Curet v. Hiern’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““While the style and design of the stairway might not comply with present-day architectural or regulatory standards, this would not be sufficient to say that the premises were defective or that a trap existed. The stairway, as the record describes it, seems to be of a type not uncommon in the vicinity of New Orleans and particularly in many older buildings. If we were to hold that there was a trap in the premises, then we would in effect be condemning stairways in thousands of dwellings and buildings in this locality. There is no element of a trap, nothing was hidden, concealed, or which could not have been seen by a person using a minimum of precaution. Plaintiff has fallen short of proving that any defect in the premises was responsible for her injuries and hence she cannot be successful in her demands. It was incumbent that she make such showing. See Burch v. Mathson, La.App., 26 So.2d 230 ; Dugas v. Mayer, La.App., 179 So. 607 ; Castain v. Lograco, La.App., 152 So. 153 ; Potter v. Soady Bldg. Co., Inc., La.App., 144 So. 183 ; Cosey v. Scott, 17 La.App. 680 , 137 So. 361 . This court said in Boudro v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co., La.App., 145 So. 294 , 295: “ ‘The law is dea r that the landlord is not responsible for any injuries that a tenant, or any one lawfully in the premises, may have sustained as a result of a fall, unless the fall was caused by a vice or defect in the premises. The mere fact that a tenant fell and was injured in leased premises does not ra”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 160 So. 2d 324 - Kaplyn v. Globe & Republic Insurance Co. of America

2. ““The large number of cases involving persons who fall down stairs and attempt to recover damages for their injuries from the owner or occupant of the premises provoked comment from the writers of Shearman & Redfield on Negligence. In Vol. IV, Sec. 797, page 1820, we find: “ ‘It is not uncommon for a person to fall down stairs when there is no defect in the stairway or its covering. A heel may catch on the edge of the stair, or the carpet, and a fall results. The fault rests, not with the stairway, but with the person who so placed his foot. Too often, the accident having so happened, such a person seeks a “defect” through which to pin upon another the damage flowing from his own lapse. The frequency of that situation led one justice, during argument of an appeal, to make the ironic comment that “They always find it.” ’ ””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 160 So. 2d 324 - Kaplyn v. Globe & Republic Insurance Co. of America

3. “`A person who comes into an unfamiliar situation, where a condition of darkness renders the use of his eyesight ineffective to define his surroundings, is not justified, in the absence of any special stress of circumstances, in proceeding further, without first finding out where he is going and what may be the obstructions to his safe progress. Violation of that rule is contributory negligence as matter of law.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 117 So. 2d 295 - Mahfouz v. UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS, ETC.