Legal environmental review - quiz questions

The _____________________ amendment protects criminals and non-criminals alike from unreasonable government searches and seizures of themselves and their effects.

4th

Frank makes a contract for a new building for his business. He likes Griffin roofing products and makes sure the contract requires the builder to install Griffin roofing. As it turns out, the builder installs Mitchel roofing instead of Griffin roofing. Both roofing products have the same performance specifications and only differ by name. When Frank is doing the final walk through, he notices the roofing is not Griffin, and refuses to pay the amount due for the contract. It would cost the builder a lot of money and time to remove and replace the roofing. If a court is following the line of reasoning in Jacob and Youngs v. Kent, what will be the likely outcome?

A minor breach will be found, but only nominal damages will be awarded, if any

_______________ involves a neutral third party (or panel) that hears a dispute and imposes a binding resolution on the parties.

Arbitration

In the Federal court system, generally the trial court is the ______________ Court, the court of appeal is the _____________ Court, and the highest court of appeal is The __________ Court of the United States

District, Circuit, Supreme

A corporation earns profits and then has the choice to return them to shareholders in the form of a _____________, or to keep them in the corporation to fund other investments as __________, or both.

Dividend; retained earnings

A close corporation usually has its stock publicly traded on an open stock exchange.

False

A court of limited jurisdiction can hear any type of case brought before it.

False

A person's state of mind is not important within the context of criminal law. It has no bearing on the degree of the crime with which the defendant will be charged.

False

A tort is the same thing as a crime. The purpose of criminal law and tort law is exactly same.

False

Generally, deadly force can be used by a person who is protecting only their property.

False

Profits from sole proprietorships, LLCs, and corporations are all taxed the same way.

False

The appellate court reviews factual errors made by lower courts.

False

The only way a court can have jurisdiction over a defendant is if the defendant itself has actually been, or is within, that geographical jurisdiction.

False

The standard of proof that juries (and judges in bench trials) use to gauge liability/guilt is the same for criminal and civil trials.

False

When a jury finds a defendant liable for the damages suffered by a plaintiff, the plaintiff holds a judgment that will for sure be paid by the defendant with no further action on the plaintiff's part.

False

________________ is the process of resolving disputes through the court system.

Litigation

___________________ is almost always much cheaper and provides a quicker resolution to issues and conflicts than ___________________.

Mediation; litigation

Cory, Dan's agent, engages in a transaction to sell some land for Dan. Cory can expect to make about $500 in a commission. Cory approaches a friend and says "If you buy this property, I'll sell it to you for below market value, and you can pay me $1,500 for the deal." Dan knows nothing about this deal. Is this acceptable behavior according to agency law?

No, Cory broke his duty of loyalty to Dan

Squish desires to purchase a home from Buffy. Squish tells Buffy he'll give him $450,000 for it. Unfortunately, the day after he made the offer, an airplane crashed into the home and burned it down. If Buffy accepts the day after it burned down, is the contract valid and enforceable against Squish?

No, destruction of subject matter terminates the offer.

Bill starts working for Jane at her cleaning company and as a condition of employment, Bill signs a non-compete agreement. In the agreement Bill agrees not to compete with Jane's business throughout the United States, for a period of 50 years. Will the courts enforce this non-compete agreement?

No, it is overly broad in geography and duration

Harold attempts to purchase a ship from South Korea. When Harold electronically signs the contract to purchase the ship, he forgets to agree to use electronic signatures. Are the parties bound by the contract?

No, parties must agree to use electronic signatures for the conract to be valid.

Sue goes sky diving and signs a waiver that releases the sky diving company of liability if she dies. The waiver is well written, and communicates the specific risk of death being a risk involved with sky diving. Sue's chute does not open for some fluke reason, and she splats on the pavement and is killed instantly. Would her next of kin be successful suing the sky dive company for her wrongful death? (This is a substantive question, not a procedural question.)

No, she assumed the risk and the waiver will likely sheild the company from liability.

Bill and Ted make a contract to try to sell an excellent adventure to Tina. The parties have had no prior dealings with one another. They send the offer to Tina. In the contract, it states, "If you do not reply in the next 48 hours, you are bound by this contract." Tina does not respond to this offer. Is she bound?

No, silence is not acceptence

Johnny has a corporation and uses his personal credit card on accident to make small purchase for the corporation. All other corporate formalities and proper accounting are followed by the corporation and Johnny respectively. Sue, later sues Johnny's corporation for negligence and wins. Will the transaction mentioned above give the judgement creditor the ability to hold Johnny personally liable for the corporations actions (pierce the corporate veil)?

No, that is not enough inappropriate activity to justify piercing the veil

Bill, a minor, tells Ted he will pay him $10 for a pack of cigarettes when he gets paid from mowing lawns the coming weekend. Bill takes the cigarettes, smokes them, then comes back to Ted and tells him he is disaffirming the contract. Can Ted force Bill to pay him the $10 for the cigarettes?

No, the contract was void from the outset.

A man offers a $5,000 reward for anyone that can catch the criminal that broke into his house and stole his tools. The sheriff, while on duty, catches the man, and then comes to claim his $5,000. Is the sheriff entitled to the $5,000 reward?

No, the sheriff had a preexisting duty to arrest the culprit

Scott sues Ben for materially breaching a contract between them. The breach happened 12 years ago in Wyoming and it was based on a written contract. Will Scott be successful in the lawsuit?

No, the statute of limitations has run so the case will likely be thrown out.

If a contract is breached materially by either party, will the non-breaching party be bound by the contract?

No, they will be relieved of further performance.

_________________ is an example of a violent crime.

Robbery

A state makes a statute that requires all barbers to be licensed. The license fee is $500 per year and the main reason for making the statute is to increase revenue. Sam, a new barber, does not obtain his barber's license. He cuts many customer's hair on credit. One customer finds out he is not licensed and tells him he is not paying him. This customer owed him $600. Sam sues the customer to collect his money due to him. The customer defends by stating Sam was not licensed, so he owes him nothing. Who will likely win?

Sam, since the licensing statute was focused on revenue generation and not safety.

If Bill opens a mechanic shop and files nothing with the secretary of state, his business will be automatically classified as a:

Sole Proprietorship

A C corporation's profits can be subject to double taxation.

True

A contract for building a home may (and often does) have implied and express terms.

True

A public corporation is the same thing as a publicly held corporation (or public company).

True

Any breach, minor or material, allows the nonbreaching party to sue for damages.

True

Corporations that elect to operate as Subchapter S corporations have tax advantages, including no double taxation of profits, reduced employment tax liabilities, and the ability to expense personnel salaries.

True

Courts rarely analyze the fairness of value of the consideration each side gives in a contract dispute.

True

Employers are usually not liable for crimes that their employees commit.

True

The required terms to make an offer "definite" are: parties, object or subject matter, consideration, timing.

True

Cindy gets run over by a delivery driver. She sues the company for $2 million. During discovery, the delivery company decides to offer her $1 million to pay for her injuries, as long as she drops the present and any future lawsuits regarding this incident. Is there sufficient consideration offered by each party to make a valid contract?

Yes, Cindy gives up her legal claim, and delivery company gives up $1 million.

Ted misrepresents his age on application to rent an apartment. After staying in the apartment for 3 months without paying rent, Ted finally moves out and disaffirms the lease while still a minor. He then sues the landlord to recover his rent paid, and his $1,000 deposit. Ted is located in a state that does not follow the minority of states rules regarding age misrepresentation and minors. Can Ted do this and be successful?

Yes, a minor can disaffirm a contract notwithstanding misrepresentation in the majority of states.

Bill is building a house for Heather based on a previous valid contract agreed to by both of them. When he is about half done with the house, Bill gets an opportunity to build another house for double the profit than what he is making on her house. He tells Heather he is sorry, but will not be finishing the house for her. He gathers up his tools and leaves. Has Bill breached the contract, and if so, what are Heather's potential options? (select the best answer)

Yes, and she can sue him for damages for material breach of contract.

A person points a gun at you and says, "I'm going to kill you and then take your money." She pulls the trigger, but the gun does not fire. Frustrated, she then runs away. Has a tort been committed, and if so, which one?

Yes, assault

While running on the sidewalk, Trina was hit by a car that purposely swerved to hit her. This caused some bruising on her legs and head. She never saw the car coming and did not want to be hit by a car. Trina comes to ask you whether she can sue the driver, and if so, what tort(s) you would sue under. Can she sue, and if so, under what tort theory(ies)?

Yes, battery

Cindy was selling her house. The foundation was cracked and she knew about it, but did not want to disclose the fact to the buyers. The crack was covered by a wall that would be difficult and costly to remove. She stated on the condition of property disclosure that there were no known defects to the home. Would the buyers likely be able to successfully sue Cindy, and if so, under what tort?

Yes, fraudulent misrepresentation

George was driving and got a text message. Of course, he thinks he can drive just fine while on his phone and starts texting his girlfriend back. Unfortunately, the texting got quite steamy, creating a significant lack of focus on the road (as steamy texting will do), and George swerves off the road and runs over a biker and runner that are on the sidewalk. Could the biker and runner recover from George, and if so, under what tort?

Yes, negligence

A corporation, based in Delaware, has it's main office in California. It sells high pressure hoses in Wyoming to the oil industry. One of the hoses bursts, because it was manufactured incorrectly, and kills two oil field workers. The families of the workers sue the company in Wyoming federal court seeking two million dollars as damages. Will that court have personal jurisdiction over the corporation?

Yes, the company has minimum contacts in Wyoming, and the long arm statute will apply. .

Lila tells Nate he should restore her 1956 Bel Air because she would love to see it back in it's pristine condition. She promises she will give it to him if he restores it. She makes no indication that she will pay him to restore it. No valid, enforceable contract was created, either implied or express. Nate purchases $25,000 worth of parts and puts $30,000 worth of his time into restoring the car. Lila knows what Nate is doing and has a couple discussions with him after he started work. Once it is done, Lila tells Nate "Thanks for restoring my car. You are an idiot for not having a contract with me because I'm not going to pay you. So long sucker!" She then drives away in it. Nate is not happy, and decides to sue Lila for damages. They did not have a valid contract to begin with. Will Nate likely prevail?

Yes, under the doctrine of promissory estoppel, Nate can show he relied on her promise to his detriment.

One night in a bar, you start conversing with a patron and ask him if you can purchase his 1969 Mustang Cobra out front. He says you would never give him $50,000 for it, and you say you will. He then says lets discuss the terms. You discuss the terms as you drink whiskey. You ask him very technical questions about the car and its performance. Satisfied, you start discussing the price again. You both discuss technical and complicated ways of structuring the deal, and write up a contract in accordance with your agreement. The seller then says he would like to change some terms after thinking about it, so the contract gets re-written. All the elements of a contract are present. He also calls a buddy for advice, and incorporates that advice into the contract. You settle on a time and place to meet the next day and both sign the contract. When you arrive the next day, he is nowhere to be found so you call him, and he says

Yes, under the objective theory of contracts, it appeared he intended to be bound.

In order for a federal court to properly hear a case, it must have subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and in rem jurisdiction. A federal court will be able to exercise subject matter jurisdiction when:

a federal law is in question, or when there is diversity of citizenship between the parties involved and more than $75,000 in the amount of controversy

A party strives to complete their obligations of a contract with utmost good faith but are prevented from completing it fully, by no fault of their own, within the allotted time frame. There is very little left to do to complete their performance. They are now in breach of contract because they did not fully perform. What type of breach would this likely be?

a minor breach

With a unilateral contract, an offer is accepted by the offeree only by:

action

An important component and essential to the long term survival of any business in the event of a liability inducing occurrence is that of having _______________ (as discussed in lecture but not in the book).

adequate insurance

Sid is hunting and shoots at an elk. His bullet, instead of hitting the elk, arcs over the trees and hits a camper. It just so happens that it hits the propane tank which explodes. That explosion throws silverware into the air and it comes down on a nearby transformer station, that is responsible for electricity to the Laramie Valley. The transformer station explodes into a fireball and the power goes out in Laramie. Surprised by the sudden power outage, a doctor jumped while doing surgery and cut main artery of the patient, who instantly died. Hundreds of accidents happened throughout Laramie because there were no traffic lights. To top it all off, a Russian missile was flying over the camper at the time and a fork stuck into its side and made it hit Fort Collins, instead of Laramie peak missile silos, killing everyone in Fort Collins. What damages is Sid likely legally responsible for?

any harm that was foreseeable from a gun shot

The doctrine of respondeat superior, which makes businesses liable for the actions of their employees acting within their course and scope of employment, _________ to corporations.

applies

With regard to LLCs, forming one is easy and is done by filing _______________ with the secretary of state. The hard part, is creating a sufficient ___________________.

articles of organization; operating agreement

The burden of proof for a criminal verdict is ___________________________, whereas the burden of proof for a civil verdict is __________________________. The jury's verdict must be unanimous in a criminal trial.

beyond a reasonable doubt; preponderance of the evidence

How do courts decide whether a party has materially breached a contract or not?

by a case-by-case analysis of the facts in each situation.

If a minor makes a contract for purchasing a car, then later, while still a minor, decides she does not want to be bound by the contract and returns the car, she (in the majority of states):

can disaffirm the contract and get all her money back in most states.

If a court finds that a contract is clear and unambiguous, extrinsic evidence ___________ be considered for interpreting the meaning of the terms of the contract.

cannot

The elements of a contract are: agreement, consideration, ____________, and legality.

capacity

A person contacts a lawyer to see if they can recover for the injuries suffered from an accident. The lawyer will file a pleading called the ____________ with the court, which starts the legal action.

complaint

A contract states that the parties are not bound unless or until a certain event happens. This is considered a(n):

condition precedent

What distinguishes moral promise from a legally enforceable promise (contract)?

consideration

valid _____________ is a promise that can be legally enforced by any party to it.

contract

A _____________ simultaneously rejects an offer, and creates a new offer.

counteroffer

A news headline reads "Professor Frome commits heinous crimes and torts against his class!" and is followed by stories of Professor Frome assaulting, battering, and committing all manner of crimes and torts against the class. Which tort has the newspaper committed against Professor Frome, assuming the above stories are lies?

defamation- libel

Some consideration should be give to a __________________ prior to suing someone.

defendant's ability to pay a judgement

Bill and Ted have an excellent adventure at the bar. While there, they get drunk and also discuss some business. They draw up a contract for the selling of Ted's property to Bill. Ted could barely stand and the bar tender refused to serve him any more alcohol while they talked about the contract. After five minutes of slurred conversation Ted signs a very drunken signature. The next day, Ted sobers up and tells Bill that he had no intention of forming a contract with him. The contract formed between Bill and Ted is now:

disaffirmed

When both parties tender full performance, the contract between them is:

discharged

The _________ process involves the parties disclosing to one another evidence, testimony, and witnesses related to the controversy.

discovery

Person A hires person B to complete a project. Person B provides their own tools, is paid in a lump sum only when the project is completed, has all the knowledge of how to complete the project, is not permitted to act on behalf of Person A, and is only directed as to the desired finished product Person A wants. Based on these facts, what relationship likely exists between these people?

employer-independant contractor

The ___________________ is one of the most important rules in criminal law. It makes any evidence discovered illegally not admissible in a trial.

exclusionary rule

Once parties to a contract have fulfilled all their requirements under the contract, the contract is known as a(n) _____________ contract.

executed

The duties of party A, a party to a contract, have been fulfilled and completed. Party B still has not satisfied her duties under the contract. This would be considered a(n) ___________ contract.

executory

A contract that lists out all the terms in printed form is known as a(n):

express written contract

Bill was trying to steal some candy from a store and got caught. The attendant locked him in a room then called the cops. The cops failed to respond and the attendant forgot about locking him in the room until 8 hours later. Based on the facts above, for what tort could Bill sue the store and have a good chance of recovery?

false imprisonment

An employee that engages in a _____________ is beyond the course and scope of employment and the employer ______ liable for actions of the employee

frolic; will not be

Bill approaches Gene to engage Gene to act as his representative in a real estate deal with Pat. Who is acting as the principal in this situation?

gene

With respect to torts (usually negligence), businesses should purchase ________________ to guard against potential ___________________.

insurance; vicarious liability

Personal, in rem, and subject matter are all examples of _______________. The court must have each type to properly ________________.

jursidiction; hear and decide a case.

Consideration is often broken into two parts, 1- _____________________ and 2- _____________________.

legally sufficient value; bargained for exchange

LLC's are a hybrid business entity that combines the advantages of corporations and partnerships. Corporations offer the advantage of ___________________ and partnerships offer _________________________.

liability protection; tax advantages

Jack is a member of Unlimited LLC. Jack uses the LLC to protect himself from personal liability. It is common for Jack to use the company credit card and assets for personal purposes, and vice versa. If Jack gets sued by someone and the LLC does not have enough money to satisfy the judgment, Jack __________ be liable for the judgement personally because ________________________.

may; he comingled funds and assets

The ________________ refers to the fact that an offer and its acceptance must contain identical essential terms and any change to the offer's terms will constitute a counteroffer.

mirror-image rule

Felonies are crimes that are punishable by ___________________, whereas misdemeanors are a crime that are punishable by __________________.

more than one year in prison and/or fines; up to one year in confinement and/or fines

The motion filed, usually after a majority of the discovery has been complete is called _________________. To grant this motion, the court must view all the evidence in a favorable light to the non-moving party and find no issue of material fact in the evidence. Ruling on this motion are often disputed and appealed, and many appellate opinions are created from a ruling on this motion.

motion for summary judgement

Many times, organizations will layer corporations by using holding companies that wholly own subsidiaries below them. This may be done for tax advantages, and also for (to):

multiple layers of liability protection

Promises made in return for events or actions that happened in the past (past consideration) are

not valid consideration

For an agreement to be legally valid, normally two events must happen, namely ________________.

offer and acceptance

How does someone own an LLC? Or in other words, if some one owns an LLC (in whole or part), what illustrates their ownership?

ownership interest

If a court determines a contract is clear and unequivocal, then the court will interpret it based on what is contained in the contract. This is known as the

plain meaning rule or 4 corners doctrine

The __________ witnesses are placed on the stand first at a trial.

plaintiff's

Revocation of an offer is valid once it is __________________.

received by offeree (the person receiving the offer)

Employers may be liable for the torts committed by their employees under the doctrine of:

respondeat superior

Making a defendant aware that he/she/it has been sued is a critical part of the lawsuit and is called__________. It involves delivering a complaint and _____________ to the defendant.

service of process; summons

An owner of a corporation is called a(n) ______________________ and holds ______________ that evidence ownership of the corporation.

shareholder; shares

The damages associated with a tort that are calculable with solid, objective numbers, are known as _______________ damages.

special or economic

If a crime is committed and the _____________________ runs out, then the state will not be able to prosecute the defendant. Wyoming does not have a criminal ___(same answer)___.

statute of limitations

A(n) ___________________ is a crime that a defendant does, and may not even know he or she is committing a crime. Examples are speeding or shooting the wrong species while hunting.

strict liability crime

If an operating agreement does not exist, or it does and does not address how profits will be split amongst it's members, what would determine how would profits be split by the members of an LLC?

the state LLC statute

A court of original jurisdiction is normally known as a ______________ court.

trial

One of the biggest downsides of a business operating as a sole proprietorship (and even worse in a partnership) is_________________. A Limited Liability Company can reduce this exposure.

unlimited liability

Refraining from smoking, drinking and gambling when you have a legal right to do so is:

valid consideration

The jury's decision as to who wins the lawsuit is known as the __________.

verdict

Projex Drug Delivery Service delivers illicit and illegal drugs to various housing projects in the L.A. You contact them and form a contract for delivery of some meth and heroine. After formation, but before delivery, this contract is:

void

An employer may be found liable for the actions of their employee if the employee was acting ______________________ of employment

within the course and scope

A power of attorney is a document made between a principal and an agent, granting specific authority to the agent to act in behalf of the principal. This is an example of:

written express authority

If a person acts like they desire to be bound by a contract, but in fact in their mind have no desire to be bound, will a court find they are bound by the contract?

yes, courts use objective actions to determine intention