Civil Law Questions

James and Zach get into a car accident. James sues Zach for negligent driving. James also wants to sue for breach of contract. A year ago, Zach agreed to paint the outside of James' house. True, or false, he will be allowed to join the claims?

Silas is the CEO of a company. Silas makes promotions to the junior vice president position every year during annual reviews. In 2013, Silas refused to promote Jonah to Vice President, telling him customers weren't ready for a black man in that role. In 2014, he refused to promote Jorge, saying that his accent was not "going to command respect" from those he supervised. Finally, in 2015, he refused to promote Yao because people like him were good at math and programming, but bad at interpersonal relationships. The three individuals sue and want to join their claims. True or false, there is a common question of law or fact?

Jim (North Carolina) and Jane (South Carolina) get into a car accident while vacationing in France. When they return, Jane sues Jim in South Carolina federal court located 90 miles from where Jim lives in North Carolina. He is properly served with process when he is personally served at his home in North Carolina and then files a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. True or false, the court will grant the motion?

Tonya writes for the Raleigh Gossip magazine and is domiciled in North Carolina. After attending a civil procedure conference, she gets a juicy story about the chairperson of the Advisory Committee for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: he revised some of the rules when he was drunk while living in his cabin in the Alaska wilderness. She confirms the story by making calls into the chairperson's home state of Alaska to speak with neighbors who attest to the chairperson's drinking problem. The Raleigh Gossip magazine distributes newspapers in four stores in Alaska and sells about 10,000 copies a year in Alaska. The chairperson sues for defamation in Alaska federal court and Tonya files a motion to dismiss. Under Calder, what result?A.Denied because the reasonableness factors support personal jurisdiction.B.Granted unless the chairperson can show that Tonya has visited Alaska.C.Granted because mere foreseeability is insufficient to support personal jurisdiction.D.Denied because she knew he would suffer reputational consequences in Alaska.

Sherman corporation is domiciled in Georgia. It manufactures tanks (for now just one model) for personal use and sells them nationwide; it designs and manufactures the tanks in Georgia. As relevant here, it runs advertisements in Indiana on television, radio and social media. "Lay waste to anyone you get in an accident with and settle any personal disputes like a Civil War general marching to the sea. Get Sherman tough!" a typical advertisement says. It has 25 service centers in Indiana and runs 50 tank dealerships where it sells tanks to customers. Also as relevant here, Sherman co. sold one of its tanks to Sheridan in Ohio from a dealership in the state about two years ago. Sheridan died and his son Pope, also from Ohio, inherited the tank. Pope decided to take the tank on a cross country road trip. While driving through Indiana, he saw an RV that suited him better and traded his tank in at a used car dealership (not one that Sherman co. owned or operated). Grant purchased the tank from the reseller and when he got cut off by a motorist named Lee, took aim with the tank's turret, and tried to shoot the car off the road. Unfortunately, the barrel exploded, causing minor injuries. He sued Sherman co. for negligent design in Indiana court. Does the court have personal jurisdiction?A.No.B.No under the but-for test.C.No under the evidentiary test, but maybe under the but-for test.D.Yes under the evidentiary test and yes under the but-for test.

Bastilla owns a tennis racket stringing business in North Carolina. After Revan is elected governor of North Carolina, he imposes all sorts of costly regulations on tennis racket stringers. As a result, Bastilla sees a dark future for her business and relocates to Washington State, where the burden on her business is on the light side. She ends all advertisements in North Carolina, never visits the state, and specifically refuses to ship rackets to the state. Over the years, she builds up a modestly successful business that earns about $150,000 a year. One day, Carth comes into her store and buys a racket, which works fine for several years. He moves to North Carolina and enters a senior tournament. In the finals, he plays Malak (domiciled in North Carolina). Midway through the match, the racket explodes due to some gunpowder being mistakenly included in the frame. Both Malak and Carth are injured. They sue Bastilla's business in North Carolina state court. Bastilla files a motion to dismiss. What result under Justice Brennan's framework?A.Denied because Bastilla has minimum contacts in North Carolina.B.Denied because there are minimum contacts among the parties.C.Granted because Bastilla has no purposeful minimum contacts in North Carolina.D.Granted because the reasonableness factors cannot support personal jurisdiction.

Gettysburg Inc. (a Pennsylvania corporation) designs and manufactures civil war rifles for civil war reenactors. It advertises the rifles as providing complete civil war era sound effects without posing any danger to reenactors. Unfortunately, the manufacturer does not do a good job quality checking the rifles and some workers assemble them with live fire components and leave ammunition in the barrels. The company sends magazines advertising the guns to a civil war troupe in Maryland. When reenacting the battle of Antietam (in Maryland), the guns fire actual shots, causing grievous injuries to several participants. The participants (all domiciled in Maryland) sue in Maryland for false advertising. Will a court find that the claim arises out of the contacts?A.It will arise out of the contacts under both the but-for and evidentiary tests.B.It will arise out of the contacts under neither test.C.It will arise out of the contacts under the but-for, but not the evidentiary test.D.It will arise out of the contacts under the evidentiary, but not the but-for test.

Cato was driving in his car, while eating a McDonalds breakfast and playing Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch. He got into an accident with Christina. Christina sued Cato for negligence but settled after her lawyer advised her to settle the case because a jury would probably find that Christina was contributorily negligent for being on the phone with her partner when the accident occurred. She decides to sue the lawyer for malpractice. True or false, the malpractice claim arises out of the same facts as the negligence claim?

Matt Sawchak and Marcus Gadson jointly found a company, Elysium Gaming Systems (domiciled in North Carolina), to compete with Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. They design a console called the Legal Entertainment System ("LES"). The system allows players to complete engaging civil procedure hypotheticals and role play as delegates at various state constitutional conventions. The console can be used either as a virtual reality headset for single-player mode, or it can output to a TV so whole families or groups of friends can play together. Osborn Corporation (domiciled in Texas) enters into a contract with Elysium to supply a processor for the console, which Elysium then incorporates into the LES and sells. Osborn does no advertising in Washington state, does not ship its processors into the state, and has no direct relationship with customers there.The console is a huge success and flies off shelves. Unfortunately, the console overheats on a man named John in Washington state one day, and he sustains burns. He sues Osborn corporation in Washington State court. Osborn corporation files a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.True, or false, the court would grant the motion under Justice O'Connor's approach?A.TrueB.False

Vivian sues Nicole for trespass. Nicole does not file a motion to dismiss and instead files an answer denying liability. At the close of discovery, Nicole files a motion for summary judgment. At the hearing, Vivian thinks the judge is inclined to rule against her and decides to voluntarily dismiss her case. She files a notice to dismiss her case. Trial has not yet happened. True or false, Vivian can voluntarily dismiss the case without prejudice.

After a judicial conference on best practices in managing a courtroom, federal judges have adopted a policy of having two recesses during trial: one at 11:00 AM and one at 3:00 PM. At 11:00 AM, lunch is served, and at 3:00 PM, tea and crumpets are served. There is no rule or statute discussing recess practices. Meanwhile, in North Carolina state court, imagine that a statute requires that judges provide one recess at noon for jurors to eat. Paul sues for breach of contract in North Carolina federal court and loses at trial. On appeal, he argues that the district court was obligated to follow North Carolina's rule of providing only one recess at 1:00 PM instead of two smaller recesses. True or false, under Hanna part 1, a federal court would apply North Carolina's recess rules?

Hans and Yans had a contract to manufacture widgets. Yans alleged that Hans breached it. He then sued Hans in federal district court in North Carolina. Hans filed a 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Yans sought and received voluntary dismissal of his complaint and then went forum shopping. When Hans was flying over Alaska airspace, a process server served Hans process and Yans sued in Alaska federal district court. Hans then filed a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Yans realized some flaws in his complaint and wants to dismiss without prejudice. Which of the following is true?A. Yans can file a notice of dismissal without prejudice because neither an answer nor a motion for summary judgment has been filed.B.Any notice of dismissal will be with prejudice.C.Even if Hans agrees to stipulate to dismissal, it will be with prejudice because Yans previously dismissed an action.

Cardi B and Taylor Swift get into a car crash while coming back from a Call of Duty tournament. Cardi B's car is totaled and she injures her shoulder and ankle. On a stretcher going into an ambulance, she screams, "You should have looked both ways before crossing me!" at Swift. Cardi B threatens to sue. Swift's lawyer interviews witnesses to the accident and concludes it's likely that Swift ran a red light right before the accident. Later Cardi B tweets out that her lawyers are currently forum shopping to find the best jurisdiction to sue in. Subsequently, Cardi B does file suit and seeks to compel production of Swift's lawyer's memorandum assessing the witness interviews. Was the memorandum prepared "in anticipation of litigation?"A.Yes under the specific claim test.B.Yes under the primary purpose test.C.No.D.Yes under both the specific claim test and primary purpose test.

John sues Y corporation for failure to warn that its computers had defective processors. He submits a request for documents asking the company to search the computers of 300 current scientists and computers and storage devices associated with 200 former scientists who worked at the company at one point. He has gotten to depose 20 scientists who have told him about the process of developing the processors, explained why the one in his computer didn't work, and talked about discussions of why the company refused to warn customers about the processor. However, he heard from a friend that there was an email sent at some point in the past 10 years where the company admitted to deliberately using cheaper silicon to save money. True or false, a court applying Tucker would deny John's motion to compel.

Richard (Alabama) sues Catherine (Tennessee) after Catherine totaled his car in an accident and seeks $80,000 in damages. Catherine files a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and nothing else. Richard sees that he has not pled every element of destruction of property and that the complaint will likely be dismissed under Iqbal. True or false, he can voluntarily dismiss under 41(a) without prejudice?

Mary was sailing her yacht on the lake one day. Hannah and Amy were also out sailing that day in pirate ships. They had both accumulated a large supply of 17th and 18th century cannons over the years and thought it would be fun to try them out. Both opened fire on Mary, crippling the yacht. Mary swam to shore, contacted her lawyer, and then sued them both for lake piracy, a new state law tort. Hannah and Amy filed an answer denying liability and a 12(b)(2) motion seeking dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction. Mary seeks voluntary dismissal so she can find a jurisdiction Hannah and Amy can be sued in. Amy agrees to stipulate to dismissal without prejudice. True or false, Mary can voluntarily dismiss without prejudice under Rule 41(a)(1).

James and Zach got into a car accident. While they were out of the cars waiting for police, Zach attacked James. James wants to sue for both negligent driving and battery. True or false, he can bring both claims in the same lawsuit

In 1980, an airplane from Cheapo Airlines realized too many passengers were aboard (which meant it was violating federal regulations) when it was in the air. The flight attendants randomly chose one passenger, Achilles, and threw him overboard with an experimental jetpack and told him to keep flying until he found land. Achilles went on about his life for many years, but the incident was always in the back of his head. In 2020, he sued Cheapo Airlines in North Carolina federal district court for intentional infliction of emotional distress under North Carolina law. The statute of limitations in North Carolina is four years. The federal page limit is 25 pages, but the North Carolina page limit is 30 pages. Cheap Airlines removed to federal court, filed a 12(b)(6) motion, and argued that there was no intentional infliction of emotional distress because getting to ride a jetpack is fun for the first 25 pages. On page 26, it argued that the court had to dismiss because the statute of limitations had expired. The district court refused to consider the argument because it read only the first 25 pages, denied the motion to dismiss the complaint, and Achilles won at trial. On appeal, Cheapo Airlines argues that the statute of limitations precludes Achilles from winning and that under York, the district court should have applied the North Carolina page limit. True or false, under York, the appeals court will apply North Carolina's page limit?

Allen sues Janet for trespass onto his property in New York federal court (assume New York law applies to the dispute). At the close of discovery, he moves for summary judgment under Rule 56. A recent amendment to the New York state constitution provides that, "Since the right to a jury trial is inviolate and the best security of a free people, summary judgment is impermissible. A jury trial shall always be available upon demand of a party." As a consequence, New York's civil procedure rules do not provide for summary judgment. The district court decides that it must apply New York's civil procedure rules and refuses to grant the motion, but acknowledges that it would have because no reasonable jury could find for Janet. A jury then ultimately decides for Janet at trial and admits that it nullified the law in open court. Allen appeals, arguing that the court should have applied Rule 56. True or false, under Hanna part 2, Rule 56 will displace New York's constitutional provision precluding summary judgment?

Paulette was flying from Raleigh to Charlotte aboard Free Spirit Airlines, America's first self-service air carrier. Fares for the airline are $5. Passengers are put in 50-year-old, used glider planes, hauled up into the air in the direction of their destination, and released. Unfortunately for Paulette, the glider had an unexploded shell from the French and Indian War. The shell exploded and Paulette had to bail out over Greensboro. Free Spirit has a practice of investigating all accidents. Each time an accident happens, a senior engineer looks over the glider plane, interviews the self-serve pilot, and then writes up a report evaluating what he thinks went wrong, what the company could do in the future to ensure safer air travel, suggesting talking points to soothe the worries of potential customers, and assessing whether the company's lawyer should be informed. The company has been sued over 100 times in the past several years for accidents, and the company's lawyer has warned it to expect a lawsuit whenever a serious injury occurs. Which of the following is true?A.The specific claim test would not support treating the senior engineer's memo as work product.B.The work product is not protected because it was not prepared by a lawyer.C.Since no claim had been filed, the senior engineer's memo could not have been prepared in anticipation of the litigation.D.The work product will likely be withheld under either the primary purpose or specific claims test.E.The work product will not be withheld under the primary purpose test.