1. Describe how checks and balances work within our legal system.
2. Describe how law is created within our legal system.
3. Why do courts require alternative dispute resolution, what are the pros and cons.
4. P sues D for defamation. D thinks that the facts clearly aren't as stated in P's complaint and that, given D's version of the facts, P can't recover for defamation. What motion gives D the best chance of winning the case early? What does it involve?
5. What is the difference between the motion for a directed verdict and the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict?
6.Under what two conditions is a governmental taking of property unconstitutional? Must both of these conditions be satisfied in order for a taking to offend the constitution, or is only one necessary?
7. The Daily Tattler , a sleazy supermarket-checkout-counter tabloid, says that a U.S. Senator has fathered fourteen illegitimate children and has had ten of them killed after birth. The statement is false and defamatory. If the Senator sues the Tattler for libel, which fault or culpability standard applies? Why?
8. After a student named Bob insults him in class, Marvin, a business law professor, pulls out his .38 revolver and fires a shot at the student. The shot misses the first student, but strikes another student named Anne, who never saw the shot coming and never knew what hit her. Bob and Anne sue Marvin for assault and battery. Who can recover for what? Why?
9. State X has a law requiring that all cars have a functioning muffler. The law's sole purpose is to protect all the state's citizens against noise pollution. Donna violates the law when her muffler falls off her car while she is driving on a busy freeway. Pete, a citizen of State X, suffers damage to his car when it is damaged when after colliding with the muffler. Pete sues Donna under negligence per se. Will he recover? Why or why not?
10. Goofy Dave starts a fire that soon consumes Poor Paula's trailer. Dave did not know that the trailer was occupied and had no reason to know this, but it was. After rushing into the trailer to save her child, Paula is severely burned. Paul sues Dave in negligence. Assuming that Dave has breached a duty, what two arguments might he make in defense? Assume that the traditional negligence defenses apply. Will these arguments work here?
11. Sociological jurisprudence has a tendency to say that, when interpreting and applying the law, courts should pay attention to changing social values and let the law reflect those new values. How is this different from the natural law approach, which also talks about values?
12. Stare decisis says that like cases should be decided alike. Yet the common law is able to evolve and change. How can this apparent inconsistency be resolved?
13. Give two situations in which courts use the intermediate scrutiny and discuss what the effect of such review by a court may have upon a law.
14. Discuss the role that tort law has in society.
15. Discuss the issues involved in analyzing causation issues in a negligence case.