Sapper v. Lenco Blade, Inc.’s Empirical Analysis
704 F.2d 1069 · 1983
Citation profile
34 federal appellate · 4 district · 1 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 53 later decisions — most recently February 2005 · most notably United States v. Ritchie (2003), 40 Fair empl.prac.cas. 1597, 41 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 36,451 Irving P. Gray v. New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, Irving P. Gray v. New England Telephone and Telegraph Company (1986)
34 federal appellate · 4 district · 1 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
Applies 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (§ 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) · 29 U.S.C. § 185 (§ 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act))
Relies on Kerr v. United States District Court for the Northern District of California · Ed. Kerr v. Screen Extras Guild, Inc., a Corporation, Richard A. Perkins, Counsel for Ed Kerr v. Screen Extras Guild, Inc., a Corporation, H. O'Neil Shanks, and Norman Stevans, Richard A. Perkins, Counsel For · Hummell v. S. E. Rykoff & Co. · Moore v. Jas. H. Matthews & Co. · Ralston v. Robinson
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 53 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“(1) In any action under this subchapter (other than an action described in paragraph (2)) by a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary, the court in its discretion may allow a reasonable attorney’s fee and costs of action to either party. (2) In any action under this subchapter by a fiduciary for or on behalf of a plan to enforce section 1145 of this title in which a judgment in favor of the plan is awarded, the court shall award the plan— (D) reasonable attorney’s' fees and costs of the action, to be paid by the defendant,”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“(1) the degree of the opposing parties' culpability or bad faith; (2) the ability of the opposing parties to satisfy an award of fees; (3) whether an award of fees against the opposing parties would deter others from acting under similar circumstances; (4) whether the parties requesting fees sought to benefit all participants and beneficiaries of an ERISA plan or to resolve a significant legal question regarding ERISA; and (5) the relative merits of the parties' positions.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“a ruling that the word 'presumed' as used by the LMA Board [in the 1972 Resolution] requires an irrebuttable presumption would rob the word of its plain meaning.”
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.