973 So. 2d 4 - Wong v. Hoffman’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 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 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Ms. Wong’s first allegation is that Mr. Hoffman advised her to agree to joint custody of her children (which was provided for in the consent judgment between Ms. Wong and her spouse dated October 6, 2000), despite his knowing that Ms. Wong’s spouse had physically abused her and that Ms. Wong wanted to relocate to another state with her children. The defendants argue that Ms. Wong should have known at the time she entered into the joint custody agreement that her attorney's advice to do so fell below the standard of care. We disagree. While Ms. Wong may have been uncomfortable or uneasy about consenting to joint custody, we cannot conclude that a reasonable lay person would have realized at that time that her attorney’s advice to do so might be considered malpractice. As joint custody is clearly preferred in the law, it is not reasonable to expect a non-lawyer to recognize what circumstances would likely merit an exception to the general rule. We therefore find that Ms. Wong’s suit, which was filed within a year of her consultation with the new attorney and within three years of the entering of the consent judgment, was timely with respect to this alleged act of malpractice.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Miralda v. Gonzalez

2. “she was not aware that Mr. Hoffman’s failure to raise this particular objection could potentially constitute malpractice until she was so informed by her new attorney in April, 2002.” The defendants countered that the plaintiff possessed sufficient knowledge to put her on notice that defendant's conduct could be considered malpractice on August 25, 2001, when the district court rendered judgment denying Ms. Wong’s request to relocate. Rejecting that argument, we reasoned that ”[i]t is ludicrous to suggest that a reasonable lay person would know the import of an attorney’s failure to raise a particular legal objection. We also reject defendants’ suggestion that the mere fact that the trial court ruled against Ms. Wong on her motion to relocate should have raised an inference in her mind that her attorney was negligent.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Miralda v. Gonzalez

3. “knowledge comported with that of a reasonable lay person faced with the same circumstances.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Miralda v. Gonzalez