Lam v. Smith’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

3 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 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Since the Arrowood rule is intended to prevent a plaintiff from using the suspension statute to toll indefinitely the limitations period while disregarding valid available methods of serving a nonresident defendant, the rule essentially punishes the plaintiff for failing to take advantage of available methods of service. Therefore, it follows that the rule is implicitly based on the plaintiff’s conscious disregard of those possible methods of service. With these considerations in mind, it becomes clear that the proper question to be asked in deciding if the Arrowood rule applies in a particular situation is not whether a method was available, in the abstract, to serve the nonresident defendant. Rather, the question is whether the plaintiff has unjustifiably failed to use that method of service under the circumstances of the case. If the plaintiff has used due diligence in trying to ascertain the location of the defendant, but is still unaware of the defendant’s nonresident status, the Arro-wood rule should not prevent the invocation of the suspension statute.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ballard v. Ardenhani

2. “Despite Smith’s contention that this case is controlled by Arrowood and Carr , this is actually a case of first impression, for neither Arrowood nor Carr involved a situation where the plaintiff was unaware of the fact that the defendant was, or had become, a nonresident. ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ Therefore, Arrowood and Carr , standing alone, do not establish the sweeping proposition that if a method is available for serving a nonresident defendant, regardless of the plaintiff’s knowledge of the defendant’s nonresidence, the suspension statute cannot serve to toll the statutory period of limitations. Furthermore, we do not believe that the Arrowood rule should be extended to cover a situation where the plaintiff has no knowledge that the defendant has become a nonresident.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Ballard v. Ardenhani

3. “when the remedy of the suitor is complete and unaffected by the absence of the defendant, when his non-residence does not affect the right to sue, [the statute] providing that 'the time of his absence or residence out of the state shall not be taken as any part of the time limited for commencement of the action' is without application.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Koshani v. Barton