Document Drafting Project: Complaint, Answer, and Explanatory Memorandum
1) Prepare pleadings from the fact pattern listed in the separate file.
2) Discuss and prepare discovery documents.
3) Describe how evidence/exhibits are organized for trial.
4) Describe the purpose and contents of a trial notebook.
Fact Pattern
Quattro Padel is a 37 year old Lee County resident who is college educated and has spent the majority of his adult life as a conservative blogger and YouTube personality. Life is good, but something is missing, there is a higher calling, he decides to run for Congress.
As part of his tough on crime and fiscal conservatism concept, he decides to make his primary platform drug testing for anyone requesting a monetary benefit from the government. This platform is superficially appealing to many in southwest Florida and he begins to raise money for his campaign around January 2012. He travels far and wide and speaks at conventions and meetings and other gatherings. Many of the people at these fundraising events share similar views and also believe that the biggest problem with this country is all of these people on government benefits who use illegal drugs.
At one of the events in March 2012, Mr. Padel meets a very wealthy donor named Hush Limberger. Mr. Limberger agrees to heavily fund Mr. Padels campaign so long as he continues on this push to rid the country of drug using degenerates. The campaign marches on and with the help of Mr. Limberger and other donors, Mr. Padel wins the nomination of the Liberpublican Party (the primary party in Lee County). Mr. Padel easily defeats the Lame-o-cratic Partys nominee in the general election and is elected to be the next member of the House of Representatives from the 999th Congressional district.
After his election, Mr. Padel votes in favor of the Liberpublican Partys premier piece of legislation the Drug Testing for Student Loans Act of 2013 (DTSLA) which as the name suggests, requires drug testing for all college students applying for federal financial aid. This clearly pleases Mr. Limberger and he makes another donation to Mr. Padels 2014 re-election campaign in the amount of $10,000. This brings his total contribution up to $112,500.
Shortly after voting on the DTSLA, Mr. Padel is caught by undercover FBI agents attempting to purchase MDMA and Oxycodone in moderate quantities for recreational use. This was part of an ongoing investigation by the FBI into Mr. Padels drug use during his tenure in Congress wherein he was frequently seen partying with staffers and using recreational drugs and large quantities of alcohol including Jell-O shots. He shortly afterwards pled no contest to the charges and was given 323.5 days of probation.
The Cause of Action
Your law firm represents Hush Limberger on other business matters and Mr. Limberger is beyond infuriated by Mr. Padels indiscretions and wants his substantial investment back. He believes Mr. Padel fraudulently obtained campaign contributions by saying one thing and doing another. He wants to sue to get his money back. One of the partners at the firm finds that there is a possibility to succeed under the theory of Fraudulent Misrepresentation. He assigns an associate attorney to the case and he determines that the elements of Florida common-law misrepresentation are:
1) A false statement concerning a material fact.
2) The representors knowledge that the representation is false (scienter).
3) An intention that the representations induce another to act on it, and:
4) Consequent injury by the party acting in reliance on the representation.
Follow the fact pattern and assignment and apply this to Part 1 and Part 2 above.
There is no specific length so use as many or little pages as necessary.
