Project: Lulu the Runaway Dog
Project Part A: Lulu the Runaway Dog

Let's review the runaway dog example. When you see Lulu escape, you shout, "Come back, Lulu!" but Lulu the Labrador has already run through one neighbor's yard and is racing down the street. You decide that pursuing her in your fuel-efficient Focus would be the best course of action. However, you can't possibly end your phone conversation. After all, you are discussing the latest Dame Daisy video and analyzing it minute by minute. With your phone in one hand, car keys in the other, you rev up your car and head off to find Lulu. Jamie, Lulu's ten-year-old owner whom you are also babysitting, jumps in the car with you.

As you are driving (a little faster than the speed limit) and talking on your phone, an annoying fly starts to buzz around your head. You shake your head and as you refocus and look ahead, there is Lulu—right in front of your car. You slam on your brakes and turn the wheels of the car sharply to the right with all your might to avoid hitting Lulu. A motorist opposite you drives onto the curb and bangs up the side of his car as he avoids hitting your vehicle. You slam into a utility pole, which was badly in need of repair, and knock it down. The pole hits a tree that smashes into a house and severely damages the front porch.

Luckily, Lulu is fine. So is the motorist, who is very angry. Jamie is complaining that her wrist feels like it is all twisted. You cannot help thinking, "Oh boy, am I in trouble!"

But you are "just a kid," right? Where do you start to sort out this mess?

You start by contacting your cousin, Marjorie, who is a first-year law student at State University. You tell her every little detail you remember, including all events leading up to the accident. She wants to help you determine to whom you may have owed a duty of care and to whom you breached this duty. She sends you an email with the questions listed below. Please answer them.

Marjorie's Questions:

Who was involved in the accident?
Did you owe a duty to anyone? If so, what duty or duties and to which particular individuals?
Which duties did you breach?
Were your actions the cause of any injuries? Were you actions an actual cause or a proximate cause, or both?
For what damages could you be held liable? Are there any defenses against potential plaintiffs? If so, what are they?

Provide a brief four- to five-paragraph answer.
Project Part B: A Fire near Gidgits Galore

Gidgits Galore borders a privately owned ten-acre forest. Pete owns the land. It is zoned "mixed," so businesses and residences can be found throughout the neighborhood. Through the forest is a multiresidence apartment building. Danny, a high-school senior who lives in one of the apartments, has crammed all night for his economics final and needs a break. He has decided to take a morning walk down one of the forest's paths, prodding the piles of leaves and clumps of moss with his walking stick. He sees what appeared to be a recently-used campfire, and pokes around it with his stick. As he wanders farther, he doesn't realize that he has reignited the fire.

To make matters worse, it is unexpectedly windy that day. As the wind picks up, the flames leap over 200 feet to a storage shed used by the apartment building's maintenance workers. One of them, Don, has just arrived to get his lawnmower. He calls 911. While waiting, he tries to extinguish the flames with his jacket, but he stops when his work shirt catches fire.

The flames also reach the tent of Cassie, the camper who lit the campfire the previous night. Cassie thought she had extinguished the fire as she set up her tent nearby. Cassie wakes up coughing from smoke inhalation and manages to exit the tent before it is destroyed by fire. One of Gidgits Galore's managers, Dianne, arrives to open up the store but is detoured by the smoke she sees in the distance. Soon she too is overwhelmed by its acrid smell, which brings on a severe asthma attack. As quickly as the flames started, the wind stops, and they die down. Firefighters who arrive on the scene are able to quickly extinguish the fire.

You are a member of a mock jury in a negligence case. As a juror, one of your duties is to find the facts from the evidence presented and determine if there is enough evidence to show that the defendant was negligent. Sort out the facts in the present case.

Prepare a brief argument (three to four paragraphs) outlining why Danny could be held negligent against the potential plaintiffs listed below.
Don the maintenance worker
Cassie the camper
Dianne the GidgitsGalore employee
Pete the landowner
Prepare a brief argument (two to three paragraphs) showing why Danny's conduct did not amount to negligence against any of the potential plaintiffs listed above.