Research Scenario

The Wendle case

Your supervising attorney has asked you to meet with a client, Mrs. Wendle, who may have a medical malpractice cause of action. You meet with Mrs. Wendle and she tells you the following: Mrs. Wendle had severe arthritis in her hip. As a result, she underwent hip surgery two years ago at a local Tampa, Florida hospital. Her surgeon, Dr. Razor, is a well-known hip surgeon in the Tampa area. After surgery, Mrs. Wendle was discharged home without complications.

Within a month, however, she came down with a fever, as well as constant pain when walking, sitting, and standing. She was readmitted to the hospital with an infection in her hip. As a result, she needed to have a second hip replacement surgery. Mrs. Wendle wants to know if your law firm will represent her in a medical malpractice case against the hip surgeon and the hospital. The date of your meeting is next Thursday. Your supervising attorney plans to file a complaint on behalf of Mrs. Wendle. She needs you to help her determine whether she can file a complaint, or if the case is barred by the Florida statute of limitations.

Research Instructions: Using your timer in Clio, you are asked to complete the following tasks in a memo to your lead paralegal, Ms. Johnson:

Locate the following case on WestlawNext: Hillsborough Community Mental Health Center v. Harr, 618 So.2d 187 (Fla. 1993). Drop a copy of the case into the case file in Clio.

Find the Nardone v. Reynolds, 333 So. 2d 25 (Fla. 1976) case on a non-fee based law-related website. Provide the name of the website that you used to find the case, and the link to the case.

Find the following Florida Rules of Civil Procedure on a non-fee based website. Provide the Rule number and website address of the following:

General Rules of Pleading;

Pleadings and Motions;

Subpoena Duces Tecum for Deposition.

Describe the search terms that you would use to find the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice cause of action under Florida law using terms and connectors. What database in WestlawNext would you search in?

Describe the search terms that you would use to find regulations under Florida law relating to deceptive insurance practices using terms and connectors. What database in WestlawNext would you search in?

Describe the search terms that you would use to find the provision in the Florida State Constitution regarding the jurisdiction of the civil courts in Florida using terms and connectors. What database in WestlawNext would you search in?

Describe the search terms that you would use to find relevant secondary authority under Florida law on the issue of whether a medical malpractice action is barred by the statute of limitations using natural language. Conduct the search. List one secondary source that you came up with from your search.

Keycite the following cases that you will use in a legal research memorandum:
Tanner v. Hartog, 618 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 1993);
Nardone v. Reynolds, 333 So. 2d 25 (Fla. 1976); and
Hillsborough Community Mental Health Center v. Harr, 618 So.2d 187 (Fla. 1993).

Answer the following questions about the cases in question #8:

Are these cases good law?

What is the first case listed under negative treatment for each case?

Memo Instructions: Draft a law office memo to Ms. Johnson, lead paralegal, that gives your analysis and reasoning in response to questions 1-8 above. Your memo should be 2 or more pages in length double spaced. Please use the law office memo format located on the Legal Writing Resources page as a template. Please write your responses in full sentences. Be sure to implement the writing strategies you have learned from "The Elements of Style" and use proper form of Bluebook citation.

Before submitting, you will need to ensure that your assignment is "law office ready" by having it reviewed and signed off by a Writing Workshop instructor. Please see the weekly announcements for more information. You will also need to password protect your document with your student ID number before dropping it into the Clio matter file.

Check the rubric to see how you will be assessed on this assignment before you begin. Drop your completed, password protected law office memorandum into the matter file in Clio. Take a screenshot of the memorandum in Clio and submit it along with your memorandum to the dropbox by Sunday, 11:59PM (Mountain).