Letzter v. Cephas’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Under traditional negligence principles, a tortfeasor is responsible for all reasonably foreseeable consequences of his or her actions. See, e.g., Stark v. Holtzclaw, 90 Fla. 207 , 105 So. 330, 331 (1925); Cole v. Leach, 405 So.2d 449, 450 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). An independent, unforeseeable intervening force, however, may serve to break the causal link and extinguish liability. See Gibson v. Avis Rent-A-Car Sys., Inc., 386 So.2d 520, 522 (Fla.1980); Bosket v. Broward County Hous. Auth., 676 So.2d 72, 74 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). Typically, the question of whether an intervening cause is reasonably foreseeable is for the jury, but an exception exists when subsequent medical negligence in treating the initial injury is involved. It has long been the law in Florida that when one who is negligent injures another causing him to seek medical treatment, negligence in the administration of that medical treatment is foreseeable and will not serve to break the chain of causation. And, in Stuart v. Hertz Corp., the supreme court reiterated that “Where one who has suffered personal injuries by reason of the negligence of another exercises reasonable care in securing the services of a competent physician or surgeon, and in following his advice and instructions, and his injuries are thereafter aggravated or increased by the negligence, mistake, or lack of skill of such physician or surgeon, the law regards the negligence of the wrongdoer in causing the original injury as the proximate cause of t”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Nason v. SHAFRANSKI

2. “(1) Has the doctrine of Stuart v. Hertz been abrogated by the Tort Reform and Insurance Act of 1986, Chapter 86-160, Laws of Florida? (2) Does Stuart v. Hertz apply when the initial cause of action is one in medical malpractice and both the initial and subsequent tortfeasors are sued in the same action?”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 814 So. 2d 1145 - Caccavella v. Silverman

3. “the underlying premise of holding the initial tortfeasor liable for the subsequent medical malpractice of another party may be at odds with the legislative purposes of chapter 768 which show a preference for making each tortfeasor liable only for his own negligence.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 814 So. 2d 1145 - Caccavella v. Silverman