P&E Questions Set #3 Flashcards
Cersei, a resident of Nueces County, Texas, went to the local hardware store, King’s Supplies, Inc. (“Supplies”), to purchase an electric saw. Supplies is a Texas corporation with its principal place of business in Nueces County, Texas. After purchasing the saw, Cersei asked Joffrey, a salesman for Supplies, to demonstrate how the saw operated. When Joffrey turned on the saw, its blade came loose, resulting in severe injuries to Cersei’s arm. Joffrey is a resident of San Patricio County, Texas. In addition to working for Supplies, Joffrey is also a representative for the manufacturer of the saw, White Walker Tools, Inc. (“Tools”), a Delaware corporation.
Tools regularly advertises and sells its products in Texas through hardware stores like Supplies. Cersei wants to sue Joffrey, Supplies, and Tools in a state district court in Nueces County, Texas. Cersei’s lawsuit will seek damages resulting from the injuries she sustained in the
incident in question.
What steps must Cersei take to initiate a civil suit for damages and require the other
parties to respond to the suit?
Cersei must prepare an original petition and fill out the civil case information sheet. She will then request that the Clerk of Court prepare a citation. Cersei must then serve the original petition and citation on the defendants.
Tools wants to object to the jurisdiction of the Nueces County district court on the ground that it is not amenable to process issued by a Texas court. What must Tools do to present such an objection? Explain fully.
Tools must enter a special appearance before doing anything else. The special appearance will allow Tools to contest the personal jurisdiction of the Texas courts.
Joffrey does not want the case to proceed against him in Nueces County because he does not live in the county. What pleading must Joffrey file to present his objection to the case proceeding against him in Nueces County, and is his objection likely to succeed? Explain fully.
Joffrey will file a motion to transfer venue that will not succeed. Venue was proper where all or a substantial part of the acts or omissions occurred (Nueces County) or venue was proper in Nueces County because it is where Supplies has its principal office. Additionally, there are no indications of inconvenience or injustice to merit
transfer when venue is proper.
Assume that Cersei’s original petition did not state the total amount of damages that she is seeking. Supplies wants to know the maximum amount of damages that Cersei seeks. What pleading can Supplies file to require Cersei to state the amount of damages that she
seeks? Explain fully.
Supplies should file a special exception, requiring Cersei to amend her pleadings to specify the maximum amount of damages.
What pleading must Joffrey, Tools, and Supplies file in order to avoid the entry of default judgment against them, and when must that pleading be filed?
The Defendants must file an answer, which must be filed before 10:00 a.m. the Monday following the expiration of twenty days after service.
Three months after the first lawsuit was filed, Cersei files a second civil suit in San Patricio County, Texas, against Joffrey. What pleading must Joffrey file to keep the second suit from proceeding?
Joffrey should file a plea in abatement to prevent the second suit from proceeding.
Tools carries significant liability insurance. Tools wants its insurance company, Meico Insurance, Inc., to pay its legal bills in the case and pay any damages that are awarded against Tools. How can Tools ensure that this happens?
Tools can implead its insurance company. This is proper because the insurance company may have to pay all or part of any judgment on behalf of Tools.
After a pretrial conference, the parties begin discovery in the case. List 5 forms of discovery permitted under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
Any combination of these:
Requests for disclosure Requests for production Interrogatories Requests for admission Oral depositions Written depositions Motions for physical examination
Supplies’ attorney writes a letter to all counsel stating that Supplies is not covered by any policy of insurance and that if Cersei wins, Supplies will declare bankruptcy. What discovery tools, authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, can Cersei use to determine if Supplies has liability insurance?
Cersei can use a request for disclosure to obtain information about indemnity and insuring agreements.
Cersei serves 35 Interrogatories on Supplies. Supplies objects to these discovery requests because the number of Interrogatories is in violation of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. How should the trial court rule on this objection? Explain your answer.
The court might sustain the objection. This case is governed by a Level 2 Discovery Control Plan, which limits each side to no more than 25 interrogatories, unless those interrogatories seek the identification of specific documents.
Cersei wants a jury trial. What must Cersei do to ensure she gets a jury trial, and when must she do it? Explain your answer.
She must file a written request for a jury trial and pay the jury fee a reasonable time before trial, but not less than 30 days before trial.
In voir dire, a prospective juror says, “Supplies sold me a lousy electric saw last year – I had to get stitches after using it! But I think I could be fair.” What steps should Supplies’ lawyer take to challenge that potential juror? Explain fully.
First – seek a for cause challenge based on either bias or prejudice Second – use a peremptory strike
How many peremptory challenges will each Defendant receive in this case? Explain your answer.
They will be equalized by the trial court because there are multiple defendants – the court will consider any antagonistic interests among the defendants.
At the conclusion of her case in chief, Cersei rests. Joffrey’s attorney believes that Cersei failed to present any evidence to support the negligence claim that Cersei had filed against Joffrey. What procedure is available to Joffrey’s attorney at this point in the trial to bring the matter to the attention of the Court? Explain fully.
Joffrey’s attorney should file a motion for a directed verdict, which will be granted if there is insufficient evidence (i.e., no evidence on which jury could find a material fact) or the Moving party has presented conclusive evidence to prevail.
