Professional Documents
Culture Documents
For torts you want to create a checklist of sorts, in order to be sure that you hit all
issues. Also, ALWAYS remember, you want to lay out the prima facie case, THEN the
defenses. A convenient way to do this is to make a list of important facts, and then match
the facts to the applicable tort. This ensures that you do not skip over issues.
Question 1
Annie was scheduled to undergo surgery for removal of her tonsils. Doctor Jones,
her family doctor, was to perform the operation. The day of the surgery, Doctor Jones was
called out of town because of a family conflict. Even though there was no emergency, it was
decided by the hospital to go ahead with the operation and substitute Doctor Wells for
Doctor Jones. Doctor Wells is considered to be an expert in removing tonsils. Annie was not
informed of the switch in doctors.
Pamela Pamson was leaving the country for an extended vacation. Because there had
been a number of home burglaries in her neighborhood recently, she asked her friend,
Thomas, to look after her house. Thomas agreed to leave his car parked in Pamelas
driveway, pick up the mail, and turn on the lights in the house for a few hours each evening
and feed her two cats.
After a week, Thomas got tired of his housekeeping duties. About that time, he also
learned that Pamela was not a good friend. She had told a number of their mutual
acquaintances that Thomas was the only loser that had so little of a life that he could care
for her house. Thomas removed his car from the driveway, stopped picking up the mail,
left all the lights off in the house, and stopped feeding her cats. Thomas also writes Pamela,
telling her what he thought of her. He put the letter in an envelope with Pamelas key, and
tacked it to Pamelas front door. The outside of the envelope read TO PAMELA WHEN
SHE GETS BACK FROM HER OUT OF COUNTRY VACATION, FROM THOMAS
THE LOSER.
When Pamela returned from vacation, her home had been burglarized. The key and
Thomass letter were on the floor inside the front door, and there was no sign of a forced
entry.
If Pamela sues Thomas in negligence for damages resulting from the burglary, Pamela
should:
Question 1
A woman was being stalked by a former boyfriend, and was especially upset by the
frequent phone calls and visits to her home, where he serenaded her outside of her window
and recited very bad poetry. She was forced to move to a new city, in a desperate attempt to
get away from the boyfriend. When filling out a change of address form with the post
office, to have her mail forwarded, she specifically stated that the address was not to be
given to anyone under any circumstance.
Early one Saturday morning, Boyfriend parked across the street from Womans
modest apartment. As Woman emerged with her mother, Boyfriend raced across the street,
screaming that woman WOULD be his. Fearing for the safety of herself and her mother,
Woman fled. Boyfriend followed Woman, trying repeatedly to grab her, and making
disturbing growling sounds.
In desperation, Woman picked up a hoe left in the yard by Gardener doing his
Saturday morning maintenance. Boyfriend was momentarily deterred. During this moment,
Gardener returned and seeing Boyfriend apparently perilously close to decapitation by hoe,
seized Womans arms from behind and wrenched loose the hoe, dislocating Womans
shoulder. Boyfriend fled. Terrified by the course of events, the womans mother fainted.
Professor is a passenger on a plane, when the passenger sitting next to him kept
trying to talk to him. . The passenger had been drinking quite a lot, in fact, the flight
attendant had served him twelve drinks in a three hour period. The passenger continually
kept trying to engage the professor in conversation, but the professor just wanted to prepare
for the class he needed to teach when he landed. The professor could have moved to
another seat as the plane was not full, but he liked his window seat, and didnt want to pack
up his books and laptop. When he just put on his headphones, hoping that the passenger
would get the hint, the passenger picked up one of passengers heavy law books and hit the
professor over the head with it, knocking him unconscious.
What is the likely result if the professor sues the airline for battery?
(A) Professor will not prevail because the passenger was not an agent of the
airline.
(B) Professor will prevail if the flight attendant acted with reckless disregard.
(C) Professor will prevail if the offensive contact was intentionally inflicted.
(D) Professor will not prevail because he assumed the risk.
Question 3
Honey and Maureen had a long-running feud dating from the year Honey defeated
Maureen for the best chicken and dumplings at the county fair 20 years ago. Honey was tired
of the constant name calling that always occurred, as well as the animosity between the
neighbors. In order to try to end the feud, Honey invited Maureen and her family to a picnic
at Honeys farm. While their families ate, Maureen and Honey walked through the farm,
back through some cornfields. Knowing Honey to be afraid of snakes, Maureen suddenly
shouted, Look out! Theres a snake behind you! Honey jumped to one side in alarm, her
heart racing, but instead of a snake rattling, all she heard were shrieks of laughter emanating
from Maureen. Honey stalked back to the house and the feud is worse than ever.
Sheri was driving along a two-lane road with Melissa in the passenger seat. In the
lane going in the opposite direction a car was passing a truck and did not see the car. Facing
a potential head-on collision, Sheri drove her car off the road, and onto a Farmers corn
field.
The farmer, having very little compassion for the potential life threatening situation,
was furious and drove his tractor as fast as he could toward Sheri and Melissa. He was
planning to swerve out of the way at the last moment, but his tire went flat, the tractor went
out of control, hitting Melissa.
If the farmer brings an action against Sheri for the damaged tomatoes, the farmer
should:
(A) Prevail, because Sheri did not have any privilege to enter the land.
(B) Prevail, because Sheri damaged the tomatoes.
(C) Not prevail, because Sheri entered the property to avoid serious injury
(D) Not prevail, because the farmer threatened the women with harm.
Question 5
A manufacturer of paint used to produce a particular fast drying paint that was later
discovered to be highly toxic, which is why they ceased production. During the
manufacturing operations, they negligently allowed toxic paint byproducts to leak into the
soil. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered that the land, now occupied and
owned by a large shoe boutique, be decontaminated. All of this received quite a bit of press.
An employee of the boutique now sues the manufacturer in negligence for damages
for emotional distress. The employee claims to have suffered the distress as a consequence
of learning that she has been exposed to the toxic contamination for five years. Her
complaint does not allege that her emotional distress is severe, that the manufacturers
conduct was extreme and outrageous, or that she has suffered any physical consequences.
In that action the manufacturer has filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon
which relief may be granted.
Professor is a passenger on a plane, when the passenger sitting next to him kept
trying to talk to him. . The passenger had been drinking quite a lot, in fact, the flight
attendant had served him twelve drinks in a three hour period. The passenger continually
kept trying to engage the professor in conversation, but the professor just wanted to prepare
for the class he needed to teach when he landed. The professor could have moved to
another seat as the plane was not full, but he liked his window seat, and didnt want to pack
up his books and laptop. When he just put on his headphones, hoping that the passenger
would get the hint, the passenger picked up one of passengers heavy law books and hit the
professor over the head with it, knocking him unconscious.
If Professor sues the airline on a negligence theory, what will be the most likely
result?
Question 7
A man had decided to move from California to Boston, and thus, was hoping to sell
his home rather quickly to pay for the move. The house was an elaborate, custom-designed,
large home with extensive large sun porches. However, the porches were in need of
extensive repair, which would have been time consuming and pricey. Rather than make the
repairs, the man added temporary supports that made the porches look solid but contributed
nothing to their structural soundness.
Buyer came to look at the house, impressed with the elaborate design. She was
enchanted with the porches, noting their excellent views, and stating how wonderful they
would be for parties. The Man pointed out how sturdy they were and commented that he
often had parties on the porches. The mans asking price for the home was $150,000.00
which reflected a realistic current market value if the home was in good repair. The actual
value of the home with the defective porches was $140,000.00. After some negotiations, the
buyer agreed to pay $147,000.00 for the home, contract documents were signed, escrow
closed and she moved in two months later. Seven months later, during the buyers summer
fundraiser for the new ballet company, the southern porch collapsed, injuring the ballet
mistress.
(A) Yes, because the seller of real property is strictly liable for defective
conditions existing at the time of transfer of possession.
(B) Yes, because the man shored up the porch rather than properly repair it,
even though the condition was not discovered for seven months.
(C) No, because title to the real property has transferred to the buyer, making her
solely responsible.
(D) No, because the woman had a reasonable period of time to discover and
repair the defective porches.
Question 8
A man was stopped behind driver at a red traffic signal controlling a major city
intersection. The man was driving his new car that he had just bought a week earlier. When
the traffic signal changed to green and the man attempted to accelerate, the car lunged
forward, rear-ending driver.
Driver was severely jolted, banging his head against the glass rear window of his
pickup truck cab. He felt some pain in his lower back, but after exchanging addresses with
the man proceeded home, ate dinner, and then went to watch a hockey game as planned.
At the hockey arena, driver slipped in some spilled beer, which the hockey arena had
negligently failed to clean up, aggravating the back injury from the automobile accident, and
leading to paralysis.
In a suit by the driver against the man, the only evidence on liability offered by the
driver was an expert who testified that the carburetion system of the car was defective,
causing a surge in the gasoline supply at the time of initial acceleration. The man brings a
motion to dismiss.
A woman was being stalked by a former boyfriend, and was especially upset by the
frequent phone calls and visits to her home, where he serenaded her outside of her window
and recited very bad poetry. She was forced to move to a new city, in a desperate attempt to
get away from the boyfriend. When filling out a change of address form with the post
office, to have her mail forwarded, she specifically stated that the address was not to be
given to anyone under any circumstance.
Early one Saturday morning, Boyfriend parked across the street from Womans
modest apartment. As Woman emerged with her mother, Boyfriend raced across the street,
screaming that woman WOULD be his. Fearing for the safety of herself and her mother,
Woman fled. Boyfriend followed Woman, trying repeatedly to grab her, and making
disturbing growling sounds.
In desperation, Woman picked up a hoe left in the yard by Gardener doing his
Saturday morning maintenance. Boyfriend was momentarily deterred.
During this moment, Gardener returned and seeing Boyfriend apparently perilously close to
decapitation by hoe, seized Womans arms from behind and wrenched loose the hoe,
dislocating Womans shoulder. Boyfriend fled. Terrified by the course of events, the
womans mother fainted.
If the woman sues the post office for negligence, will she prevail?
Question 10
Tania went out to eat at the Abbey, and after paying her bill she asked the waitress if
she could have some of the old wine bottles, as the labels were often decorative and
interesting.
When Tania entered the storage room, it was dark. While searching for the light
switch, she tripped in a large indentation in the floor and fell to the concrete, fracturing a
vertebra. The waitress testified that she did not warn Tania about the indentation in the
floor, because it was their habit was to leave the lights on in the storage room at all times,
and that the light in the room had been on when she had been in it half an hour before she
sent Tania back.
In Tanias action for damages against The Abbey arising from this incident, Tania
will probably:
Question 11
Homeowner has six German Shepherd dogs that have been trained to be guard dogs,
and thus are quite ferocious and will attack intruders on to the property. The homeowner
has many Beware of Dogs signs posted around his fenced-in yard where he keeps the
dogs. The fence is quite high, and the dogs have never escaped or attempted to leave the
property. The mans next door neighbor frequently walks by the house, and, besides having
just read the signs, is well aware of the dogs ferocity. One day, the neighbor enters the yard
to retrieve a rake that the homeowner had borrowed a month ago. The neighbor was
attacked by one of the dogs and sustained serious injuries.
Tenant had a dream. He wanted to open a theatre that would showcase classical
ballet and opera, rather than the modern ballet he had been seeing. He began looking for an
appropriate building erected during that era, with appropriate classical stages, in the heart of
downtown. Tenant soon received a call from landlord offering to lease a downtown 150-seat
theatre to Tenant. Landlord informed Tenant from the outset that he was willing to lease the
building at a discount because some of the overhead lighting was in need of repair. It was
not adequately secured; in fact, some had fallen during the recent earthquake. Landlord
suggested that Tenant repair the lighting, and ensure its safety, prior to opening the theatre,
but Landlord did not force or require Tenant to do any such repairs.
Tenant signed a five year lease, and hired a repairman to fix the lighting, and began
an advertising campaign with plans to open for business one month later. Response to his
concept was over-whelming, since many people were tiring of modern dance and longing for
classical ballets. The first 5 shows were sold out before the opening! The morning of
opening day, Tenant was informed that the lighting would not be completed for at least an
additional two days. Tenant reluctantly proceeded with the opening anyway.
The day after the opening, a 5.0 aftershock hit the city. A section of the lighting
hanging from the balcony fell, causing head injuries to patron, a customer at one of the
shows.
(A) Landlord, because Tenant became solely liable for the condition of the
premises as of the date he took possession.
(B) Landlord, because he disclosed the condition of the lighting to Tenant at the
time of the lease.
(C) Patron, because she was an invitee.
(D) Patron, because Landlord knew Tenant planned to use the building as a
theatre.
A man was stopped behind driver at a red traffic signal controlling a major city
intersection. The man was driving his new car that he had just bought a week earlier. When
the traffic signal changed to green and the man attempted to accelerate, the car lunged
forward, rear-ending driver.
Driver was severely jolted, banging his head against the glass rear window of his
pickup truck cab. He felt some pain in his lower back, but after exchanging addresses with
the man proceeded home, ate dinner, and then went to watch a hockey game as planned.
13. In a suit by driver against the hockey arena, medical experts testify that driver would not
have been paralyzed in the fall had he not experienced the automobile accident earlier in the
day.
What impact will this testimony have on the hockey arenas liability, if any, to driver?
14. Assume for the purposes of this question only that in drivers suit against the hockey
arena, the medical experts testified that driver would not have been paralyzed in the fall at
the hockey arena had he not experienced the auto accident earlier that day and that the initial
back injury could have been treated by any competent practitioner by immobilization in a
brace if driver had gone to the doctor immediately.
Question 15
Company owned a storage facility consisting of many 10,000-gallon tanks. They had
surrounded these tanks with a chain link fence. Unfortunately, in early 2009, company closed
the facility due to declining business and the rapid growth of residences around it.
Many people had been laid off, and as can be expected, this caused substantial
employee bitterness. In the four weeks since the employees had been laid off, the chain link
fence around the storage facility had been cut open every weekend.
The following Friday night, the district manager received yet another call from the
police alerting him to the fact that the fence had been cut open yet again. The manager then
called the repair company to have the fence repaired that upcoming Monday.
However, on Sunday morning, an eight year old boy was found unconscious in the
bottom of one of the empty tanks. Boys parents had reported him missing Saturday night.
The boy suffered moderate, but permanent, brain damage.
If boys parents, as his guardian ad litem, bring an action for negligence against
Company, what will be the likely result of the litigation?
Question 16
Factory manufactures various kinds of paint. Their plant had been built in the 1930s
approximately 10 miles from the nearest city. The factory chose the particular location, away
from the city, because making the paint creates a particular unpleasant smelling odor. In the
last 10 years or so, the city has become a popular residential community and residences have
spread to within 200 yards of the factory.
If the factory is sued for nuisance by residents of the community, what is their best
defense?
(A) The odor causes coughing and wheezing in most of the population.
(B) Only 1 person in 1,000 is affected by the vapor.
(C) The factory was built long before the city became a residential community.
(D) Only the public prosecutor can sue for public nuisance.
A nine-year-old girl was playing catch with a few friends in front of her home.
During the game, the baseball was thrown in the street. The girl ran into the street but did
not look both ways and was struck by a car, driven by driver, who was driving 30 mph in
excess of the posted speed limit. The girl suffered a broken arm and leg as a result of the
accident.
However, when the accident occurred, the girl was also in violation of a statute that
required pedestrians to look both ways before crossing a street. This jurisdiction has a
traditional pure comparative negligence statute in effect.
If the girls parents, on their daughters behalf, assert a tort action against the driver
to recover personal injuries, the plaintiff will:
(A) Recover one-half damages, because she and the driver were both negligent.
(B) Recover nothing, because the girl was statutorily negligent.
(C) Recover full damages, if the driver was more at fault than the girl in causing
the accident.
(D) Recover full damages, if the girl acted as a reasonable child of like age,
intelligence and experience when she entered the street.
Question 18
Woman purchased a PortaTV product and plugged it into the electric outlet
alongside her bathtub. That night woman took a bath and turned on the tv, wanting to catch
her favorite crime drama. While in the bathtub, she reached out to get a loofah, and, as she
did, accidentally knocked over the PortaTV device and it fell into the bathtub. This caused
the woman to suffer an electrical shock that paralyzed her from the waist down.
As a result, the woman sued Manufacturer for strict liability. The box in which
PortaTV was sold provided a conspicuous warning alerting consumers of the danger of
electrical shock and advising them to be careful when placing the device near sinks or
bathtubs, or any water. In manufacturing the PortaTV products, Manufacturer could have
installed a rubber coating on each device that would prevent electrical currents from passing
through water. Manufacturer, however, decided not to use the rubberized coating because it
felt that it would detract from the aesthetic appeal and diminish consumer sales.
(A) Not prevail, because the warning on the box cover was adequate.
(B) Not prevail, if Woman was negligent in knocking the light into the bathtub.
(C) Prevail, if failure to install the rubberized coating made the device
unreasonably dangerous.
(D) Prevail, because the manufacturer was aware of the danger associated with
placing PortaTV devices in electrical sockets near bathtubs.
Question 19
Anchor is a popular local news anchor. Recently, a reporter for a local newspaper
wrote a story about how Anchor has been having affairs with much younger women, some
of them underage. The reporter believed the story to be true, since he had heard the
allegations form women that supposedly had such affairs with the Anchor. In fact, it was
completely fabricated by the women.
If Anchor brings suit against the reporter for defamation, he most likely will:
Question 20
On a commercial flight from New York to Las Vegas, a hijacking attempted was
discovered while the plane was in flight. However, due to fast acting flight attendants, the
hijacker was discovered and seized before any damage could be done, and the plane
proceeded to Las Vegas. Upon the planes arrival, television stations had cameras at the
gate, and began reporting on the incident, showing television clips of the passengers
disembarking safely. One such passenger was supposed to be in Detroit at a professional
conference, paid for by her company, and not in Las Vegas. Her boss saw her on various
news channels, and this resulted in the loss of her position and great embarrassment.
If the passenger asserts a claim against the television stations for using her picture
has she disembarked, is she likely to prevail?
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. B
5. D
6. C
7. B
8. A
9. C
10. C
11. C
12. D
13. D
14. C
15. D
16. B
17. D
18. C
19. C
20. A