Robert Morris was a licensed insurance agent working for his father’s independent insurance agency when he contacted Farmers Insurance Exchange in Alabama about becoming a Farmers agent. According to Farmers’ company policy, he was an unsuitable candidate due to his relationship with his father’s agency. But no Farmer’s representative told Morris of this policy, and none of the documents that he signed expressed it. Farmers trained Morris and appointed him its agent. About 3 years later, however, Farmers terminated the appointment for “a conflict of interest because his father was in the insurance business.” Morris filed a suit in an Alabama State Court against Farmers, claiming that he had been fraudulently induced to leave his father’s agency to work for Farmers. If Morris is to be successful, what damages should he claim? When presented with a case problem to analyze, use the following format:
1. Briefly summarize the facts of the case - restating the facts in a clear and concise manner ( You must understand the facts of a case before you can attempt to resolve it)
2. Identify the major issue(s) that flow from the facts (Legal issue). Sometimes this process indicates the various avenues of litigation open to the plaintiff. For instance, the issues identified can suggest that both Negligence and Strict Liability may be pursued.
3. Identify the elements of each issue (Determine the relevant elements of each issue. For instance Negligence has: Existence of Duty of care, Breach of that Duty, Proof of Injury and Causation or Proximate Cause). Sometimes the elements of the Legal Issue may not be very apparent or obvious. In that case DEFINE or DESCRIBE the issue as best as you can according to the text.
4. Discuss the elements of each issue as they apply to the case or apply the description to the facts.
5. Apply the relevant law (Make a decision based on the relevant law).
6. Cite a supporting case (As this is common law, briefly state the facts of the supporting case and show how it can serve as a precedent to your case problem).