Important Guidelines
- The score will be determined using the Critical Legal Thinking Case Study Rubric. Please read this rubric thoroughly before attempting this assignment.
- The score will be determined by the evaluation of your substantive content. Using IRAC (Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion) to structure and develop your answer is crucial. Your analysis and solutions must be based on the principles of law, ethics, and business—not on your opinions.
- Key facts are those facts that determine if the principles of law are met. You must demonstrate that you recognize the key facts in this case. Make sure you have identified those key facts and applied them in your IRAC.
- The length of your response doesn’t directly impact your score, but you need to provide a sufficient length of an answer to address the fact pattern completely. Although there is no minimum or limit, however, most responses will be at least two to three substantial pages.
Using IRAC the answer should include the pro and cons outlined in the reading material. You should also discuss the elements of the cause of action, defenses, and your ultimate conclusion based on the fact pattern.
Ron supervises the delivery of flowers for a wholesale distributor of fresh flowers, Flowers. Inc. In order to accommodate one of the company’s best customers, Ron offers to immediately rush a delivery of fresh peonies. All of the delivery trucks are currently out on delivery. Ron directs an employee, Ruth, to use her own vehicle to deliver the flowers.
Ruth carelessly parks her car on a steep hill, leaving the car in neutral and failing to engage the parking brake. The car rolls down the hill, knocking down an electric line. The sparks from the broken line ignite a grass fire. The fire spreads until it reaches a gasoline station one mile away. There is a tanker truck offloading gasoline to the station’s gas tanks. The fire ignites the gasoline being pumped into the tanks, and one of the tanks explodes, causing part of the station structure to fall on and injure a passing motorist, Jim.
- Can Jim recover damages from Ruth; from Flowers’ Inc? Why or why not?
- Identify the cause of action. Discuss each element of the cause of action, and relate them to your assessment of whether Jim has a cause of action against Ruth.
- Discuss the legal doctrine under which Jim might also recover from Flowers, Inc.
