TORTS II FINAL EXAM
MR. HIRSCHBERG

 

Instructions

1) This is a closed book exam.
 2) Total time is two hours.
 3) The exam consists of 2 essay questions on 2 pages
 4) I recommend that you spend one hour on each essay question. You are free to allocate your time as you wish.
5) Each question is worth 50 points.
 6) Answer essay questions in blue books; please write every other line, on only one side of the page.
7) Be sure to write your exam number on your blue books and on the exam question.
 8) Turn in all questions, scratch paper and blue books after the conclusion of the exam.

 Your answer should demonstrate your ability to analyze the facts in the question, to tell the difference between material facts and immaterial facts, and to discern the points of law and fact upon which the case turns. Your answer should show that you know and understand the pertinent principles and theories of law, their qualifications and limitations, and their relationships to each other.

 Your answer should evidence your ability to apply the law to the given facts and to reason in a logical, lawyerlike manner from the premises you adopt to a sound conclusion. Do not merely show that you remember legal principles. Instead, try to demonstrate your proficiency in using and applying them.

 If your answer contains only a statement of your conclusions, you will receive little credit. State fully the reasons that support your conclusions, and discuss all points thoroughly.

 Your answer should be complete, but you should not volunteer information or discuss legal doctrines which are not pertinent to the solution of the problem.

 Unless a question expressly asks you to use California law, you should answer according to legal theories and principles of general application.

 

 

I


Adam was a patient in Cedars, a charitable hospital. Baker visited Adam and both men decided they wanted to split a cold bottle of Sprite, a soft drink. Baker went to look for a soft drink machine in the hospital's hallway. On the way there, he slipped on a flattened black banana peel. Bananas were not sold at Cedars. The fall caused a severe strain to Baker's spine, which aggravated his arthritis, of which he was previously unaware and which had been dormant. The black banana peel matched the black floor and could not have been observed, as light bulbs had been removed, but not replaced.

 The now groggy Baker nevertheless, located the soft drink machine, which was co-owned by Cedars and the Sprite Company, who shared the profits. Baker put a quarter into the machine, obtained a bottle of Sprite and returned with it to Adam's room. There, through no fault of either Adam or Baker, the neck of the bottle broke. Glass fragments struck Adam in his face.

 Discuss all rights of Adam against Sprite and Cedars, including all possible theories of liability. Discuss the rights of Baker against Cedars.

 

II

Happy owns and operates a nursery school (Happy's Nursery) on the first floor of her two-story house. Her living quarters are on the second floor. In her living quarters, she keeps and maintains as a pet, a house-broken pig named Parker.

George, a single parent plumber, who was called by Happy to repair the shower, brought his four year old son, Junior, to the job. Happy reluctantly permitted Junior to play with Aaron, one of her paying pupils, who is also four years old.

Happy customarily kept the door between the nursery school and the stairway to her living quarters locked, but, unknown to her, George left it unlocked. Finding it unlocked, Junior and Aaron climbed the stairs to explore the premises above. Parker, the startled pig, bit Aaron in his face. A panicky Junior, in a frantic effort to escape, opened a window, jumped out and broke his leg when landing on the sidewalk. Parker also jumped out the window and bit Roger, a pedestrian.

In the community where this took place, pigs are not ordinarily kept as pets and there is no pig-bite statute.

Discuss the liabilities of Happy and George.