CL670 Civil Procedure I Module 12: Civil Procedure Draft a Complaint Assignment Note that all of the facts are hypothetical.

In this assignment, you will draft a complaint for filing in federal court.

Facts:

Paul Petersen lives in Northern California. He owns a BMW car worth about $20,000. He wanted to take a trip to Nevada with his girlfriend Patricia, who lived in Los Angeles. He took his car into Danfield's Auto Express in Northern California for an oil change. Danfield's is a chain of retail facilities that work on all types of cars throughout Northern California and Oregon. Danfield's is incorporated in Delaware, and its headquarters and administrative offices are in Oregon. While Paul's car was being worked on, the mechanics at Danfield's noticed some problems and recommended some additional repairs. The repairs included completely replacing all of the parts for the front and rear brakes and performing a 60,000 mile maintenance service. The maintenance services included a transmission service, fuel injector cleaning, cooling system flushing and refill, replacing heater hoses, recharging the air conditioner, and various filter replacements. The total cost for the work was $3,248. Of that amount, the brakes cost $1,650. Paul paid by check. Paul agreed to have all of the work done. When he picked his car up, he received a "lifetime guarantee" on the brake parts, which is a document that Paul and the Danfield's service manager both signed. Among other things, the document said, "If your brake parts should wear out due to normal wear and tear during the life of your vehicle, Danfield's will replace them at no charge for the parts." The document also included a 30-day workmanship warranty for all of the labor performed by Danfield's that states: Danfield's warrants that your service repairs are made with the quality and skill required to meet industry standards and to protect your safety. We promise that your car will be fixed right the first time. If the automotive repair or service was performed improperly, then we will reperform the service at no additional charge to you, during the established warranty period. Paul and his girlfriend started their trip on February 5, 20xx, the day after his car was ready. They were about 45 miles into Nevada when Paul noticed that the car was not running right and the brakes were squeaking and grinding. He called Danfield's where the work was done, and was told that the squeaking was probably normal, but the grinding may be an issue, and he should bring the car back in for them to look at the brakes, or go to any nearby Danfield's store. There are no Danfield's stores in Nevada and Paul was worried that the car was not safe to drive back to California, so he went to a small, local repair shop nearby called Derek's Car Repair. Derek's only has one location; it is solely owned by Derek, and it is incorporated in Nevada. Paul told the owner, Derek Davison, who is a mechanic, that his car was not running right and the brakes were making noises. He asked Derek to take a look at the car. Derek initially declined, saying that he did not work on BMWs, but Paul explained his situation and said that he just wanted to be sure that the car was safe to drive. Derek looked at the brakes and said that he did not see anything out of the ordinary and that the brake noises could just be the new brake pads settling in. He again reminded Paul that he did not work on BMWs, and told him that he should take it to Danfield's to make sure it is safe. Paul is relieved that nothing was seriously wrong. He told Derek that he would head back to Danfield's where the work was done in Northern California. It is about 200 miles away. Things go well for the first hundred miles, but while they are in Lake City, Northern California, the car began to overheat and various dashboard lights started flashing. While trying to get off the road, Paul noticed the cars in front of him stopped suddenly. He slammed on the brakes, but they did not stop the car. He swerved to miss the cars in front of him, went off the road into an embankment, and the car flipped over. Paul and Patricia were both taken to the hospital. Both injured their backs, necks and faces in the collision. Paul also had a broken hand and arm. They were both released from the hospital after a day of care and observation. Paul required home nursing assistance for two weeks because he was unable to move around well, and he could not perform many of the daily tasks necessary to care for himself. After the two-week period, he began physical therapy. His doctor told him that he would have permanent problems with his neck and back that will require ongoing physical therapy, and perhaps surgery. His back and neck pain, and the cast on his hand and arm, also prevented him from working. Paul was a web application specialist who helped people utilize the internet and social media. After a few weeks, he tried to return to work, but he was unable to do so because of the pain and the inability to use his hand and arm. His employer told him that they had to replace him and he was fired from his job. Paul's job paid him $85,000 in annual salary. During his hospital stay, Paul managed to call his bank to stop payment on the check that he wrote to Danfield's to pay for the work they performed. Paul's auto insurance company had his car towed to a repair shop to estimate the damages and cost to repair the car. The repair shop determined that improper installation of a heater hose caused the overheating, and improper installation of the brakes caused the brake failure. The report noted that the improper installation of both would be fairly obvious to a trained mechanic. It also determined that the cost to repair the car is greater than the value of the car, so it recommends totaling the car.

Complaint Assignment:

Paul came to see you on May 2, 20xx, and explained what happened. He wants to file a lawsuit in United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Draft a federal complaint that includes all of the relevant legal claims and defendants, and meets FRCP requirements for complaints in federal court, including the plausibility standard. Assume that there are no statute of limitations issues with any potential claims.