do not believe, however, that the jury’s understanding of the impact of its verdict is irrelevant to its decision-making responsibilities. In keeping with Iowa Code section 668.3(5), our prior decisions make clear that the court must instruct the jury with respect to the effect of answers given to special interrogatories, and the court’s failure to do so may constitute reversible error.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Wilson v. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.

2. “In any action brought pursuant to this chapter, the state or a municipality shall not be assigned a percentage of fault for any of the following: 1. The failure to place, erect, or install a stop sign, traffic control device, or other regulatory sign as defined in the uniform manual for traffic control devices adopted pursuant to section 321.252. However, once a regulatory device has been placed, created or installed, the state or municipality may be assigned a percentage of fault for its failure to maintain the device.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. McLain v. State

3. “If you assign a percentage of fault to the settling party, I will reduce the amount of plaintiff's recovery by that percentage.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Mumm v. Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital d/b/a Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital, Emergency Physicians of Western Iowa, L.L.C. and Paul C. Mileris, M.D.