As I anticipated in my Syllabus, each student will be responsible for drafting a simple pleading or discovery request. This practical project will account for 10% of your testing score and will be graded on a pass/fail basis. However, I have decided that rather than having you work individually, you will work in small work-groups designated in the chart attached hereto. Each member of the work-group will be responsible for one document only, as indicated in the attached chart, and be graded accordingly. However, group members must coordinate with each other to produce the pertinent documents. In other words, the answer produced by the group member must be an answer to the complaint drafted by that group member. The Request for Admission must also be tailored to reflect the allegations in the complaint as well.
All the documents will be due on or before 5:00 pm, Friday, March 8, 1996. You may turn them in to me after class any day next week, or you may turn them in to my secretary, Ms. Pamela Smith in the secretarial pool office. You may also slide them under my office door on or before 5:00 p.m. on the due date.
On Sunday, June 25, 1995, at approximately 11:00 pm, Francis Louis Bailey, a citizen of Florida, was driving his Lexus LS 400 traveling South on NW 34th Street in Gainesville, Florida, while he was crossing the intersection between 34th Street and Archer Road, his car was hit by a car owned and driven by Ms. Marla Clark, a citizen of Georgia. As a result of the accident, Mr. Bailey's car, which cost $56,000.00, was a total loss, Mr. Bailey was protected by his airbag and suffered only minor scratches as a result of the accident. He was however examined and the doctor ordered tests and X-Rays to rule out any serious injury. These tests and examination cost Mr. Bailey $1,500.00. It also forced him to miss two days from work in his law office.
You are a lawyer. Mr. Bailey has asked you to represent him. He has informed you of the above facts and has asked you to draft a complaint to be filed in the U.S. District court for the Northern District of Florida.
While conducting your own investigation of the case, you obtain a copy of a one page police report. The police report, dated June 26, 1995, indicates that there was a collision, and that Mr. Bailey stated that he had the green light when he was struck by Ms. Clark's car. It also reports that Ms. Clark was found unconscious in her 1995 Corvette. No other witnesses can be found. The report goes on to state that Mr. Bailey has a spotless driving record. It adds that the other person involved in the accident was unconscious and in critical condition at the Shands Hospital.
The police charged Mr. Bailey with failing to stop at a red light, and failure to yield the right of way, causing an accident resulting in serious bodily injury. The judge threw out the charges for lack of evidence. Assume that the result of the criminal proceedings has no evidentiary or preclusive effect in the civil action.
You re-interview Mr. Bailey. He informs you that the light was green in his favor, just as he told the police, and that he believes the police charged him with a criminal offense simply because the other driver was seriously hurt, and was a former prosecutor from a Western state.
You believe Mr. Bailey's version of events and agree to represent him. Draft the complaint.
Ms. Clark comes to you after being served with a copy of the complaint and asks you to represent her and file an answer and counterclaim against Mr. Bailey. She informs you of the following facts:
Ms. Clark was traveling West on Archer Road in her car, a red Corvette ZR-1. She remembers nothing about the accident, just that she woke up in the hospital a day later. She states that it is her belief that the light must have been green in her favor. She has a spotless driving record.
You conduct your own investigation and find the copy of the police report discussed above and a copy of the judgment dismissing the criminal charges against Mr. Bailey.
Draft the answer to the complaint.
You also represent Marla Clark, you have been asked by your co-counsel to prepare a counterclaim against Mr. Bailey. In addition to the facts relevant to the answer, you are aware of the following facts:
Ms. Clark suffered many serious bodily injuries. Her car, which cost her $104,000.00, was a total loss. Her medical treatment has cost her $106,800.86 so far. Her doctors anticipate that she will have to spend another $150,000.00 for treatment of her physical injuries.
Draft a counterclaim against Mr. Bailey. Although counterclaims are usually included with the answer to the complaint, you should draft this as a separate document.
Draft a Request for Admission from Ms. Clark to Mr. Bailey. It must contain no less than five (5) and no more than ten (10) requests.
Do not forget to allege the jurisdictional basis of your claims. There are sample forms in our Rules supplement. You will find many published collections of sample forms in our library. They are very useful, and I highly recommend that you use them.