Montanez v. Simon’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 federal appellate · 1 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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “So, naturalists observe, a flea Hath smaller fleas that on him prey; And these have smaller still to bite 'em; And so proceed ad infinitum. The essential goal in shifting fees (to either party) is to do rough justice, not to achieve auditing perfection. So trial courts may take into account their overall sense of a suit, and may use estimates in calculating and allocating an attorney’s time. And appellate courts must give substantial deference to these determinations, in light of the district court’s superior understanding of the litigation.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 86 F. Supp. 3d 857 - ADT Security Services, Inc. v. Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District · 82 F. Supp. 3d 723 - Valerio v. Total Taxi Repair & Body Shop, LLC

2. “The best evidence of the market rate is the amount the attorney actually bills for similar work, but if that rate can't be determined, then the district court may rely on evidence of rates charged by similarly experienced attorneys in the community and evidence of rates set for the attorney in similar cases.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Cooper v. Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, Inc.

3. “is a spectacular success, a dismal failure, or something in between; and whether the plaintiff's lawyers would have spent substantially less time on the case had they been more realistic.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. World Outreach Conference Ctr. v. City of Chi.