Russell v. Flanagan’s Empirical Analysis
1975
Citation profile
14 federal appellate · 36 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 56 later decisions — most recently May 2017 · most notably Merrick v. Northern Natural Gas Co. (1990), Holbert v. Echeverria (1987)
14 federal appellate · 36 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 Talley v. Harris · Jeffcoat v. Highway Contractors, Inc. · State Ex Rel. Commissioners of Land Office v. Landess · Walls v. Russell
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 56 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““In any civil action to recover on an open account, a statement of account, account stated, note, bill, negotiable instrument, or contract relating to the purchase or sale of goods, wares, or merchandise, or for labor or services, unless otherwise provided by law or the contract which is the subject to the action, the prevailing party shall be allowed a reasonable attorney fee to be set by the court, to be taxed and collected as costs.””
23 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““In Jeffcoat, supra, plaintiff had a contract to fell timber and clear trees and brought suit to recover the contract price. Judgment was for plaintiff and he was awarded attorney fees as the prevailing party. The attorney fees were properly awarded as the action was one brought for labor and services. Obviously, the existence of a contract in Jeffcoat is not material to the outcome.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“For the instant action, plaintiff [land owner] sought judgment for breach of warranty [against a plumbing contractor]. While this may be an action collaterally concerning labor or services, it is not a civil action for labor or services within the meaning of the statute, and § 936 is, therefore, inapplicable. [Emphasis added.]”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.