You are an up-and-coming assistant district
Subject: General Questions / General General Questions
Question
1. You are an up-and-coming assistant district attorney bound and determined to
better the Casper community and make a name for yourself by bringing criminals to
justice. Gunther, the owner of the “Washington Perk” sends you a DVD of his
security footage that contains evidence of the following:
a. Gunther’s favorite waitress Rachel is responsible for counting up the cash
drawer and making the nightly deposits on her way home from work. On the
surveillance footage, Rachel is observed pocketing $300 from the cash
drawer, and you confirm with the bank that the cash deposit for that day was
$300 less than it should have been. On Tuesday, while drinking coffee on a
break with her friends, Rachel shows off some cute new boots. Rachel admits
she had to borrow money from Gunther to pay for them until she gets paid
on Friday, but everyone agrees that she could not pass up that killer deal.
b. While Monica is in the bathroom, she leaves her purse unattended on the
table. Another woman comes along and takes Monica’s credit card out of her
wallet when no one is looking. You confirm with Monica that someone other
than her (who we’ll call “Fake Monica”) has been using her credit card all
over town to pay for designer clothes and dance lessons on Monica’s dime.
c. Joey is seen coming in to the coffee shop with a large greyhound statue under
his arm. When Chandler asks him where he got it, he states that it “fell of a
truck,” and then thinking maybe Chandler doesn’t catch his meaning, he not-
so-subtly whispers that “it was cheap because it’s stolen.”
d. The camera outside the front door of the Washington Perk shows Ross being
robbed at gunpoint by a man who demanded Ross give him the priceless
dinosaur bones he was transporting to a paleontology conference. (It was a
really small dinosaur).
e. The overnight security footage shows two people who look suspiciously like
Joey and Phoebe breaking in through the front door and leaving with the
Washington Perk’s iconic front seating area furniture.
Armed with all of this evidence (and assuming you are able to find corroborating
evidence to positively identify the perpetrators), what charges can you bring based
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on these facts? Be sure to state the requirements/definitions for each crime you
identify.
2. On the eve of their marriage, Brad and Angelina vow not to end up like other
Hollywood couples (including the Hollywood couples they were each previously a
part of). To memorialize their intent, they verbally agree that should their marriage
end in divorce as a result of an extramarital affair, the forsaken spouse will be
entitled to 100% of the property acquired by the couple during the course of the
marriage.
a. Assuming a factual basis for doing so, should one of the two seek to
enforce the infidelity clause, what will a lawyer tell them about the
enforceability of their agreement and why?
b. What should they do if they want to ensure that their contract is
enforceable?
3. Assume instead, that Brad and Angelina continue in wedded bliss well into old
age. Brad dies peacefully in his sleep on the eve of his 89th birthday. In settling
Brad’s affairs, Angelina discovers that Brad had a life insurance policy valued at $10
million dollars, naming Angelina as the beneficiary.
a. If the Insurance Company declines to pay the proceeds of the life
insurance to Angelina because she already has enough money, can
Angelina bring suit? What is Angelina’s status under the contract?
b. Suppose Brad’s first wife, Jennifer, was previously named as the
beneficiary under the policy, but Brad later named Angelina pursuant to a
provision in the contract that allowed him to substitute beneficiaries.
What is Jennifer’s status under the contract? Can she bring suit to
recover? Why or why not?
4. In August, Heather Homeowner solicits bids to finish her basement so that
she can get her three noisy children out of her hair and onto a floor of their own.
Bob the Builder comes back with the lowest bid, which is $30,000 less than his
nearest competitor. Bob’s bid includes generic cabinets, which is unacceptable to
Heather, who is a bit of a cabinet snob. In accepting Bob’s bid, Heather makes a
handwritten notation that she wants the basement finished only with UberNice
cabinets. Bob agrees, but crosses out his original bid and increases the bid amount
another $15,000. The two then agree that Bob will start next week, that time is of
the essence, and that accordingly, he’ll have the basement finished in time for
Christmas break.
a. Identify each of the elements of a valid contract and explain whether
Heather and Bob have a valid contract.
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b. Suppose Bob realizes he miscalculated the cost of lumber and the job is
going to be significantly more expensive to complete than he anticipated.
Can he avoid the contract based on his mistake? Why or why not?
c. If Bob calls Heather on Monday morning to tell her know he’s not going to
do the job, does she have to wait until December to bring suit? Why or
why not? What kind of remedies might she pursue?
d. Suppose Bob is offered a much more lucrative construction job, but he’s
nervous about stringing Heather along — she seems like the litigious sort.
Instead, he decides to keep the big money maker for himself and “assign
all of his rights” under the contract to his good buddy, Tim Taylor, who
has a competing construction company and could use the work. Tim
shows up to start work on Monday. What is the effect of Bob’s
assignment “of all rights” in the contract? What considerations will affect
whether Bob’s assignment of the contract is enforceable? What are
Heather’s options if Tim fails to finish the job and leaves the basement in
disarray?
e. Assume Bob finishes the job and Heather is thrilled with the end result.
She has peace and quiet upstairs and the children are free to run amok in
her luxurious, newly finished basement. The next week, however, as
Heather is getting her checkbook out of the drawer of one her basement
cabinets to send Bob a check for a job well done, she notices a sticker at
the back of the drawer indicating that the cabinets Bob installed were
UberLuxe cabinets, not the UberNice cabinets as Bob had promised.
Heather is furious. Not only doesn’t pay Bob’s bill, but she also brings suit
for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. What are
Heather’s to prevail on her claims? What are Bob’s best arguments? If
you were the presiding judge on the case, how would you rule?
