Donald and Gloria Bowden hosted a cookout at their home in South Carolina, inviting mostly business acquaintances.Justin Parks, who was nineteen years old, attended the party.Alcoholic beverages were available to all of the guests, even those who, like Parks, were between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one.Park consumed alcohol at the party and left with other guests.One of these guests at the party detained Parks at the guest's home to give Parks time to "sober up."Park then drove himself from the guest's home and was killed in a one-car accident.At the time of his death, he had a blood alcohol content of 0.29 percent, which exceeded the states limit for driving a motor vehicle.Linda Marcum, Parks mother filed suit in a South Carolina State court against the Bowdens and others, alleging that they were negligent. Is she correct? Discuss.

Do Case problem according to the case analysis method

When presented with a case problem to analyze, use the following format:

1)Briefly summarize the facts of the case- restating the facts in a clear and concise manner ( You must understand the facts of a case before you can attempt to resolve it)

2)Identify the major issue(s) that flow from the facts (Legal issue).Sometimes this process indicates the various avenues of litigation open to the plaintiff.For instance, the issues identified can suggest that both Negligence and Strict Liability may be pursued.

3)Identify the elements of each issue (Determine the relevant elements of each issue.For instance Negligence has: Existence of Duty of care, Breach of that Duty, Proof of Injury and Causation or Proximate Cause).

Sometimes the elements of the Legal Issue may not be very apparent or obvious.In that case DEFINE or DESCRIBE the issue as best as you can according to the text.

4)Discuss the elements of each issue as they apply to the case or apply the description to the facts.

5)Apply the relevant law (Make a decision based on the relevant law).

6)Cite a supporting case (As this is common law, briefly state the facts of the supporting case and show how it can serve as a precedent to your case problem).You can find cases at : Findlaw.com, Westlaw.com, Lexisnexis.com, Lawnix.com, Lawteacher.net. Google Scholar, or even Wikipedia, the online Encyclopedia.

Example Case analysis Method :

Sample Assignment and Answer Following Case Analysis Method

A.Duty to Business Invitees

Flora Gonzalez visited a Wal-Mart store. While walking in a busy aisle from the store's cafeteria toward a refrigerator, Gonzalez stepped on some macaroni that came from the cafeteria.She slipped and fell, sustaining injuries to her back, shoulder, and knee.She filed a suit in a TexasState Court against Wal-Mart, alleging that the store was negligent.She presented evidence that the macaroni had "a lot of dirt" and tracks through it and testified that the macaroni "seemed like it had been there awhile."What duty does a business have to protect its patrons from dangerous conditions? In Gonzalez's case, should Wal-Mart be held liable for a breach of that duty? Why or Why not? [Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Gonzalez, 968 S.W.2d 934 (Tex. Sup. 1998)]

Answers to example Case

ANSWERS

A.Duty to Business Invitees

1)Flora Gonzalez injured her back, shoulder, and knee when she slipped and fell on some macaroni that was on the floor of a busy aisle inside of a Wal-Mart. Claiming that the store was negligent, she filed a suit against the store in a Texas State Court.

2)From these facts, the plaintiff has cause and may pursue a suit of negligence against the company for the compensation of her sustained injuries.

3)The elements of negligence include the defendant owing a duty of care to the plaintiff, the defendant's breach of that duty, a legally recognizable injury suffered by the plaintiff, and proof that the plaintiff's injury was caused by the defendant's breach of duty.

4)Existence of Duty of Care-Retailers and other firms that explicitly or implicitly invite persons to come onto their premises are usually charged with a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect their business invitees.

Breach of Duty-A court would hold that a business owner is negligent if they failed to exercise a reasonable degree of care in protecting the store's customers against foreseeable risks about which the owner knew or should have known. Flora presented evidence that the macaroni had "a lot of dirt" and testified that it "seemed like it had been there awhile." A foreseeable risk that a patron might slip on macaroni coming from the cafeteria and be injured should have been realized by the owner who then had a dutyto avoid it and/or warn their customer's of the risk.

Proof of Injury-To recover damages, the plaintiff in a tort lawsuit must prove that the suffered a legally recognizable injury. Since Flora sustained back, shoulder, and knee injuries, the proof exists in this case.

Causation or Proximate Cause-If an injury would not have occurred without the defendant's act then there is causation in fact. Proximate cause exists when the connection between an act and an injury is strong enough to justify an imposing liability. If Ms. Gonzalez had not stepped on the macaroni she most likely would not have slipped, fallen, or gotten injured. The store should have been aware of the debris and taken exercised care to warn its customers and then cleaned it up.

5)Based on the facts of the case, the store should be held liable for its negligence and Flora should be awarded damages for her injuries.

6)Supporting Case-Martin v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Harold Martin was walking past a display of shotgun shells when he slipped on loose shells and fell. Mr. Martin permanently lost the sensation and control of the front half of his left foot and he filed a suit against Wal-Mart seeking damages for his injury. Both a federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit found in favor of the plaintiff on the basis that the store had actual or constructive notice of the debris in the aisle and was therefore liable.