Welcome to Torts!
Agenda
- Syllabus highlights
- What is a tort?
- Small group exercise: Litigating your first torts case
Syllabus highlights
Logistics
Contact information Colin.Doyle@lls.edu Office: Burns 315 Telephone: 213-736-1148
Class schedule Tuesdays & Thursdays 8:15am to 9:30am Hall of the 70s
Open office hours Tentative Schedule: Thursdays 12:00pm to 1:30pm Outside the Robinson Moot Courtroom
Reading Assignments
Class Policies
Attendance
Preparation and participation
Qwickly Attendance App
The law school is piloting a new class attendance app called Qwickly.
To use Qwickly, you will need to download the app to your smartphone from the App Store or Google Play.
Once the app is downloaded, you will log in using your LLS/LMU email and password.
Recordings & Slides
Video
Audio with transcripts
Slides
Classroom Norms
Professionalism
Generosity
We can give each other the opportunity to be wrong.
We can disagree with ideas, not with people.
Accommodations
Student Accessibility Services in the Office of Student Affairs
I want this class to be accessible for you.
Exams and Grading
Midterm Exam (Fall Semester): 25%
Final Exam (Spring Semester): 75%
Questions about the syllabus
In-Class Exercise
Logistics
Small groups.
You will be lawyers for either the plaintiff or one of the potential defendants.
Be prepared to share with the class your strongest arguments.
The Facts
On a Tuesday afternoon, Thomas Jenner lost control of the car he was driving and crashed into the side of a bicycle shop. His car went through the wall of the bicycle shop, injuring the owner of the bicycle shop, Maxine Hammontree.
Thomas Jenner had a history of epilepsy. On this day, he lost control of his car because he had an epileptic seizure and became unconscious. Jenner has no memory of the incident. He remembers driving, and then he remembers being pulled from the vehicle by EMT’s. Jenner reports that prior to the accident there were no warning signs that he was about to have a seizure.
Jenner first began receiving treatment for epilepsy fifteen years ago. He regularly takes anti-seizure medication and has done everything his doctors have advised him to do to address his epilepsy. As a result of his condition, he needs a doctor to sign off yearly with the DMV for him to have a license. His doctor has signed off with the DMV.
Many new cars have automatic collision avoidance systems that can help prevent these kinds of accidents from occurring. The car will automatically brake to prevent a forward collision from happening. Thomas Jenner was driving a 2020 GM Spark that did not have this anti-collision system as an available feature.
The Legal Questions
- Who — if anyone — should be held liable for these injuries to the plaintiff?
- What kind of remedy should the plaintiff receive?
Potential Defendants:
- Thomas Jenner
- Thomas Jenner’s Doctor
- General Motors
Group Assignments
Plaintiff’s Lawyers
Groups 01 & 09: Suing Thomas Jenner Groups 02 & 10: Suing Thomas Jenner’s Doctor Groups 03 & 11: Suing General Motors
Defendant’s Lawyers
Groups 04 & 12: Defending Thomas Jenner Groups 05 & 07: Defending Thomas Jenner’s Doctor Groups 06 & 08: Defending General Motors
The Lawyers for the Plaintiff
Why should this defendant be held liable for the injuries to Maxine Hammontree?
What remedy does the defendant owe Ms. Hammontree?
The Lawyers for the Defendants
Why should your client not be held liable for the injuries to Maxine Hammontree?
If your client is found liable, what remedy should they owe Ms. Hammontree?
Explain your reasoning
You must appeal to some kind of general rule or principle that would apply in similar cases.
In-Class Scratchpad
On the course website, link is on the bottom of the left sidebar
https://www.colin-doyle.net/torts2023/scratchpad/