Godwin v. Schramm’s Empirical Analysis
731 F.2d 153 · 1984
Citation profile
7 federal appellate · 4 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently November 2019
7 federal appellate · 4 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 28 U.S.C. § 2412 · 28 U.S.C. § 2678
Relies on Maher v. Gagne · Lindy Bros. Builders, Inc. v. American Radiator & Standard Sanitary Corp. · Corning Glass Works v. Brennan · Northwest'n Nat. Bk. v. Com'nw'lth. · Blofsen v. CUTAIAR
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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Generally, a structured settlement entails a cash payment made on settlement, sufficient to cover at least special damages such as medical bills incurred and past lost wages, and guaranteed periodic payments in the future. Such payments are commonly funded by an annuity policy. This settlement technique has been both applauded and criticized. Its proponents point to the tax free status of the payments if certain requirements are observed and the “spendthrift preventative nature” of periodic payments. See, e.g., 7 R. Conason, Damages in Tort Actions §§ 82.20, 83.02 (1982); Krause, The Benefits of Structured Settlements, N.Y. St.Bar J., Jan. 1982, at 13. Critics stress that the defendant’s insurance company might not pass on to the plaintiff some of the cost savings achieved through this form of settlement, and that the possibility of carrier insolvency is also a significant drawback. See e.g., Broder, Structured Settlements: The Argument Against, 1981 Pers.Inj.Ann. 838. All agree that the manner in which contingent fees are to be computed in a structured settlement with periodic payments, particularly when there is a reversion in the event of death, poses a dilemma. See Conason at § 83.3. Since the use of a structured settlement as a vehicle for resolving major tort litigation is “still in its embryonic stages,” see Hyland & Keeley, Using the Structured Settlement, Nat’l L.J., Dec. 19, 1983, at 15, it is unlikely that Congress contemplated how such benefits were to be calculat”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“It may be, as appellant suggests, that contingent services are susceptible of determination by experts and reducible to present value. If so, computation of counsel fee on such a basis may not violate the literal terms of the statutory maximum fixed by section 2678, provided there are adequate findings by the district court as to present value supported by the record.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“There is no indication that Congress intended to prohibit a litigant and attorney from agreeing, for example, to forgo a large cash award in favor of a substantial package of benefits, to assign a present value to the benefits and to allot the lawyer a share of that figure.”
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.