Civil Procedure
Carpenter lives in Vermont and works out of his home. In addition to his Vermont customers, he has some customers across the border in New York, and some in Massachusetts. Last year, he built a garage for a New York customer and put an addition on another New Yorker’s house. This was about 5 percent of his construction business for the year, which is about the average for his New York business each year. While driving to a job in Massachusetts, Carpenter has an accident, in Massachusetts, with Driver, from New York. Driver brings suit against Carpenter for his injuries in a New York state court.
Carpenter is not subject to personal jurisdiction in New York, because the claim does not arise out of Carpenter’s New York contacts.
Negligence Elements
1. Duty
2. Breach of duty
3. Harm
4. But For Cause
5. Proximate Cause
On April 1, Fay sends to Mort this signed fax message: “Mort — April is upon us. I need your services — this Wednesday, please, at 11 A.M. I’ll be ready with cash. Okay?” What additional circumstance, if proven, would most clearly mean that Fay’s message constitutes an offer?
B. Every April for the previous twelve years Mort has trimmed the trees in Fay’s front yard, for which Fay has each time paid him $125.
A owns Blackacre, a mink ranch. A catches minks in a nearby forest and then keeps them in cages on Blackacre. One of the minks escapes and returns to the forest. B catches this same mink and sells it. A discovers this and sues B for the value of the mink. Who wins?
B, because B captured the mink.
Oliver owns Stillwaters in fee simple. Oliver executes a deed giving Stillwaters “to Ann for life, then to Bea for life, then to Chaz.” At early common law, which answer below identifies correct interests in Stillwaters?
Ann has a life estate, Bea and Chaz both have remainder life estates.
Two passengers from State A were injured when a bus they were riding in ran off the road and crashed in Rome, Italy. The bus company is incorporated in State B and has its principal place of business in the Southern District of State C. The bus driver is a citizen of State D. The two passengers initiated an action against the bus company and the bus driver for negligence in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of State C.
The bus driver has moved to dismiss the action for improper venue. How is the court likely to rule on this motion?
Deny it, because the bus company is subject to personal jurisdiction in the Northern District of State C.
Plaintiff and Defendant Argument For False Imprisonment
Plaintiff: The defendant intentionally confined the plaintiff against her will through physical force, threats of force, or an apprehension of force, for an unreasonable amount of time and manner
Defendant: The defendant did not intentionally confine the Plaintiff for unreasonable amount of time and manner. Could be for safety, parent or guardian, or P did not know they were confined.
Without a writing, Kevin as seller and Taylor as buyer contract for the purchase and sale of Kevin’s farm. Thereafter, Kevin declines to proceed with the sale, and Taylor sues for specific performance. Which of the following additional facts, if proven, would most likely allow Taylor to sustain his action against Kevin?
A. Before Kevin announced his intention not to proceed, Taylor, with Kevin’s permission, moved onto the farm and built a new barn.
A owns Greenacre, a parcel of land located adjacent to a running river. A takes river water to irrigate Brownacre, his other parcel of land that is not adjacent to the running river and does not adjoin the parcel on the river. What are the legal implications of A using the river water?
Under the rules of prior appropriation, A is not in violation if the use of the river water on Brownacre is reasonable and beneficial.
O devises Blackacre to A for life and then to children of B, but if any child of B predeceases A, then his/her share to C where no child of B then alive.
Apply RAP
A has a life estate. Children of B have a contingent remainder. C has a contingent remainder. O has a reversion.
Perpetuities:The RAP does not apply to either A's or O's interest. The interest in children of B does not violate the RAP (B is the validating life). C's interest does not violate the RAP (A is the validating life).
28 U.S.C 1404 v. 28 U.S.C 1406
1404: Venue is proper to begin with. A court, in an interest of justice, may transfer the case to a more convenient venue for the parties or witnesses.
1406: Venue is improper to begin with. A court should dismiss the case or in the interest of justice may transfer the venue to a proper one.
A nervous man was persuaded by his girlfriend to go with her to a haunted house. He saw the signs in front of the haunted house warning that this attraction has live “monsters” who will be trying to scare people and is not for the faint of heart, and he also noticed the same warning printed on the tickets. He paid for his ticket and reluctantly went into the darkened house with his girlfriend. In the first room, an actor dressed as a large monster came at them with a shriek, and the man dove through one of the plate glass windows to the outside, severely lacerating his arms and face in the process.
If the man brings an action against the actor, will he recover?
No, because the man expressly assumed the risk of injury.
Shayna and Chris agree orally that Chris will act as supervisor and manager of Shayna’s commercial ice skating rink, Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Shayna is to pay Chris an annual salary of $150,000, in twelve monthly installments of $12,500 each, on the first day of each month. While negotiating, the parties exchange a number of notes and conduct a number of conversations. Ultimately, they agree, orally and by handshake, to the terms described above, and to an additional fifty terms as well. Thereafter, in cursive, they sign their first names only to this short writing, labeled “Employment Contract”:
The undersigned Shayna Signorelli (“Employer”) and Chris Matus (“Employee”) hereby agree, finally and unconditionally, that Employee will serve as Employer’s general manager, on an ordinary full-time basis and that he will be paid for his service an amount satisfactory to him. Employee acknowledges that the skating rink operates from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. seven days per week
If a judge concludes that the writing is a partial integration and not a total integration, her reason will most likely be that
the parties intended the writing as a final statement as to some of what each would do for the other, but they did not intend it fully to state all on which they had agreed.
Alyssa and Peter own neighboring farms, each being 160 acres in size. The boundary line between their two properties was never properly determined or clearly known to Alyssa and Peter. In 2002, Alyssa built a wooden fence where she thought the boundary lay, but in fact the fence encroached on Peter’s land by ten feet along the entire boundary. In 2007, Peter gave up farming and moved to another state. That year and all following years he leased his farm to a nearby farmer, Ralph. In 2014, Peter died, and his executor, preparing to sell the farm, hired a surveyor who discovered the encroachment. The executor demanded that Alyssa move the fence. She refused, and in 2014 he filed suit to quiet title. The statute of limitations for the recovery of real property is ten years. The most probable result is
Alyssa gains title by adverse possession.
O devises Blackacre to A for life and then to B but if B predeceases A, then to C.
A has a life estate. B has a vested remainder subject to complete divestment. C has an executory interest.
F.R.C.P. 1391(b)
Rule for determining venue;
(b)(1): a judicial district in which any defendant resides, if all defendants are residents of the State in which the district is located
(b)(2): A judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is subject of the action is situated.
(b)(3): If there is no district in which an action may otherwise be bought as provided in this section, any judicial district in which any defendant is subject to the courts personal jurisdiction with respect to such action.
A boy was playing softball in a neighborhood park when a ball was hit over the fence and into a neighbor’s yard. The boy knocked on the neighbor’s door and obtained permission from her to retrieve the ball from her yard. As he bent to retrieve the ball in some bushes, the boy brushed against an exposed electric wire that was partially hidden by the bushes and received a severe electric shock and burns. The neighbor had failed to maintain the bushes, allowing them to become overgrown, and was not aware of the exposed wire.
If the boy sues the neighbor in a jurisdiction that applies the traditional rules for landowners and possessors of land, what is the likely result?
The neighbor is not liable because she did not know of the condition of the wire
Shayna and Chris agree orally that Chris will act as supervisor and manager of Shayna’s commercial ice skating rink, Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Shayna is to pay Chris an annual salary of $150,000, in twelve monthly installments of $12,500 each, on the first day of each month. While negotiating, the parties exchange a number of notes and conduct a number of conversations. Ultimately, they agree, orally and by handshake, to the terms described above, and to an additional fifty terms as well. Thereafter, in cursive, they sign their first names only to this short writing, labeled “Employment Contract”:
The undersigned Shayna Signorelli (“Employer”) and Chris Matus (“Employee”) hereby agree, finally and unconditionally, that Employee will serve as Employer’s general manager, on an ordinary full-time basis and that he will be paid for his service an amount satisfactory to him. Employee acknowledges that the skating rink operates from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. seven days per week.
If the judge were to conclude that the writing constitutes no integration at all, she would most likely do so because
the parties did not “intend” the writing to be final even as to the terms it states.
In 1968, O acquires title to Whiteacre. In 1970, A takes possession of Whiteacre. In 1972, O learns that A is in possession of Whiteacre, but does not take any action against A. In 1980, A abandons Whiteacre. In 1985, A retakes possession of Whiteacre. In 2000, O seeks to eject A from Whiteacre. The jurisdiction has a 21-year statute of limitations. Who owns Whiteacre?
O, because A did not possess Whiteacre for 21 consecutive years.
O devises Blackacre to A and her heirs until A drinks alcohol and then, to B.
A has fee simple determinable. B has an executory interest.
An attorney from State A helped a client from State B purchase property in State A. The two corresponded regularly through the mail while they were working on the deal. The attorney ultimately arranged the purchase of the land for the client, but the client failed to pay the attorney’s legal fees.
The attorney sued the client for the unpaid fees in State A state court, sending notice by certified mail to the client’s mailing address through which they had previously corresponded. After the mail was returned to the attorney marked “undelivered,” the attorney published notice of the suit in a local State A newspaper as is permitted under State A law. The client never learned of the case, failed to appear within the required time period, and the court entered a default judgment in favor of the attorney.
When the attorney attempted to enforce the default judgment in State B, the client attacked the judgment by arguing that notice in the original State A case was constitutionally defective. Which of the following would be an appropriate decision of the court with respect to the client’s challenge?
Rule in favor of the client, because once the attorney knew that the attempted mailed notice failed, he was responsible for attempting another method of notice reasonably calculated to apprise the client of the action.
Jones v. Flowers
The owner of a valuable painting hired professional movers to transport it to an auction house when she decided to sell it. As the movers were carrying it to their van, a window air conditioner that a tenant had been trying to install fell out of his second floor window and crashed through the painting and onto the ground. The owner had been watching from across the street and saw her painting destroyed. She became extremely upset and needed medical treatment for shock.
If the owner brings a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress against the tenant, is she likely to recover?
No, because she was not within the zone of danger.
Fern owns an antique shop, Junk Is Us. She sends a written offer to Euphrates Antique Wholesalers to buy the latter’s entire inventory of old string, partial shipments to occur monthly, with separate billing for each shipment, over a period of months. Euphrates sends back a confirmation that purports to accept her offer. At the bottom of the confirmation is a sentence providing that Fern must pay 3% annual interest (a reasonable rate under the circumstances) on overdue invoices. Fern receives the confirmation and makes no response. (a) Is there a contract? (b) If so, is the interest clause part of the contract?
(a) Yes. The UCC does not follow the common law “mirror image” rule. So the fact that the “acceptance” contains additional terms does not prevent it from being a true acceptance that concludes the bargain. See rules regarding Battle of the Forms and UCC §2-207(1). Here, nothing in Euphrates’ confirmation made his acceptance expressly conditional on Fern’s acceptance of the interest clause, so the confirmation acted as an acceptance.
(b) Yes. UCC §2-207(2) controls whose terms are included if a contract is formed. Here, the terms are integrated into the agreement because the two parties are merchants and none of the exceptions apply. The offer doesn’t provide any limits on acceptance. Since we’re told that Fern “makes no response,” this means she didn’t object to the interest term. So the only issue is whether a clause charging a reasonable rate of interest for overdue invoices is a “material alteration” of the contract.
n 1985, A received an invalid deed describing a tract of land consisting of four acres known as Blackacre. A enters the easterly two acres of Blackacre and remains in actual possession of this portion of Blackacre. During the entire period of A’s occupation, O, the true owner of Blackacre, has been in actual possession of the westerly two acres of Blackacre. In 1996, A sues O for ejectment claiming that he had acquired title by adverse possession to all of Blackacre. What result? Assume the statute of limitations is 10 years.
A will succeed only as to the easterly two acres of Blackacre.
O devises Blackacre to A and her heirs on the condition that the land is never used for non-residential purposes, and then if the land is used for those purposes, to B.
A has a fee simple subject to executory limitation. B has an executory interest.