Practice Exam-Civ

Question 1

motion to transfer venue

Answer 1

• Before or concurrently with any other pleading or motion, by separate written motion or inclusion in the answer, must file a motion to transfer venue stating the legal and factual basis for the request to transfer venue and the county that has proper venue.
• have 20 days to file the motion to transfer venue, or any such objection will be waived.

Question 2

add a party to proceeding

Answer 2

• must file a third-party petition and citation within 30 days of filing its answer and serve it on person to be added in order to add them to the action.
• If wishes to file the third-party petition/complaint outside of 30 days of filing its answer, it must obtain leave of Court.

Question 3

serve non- TX corp

Answer 3

Because X engages in business in Texas but has not designated a resident agent, X may be served by serving process on the Texas Secretary of State.
-The Secretary of State will then mail a copy of the citation and complaint to the person in charge of X business or to one of X corporate officers.

Question 4

contest TX’s JX

Answer 4

-If X wishes to contest the jurisdiction of Texas on the ground that a party or property is not amenable to process issued by the Texas courts, X must file the special appearance alleging lack of minimum contacts with Texas as the first pleading in the case, and it must be filed before the answer deadline

Question 5

ruling on plea to the JX

Answer 5

• The court should deny X’s plea because, under the Texas Long-Arm Statute, a party is doing business in Texas if it contracts to perform an act in the state.
  ex: Because X entered into sales contracts and provided plumbing materials within Texas, the court is likely to find that Parts has minimum contacts with Texas.

Question 6

wants to know if a business has liab ins

Answer 6

• attorney can make a request for disclosure from XYZ and its lawyers to produce any witness statements, information regarding testifying experts, and insurance agreements.
• To obtain information directly from the insurance company, attorney may serve a subpoena, obtain a court order compelling a deposition, or serve a request for production.

Question 7

want to get expert’s findings and opinions

Answer 7

• attorney may move the Court to order that the expert’s findings, facts, and opinions be reduced to a written report.
• attorney may also obtain an oral deposition from the testifying expert, take a deposition on written questions from the expert, and request the production of documents from the expert.

Question 8

want medical record

Answer 8

-should file a motion to compel X to sign a medical authorization for the records.

Question 9

depo location

Answer 9

• deposition may generally take place in:
  1) the county where the witness resides or is employed,
  2) where the case is pending, or
  3) any other convenient place designated by agreement or the court.

If the parties cannot agree on where the depositions should take place, depositions should be taken in the county of the pending lawsuit

Question 10

compel someone to produce a witness

Answer 10

• lawyer may serve a notice of deposition, describing with reasonable particularity the matters on which the deposition is requested, on XYZ to compel XYZ to designate a corporate representative to attend the oral deposition.
• lawyer may also file a motion for a court order to compel X to designate a person to attend the oral deposition.

Question 11

motion to get dismissed as a party from the case

Answer 11

• should file a no-evidence and traditional motion for summary judgment with attached supporting affidavits from X’s expert made based on personal knowledge and setting forth admissible facts that show the affiant is competent to testify to matters in the affidavit.

Question 12

demand for jury tria

Answer 12

-A demand for a jury trial must be made within 30 days of the trial date accompanied by the appropriate statutory jury fee or the right is deemed to be waived.

Question 13

challenging for cause

Answer 13

• lawyer should challenge the juror for cause based on the juror’s bias
• If the court denies the challenge for cause, lawyer should use a peremptory challenge.
• At that time, he should again object and inform the court that he will exhaust his peremptory strikes before striking another panelist for cause to preserve the error.

Question 14

order of witnesses

Answer 14

The order of witnesses and presentation of a civil case case is within the discretion of the court. Because there is no requirement that someone lay a foundation for his claims before others testify, the court should overrule the objection.

Question 15

deposed but not listed as someone’s witness?

Answer 15

The court should allow the witness to testify because he is listed as a trial witness by all other parties, they all had access to the witness’s report and deposition, good cause exists to allow the testimony,

-XYZ’s failure to list the witness was likely an oversight, and no party would be prejudiced by allowing XYZ to call the witness

Question 16

moving violations

Answer 16

-The court should sustain the objection because moving violations are neither felonies nor crimes involving moral turpitude. -They are therefore improper impeachment evidence.

Question 17

info relating to settlement

Answer 17

• court should sustain the objection and rule in XYZ’s favor because settlement and offers to compromise are privileged and inadmissible to prove liability for, invalidity of, or the amount of a disputed claim.
• Because B seeks to introduce the evidence as an admission that XYZ was liable for the explosion, it is inadmissible.

Question 18

jury charge- liab of parties- motion for directed verdict

Answer 18

-Because the court granted XYZ’s motion for instructed verdict, the court should submit questions to the jury asking for the percent of the negligence or causation that is attributable to Ray (based on negligence), Extra (based on vicarious liability), and Bill (based on comparative responsibility for his own negligence).

Question 19

want to challenge jury’s verdict

Answer 19

• To challenge the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence before judgment is entered, XYZ should file a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
• XYZ may also file a motion for new trial, arguing that the verdict is supported by insufficient evidence.