Torts
What are the Birkner criteria?
Courts look to these to determine if an employer can be held vicariously liable for the acts of their employee:
Was the conduct of the general type the employee was hired to perform?
Was the conduct substantially within the hours and spatial boundaries of the job?
Was the conduct motivated, at least in part, by serving the employer’s interests?
This standard, announced in International Shoe, requires that a defendant have these types of contacts with the forum state such that the maintenance of the suit does not offend traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
What are minimum contacts?
How does a bill become a law?
it must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and if it does, Congress must then send the bill to the president to sign or veto.
Which part of IRAC should include the facts from the fact pattern?
The Application Section
What is the name of the student body at Texas A&M?
12th Man
What is the difference between actual and constructive notice in self-service situations?
Actual: person explicitly knew
Constructive: person should have known; requires defect to be
- visible and apparent
- exist for a sufficient length of time prior to the accident
What is the forum defendant rule?
A defendant may transfer a case from state to federal court, but if removal is based solely on diversity jurisdiction, this limitation applies when the defendant is from the forum state.
What happens if a bill is passed in both chambers but in different forms?
Reconciliation must occur when the chambers must reconcile their forms to present one to the president. Either a chamber will accept the other’s form or both will propose and accept amendments in a conference committee.
What was the theme of last week's academic support session? What did we learn about?
Rocky Balboa -- counter-arguments.
What is the name of Texas A&M's official mascot?
Reveille
Bonus: Reveille X
A tugboat company fails to secure a barge properly, and the barge breaks loose, causing significant property damage. Applying Judge Learned Hand’s negligence formula, which of the following best explains when the company would be considered negligent?
A. When the burden of taking precautions (B) is greater than the probability of harm (P) multiplied by the severity of the loss (L).
B. When the burden of taking precautions (B) is less than the probability of harm (P) multiplied by the severity of the loss (L).
C. Whenever harm actually occurs, regardless of the burden, probability, or severity of the loss.
D. When the probability of harm (P) alone exceeds the burden of taking precautions (B).
B. Negligence exists when the burden of taking precautions is less than the product of the probability of harm and the gravity of the potential loss.
What are cons of legal realism?
Critics say this school of thought undermines predictability in law and risks making outcomes dependent on judges’ personal views.
What can committees do with bills?
They can
may report a submitted bill to the chamber as submitted;
it may amend the bill and submit it;
it may rewrite the bill from scratch; or
it may refuse to act on the bill
What day is your last day of class?
November 18 (probably)
What funky sounding words begin the Texas A&M Aggie War Hymn?
Hullabaloo Caneck Caneck
Hullabaloo Caneck Caneck
What must occur for there to be a negligent misrepresentation
The information provided must:
1. include an affirmative misrepresentation (including mis-leading half-truths)
2. be reasonably relied upon by an actor in the action causing injury
3. lead to actual physical harm for the person relying on the information or third persons the actor could expect to be placed in harm's way
What is pendent claim jurisdiction?
When a federal court hears a state-law claim between the same parties that arises from a common nucleus of operative fact as the federal claim, this doctrine applies.
How does a bill get to the floor in the House of Representatives and what do they decide prior to presenting the bill?
They have to go through the Rules Committee, who decides
the order which a bill will be taken up
Sets the amt of time for general debate
Decides whether to permit amendments to be entertained on the house floor
Prescribes the number of amendments
Specifies what ports of the bill are and are not open to amendment
Which part of IRAC is this an example of?
"Federal district courts have subject matter jurisdiction over cases based on diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 when two requirements are satisfied: (1) the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and (2) there is complete diversity of citizenship between all plaintiffs and all defendants. Complete diversity requires that no plaintiff be a citizen of the same state as any defendant. For individuals, citizenship is determined by domicile, which requires both physical presence in a state and the intent to remain there indefinitely. For corporations, citizenship is determined by both the state of incorporation and the state where the corporation has its principal place of business, commonly defined as the “nerve center” where high-level officers direct, control, and coordinate corporate activities (Hertz Corp. v. Friend)."
Rule Statement
What is the name of the man who stood ready to join the TAMU football team when all of their substitute players has been exhausted after a string of injuries in a 1918 Dixie Classic football game?
E. King Gill
What is the Novak test to determine whether there is agency?
Bonus:
What is the difference between this and the Tort Approach?
Is there:
1. representation to a 3rd party by the principal agent acting on principal's behalf (affirmative representation)
2. Justifiable reliance on the representation
3. Detrimental reliance (3rd party's position is changed by relying on the representation
Tort Approach: only requires reasonable belief that the purported agent is acting on the principal's behalf (not affirmative representation), as well as justifiable and detrimental reliance
Plaintiff, a citizen of Texas, sues Defendant, a citizen of Oklahoma, in federal court for breach of contract, seeking $100,000. Plaintiff also adds a state-law fraud claim against Defendant arising out of the same set of facts. Defendant then seeks to implead a third party (another Texas citizen) for indemnity. Which of the following best describes the federal court’s ability to hear these claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367?
A. The court has supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s fraud claim but not over Defendant’s indemnity claim.
B. The court has supplemental jurisdiction over both the fraud claim and the indemnity claim.
C. The court has supplemental jurisdiction over neither claim, because both are state-law causes of action.
D. The court has supplemental jurisdiction over Defendant’s indemnity claim, but Plaintiff’s fraud claim must independently meet the amount-in-controversy requirement.
B.
The fraud claim is part of the same case or controversy as the contract claim, so supplemental jurisdiction is proper.
Defendant’s indemnity claim against the third-party defendant falls within supplemental jurisdiction under § 1367 as an impleader claim, even though it involves a non-diverse party.
Why do legislations become vague or ambiguous?
the difficulty of foreseeing all problems;
the often inherent imprecisions of language itself;
and the nature of coalition politics which, in cobbling together the necessary majority, may yield legislation that is deliberately vague and ambiguous
What are the issues you would address in the following hypothetical?
"Alex owns a delivery business. One evening, Alex’s friend Jordan asks to borrow the company van to run personal errands. Alex knows Jordan has a suspended license due to reckless driving but agrees anyway. On the way back, Jordan decides to stop and deliver a package for Alex as a favor. While speeding to make the drop-off, Jordan runs a stop sign and collides with Taylor, who suffers serious injuries."
Negligent Entrustment
Negligence per se
Vicarious Liability
A bit of a stretch: contributory negligence and independent contractor analysis
Who was the former president of Texas A&M that led the Army Rangers up Point du Hoc in Normandy during WWII, and also let women in to Texas A&M University?
Colonel James Earl Rudder