Legal Memorandum Assignment

Facts :

Ms. Shannon Gillespie resides in the state of Texoma and is the lead clarinet player with the Texoma Philharmonic. Ms. Gillespie spends her days practicing, teaching private lessons, and performing concerts. After every concert, and after long days, Shannon likes to go to a nearby tavern in the state of Texoma called the "Leaky Cauldron" to celebrate.

The Leaky Cauldron is owned in its entirety by the Potter Corporation, a licensed State of Texoma corporation. The Leaky Cauldron is located on Stormy Street, a street full of historic homes in downtown Magnolia, Texoma. The homes were originally built in 1942, but the City of Magnolia changed the neighborhood's classification from residential to commercial in 2015 after aspiring business owners proposed to renovate the dilapidated homes and turn them into bars. The Potter Corporation was one of the first companies to purchase a home on Stormy Street, and as such, was able to pick one of the homes that was in the best condition.

The Potter Corporation hired a contractor to inspect the home. The inspector recommended that the wooden floors in the home be immediately replaced, along with some additional suggested repairs. The Potter Corporation replaced all of the wooden floors inside the bar and elected to wait to replace all other recommended repairs. The renovations were completed in February 2016, and the Leaky Cauldron opened in September 2016 to a smashing success. The Leaky Cauldron makes most of its income from selling a variety of alcoholic beverages, but also sells a small assortment of seasonal "comfort" foods. As of January 1, 2022, the menu included Mummy Hot Dogs, Pretzel Broomsticks, Candy Corn Cupcakes, and its most popular item: the Golden Snitch Cake. Additionally, the Leaky Cauldron provides complimentary outdoor games including cornhole, ladder toss, haunted horseshoes, and jumbo jenga. These outdoor games are solely accessible by walking out the back door of the house and down a four-step wooden staircase into the backyard. Waiters and waitresses still serve alcohol to guests while playing the outdoor games, and a majority of patrons spend most of their time in the backyard. It is estimated that out of their estimated 500 patrons per day, at least 475 of them go into the backyard during their visit. On January 2, 2022, Ms. Gillespie's performance of Capriccio Espagnol (the iconic clarinet feature) was phenomenal, and her band mates, Mr. Brand Walsh and Ms. Rosalita Green, accompanied her to her post-concert celebratory visit to the Leaky Cauldron. The group of three made their way to the bar, sat down, and ordered drinks from the bartender, Mr. Sloth Fratelli. One round of drinks was bought for the group by Mr. Walsh. The next was bought by Ms. Green, and the one after that bought by Ms. Gillespie. After a few additional rounds, Mr. Walsh. Ms. Green, and Ms. Gillespie decided to move to the outside patio to play the patio games. Ms. Gillespie, upon standing up from her chair, immediately lost her balance and fell to the floor. Mr. Fratelli rushed over to help her get up and noticed that her breath smelled strongly of alcohol. However, Ms. Gillespie quickly stood up, laughed and stated, "I am so clumsy, I fall all of the timethanks for your help", and walked herself, albeit shaky, to the back door.

Mr. Walsh and Ms. Green walked down the stairs and noticed that one of the steps was unstable, but successfully traversed the staircase without issue. However, when Ms. Gillespie stepped on the third step, it broke, and her foot fell through the hole. As a result of the broken step, Ms. Gillespie broke her ankle and shattered her wrist. Ms. Gillespie sued the Potter Corporation for damages, including medical expenses and lost wages.

Cite case : (1) Anjou v. Oklahoma city railway company & (2) CriterionTheatreCorp.v.Starns,194Okl.624,154P.2d92.

Question Presented: (rewrite in the Under/Does/When format)

Is the Potter Corporation likely to be held liable for Ms. Shannon Gillespie's

injuries?

Issues: (Combine any of the following into one IRAC paragraph )

Whether the Potter Corporation owed a duty to Ms. Shannon Gillespie.

Whether the Potter Corporation breached the duty owed to Ms. Shannon Gillespie.

Whether the Potter Corporation's breach of the duty proximately caused Ms.

Shannon Gillespie's injuries.

Whether Ms. Shannon Gillespie suffered actual hardship from the Potter Corporation's breach.

Through discovery and the depositions of Ms. Gillespie, Mr. Fratelli, and various medical experts, the following facts have been disclosed:

One of the suggested repairs the 2015 inspector recommended was that the wooden steps outside needed to be replaced within the next 2-3 years.

Many waiters and waitresses have complained about the step's instability since early 2020.

Ms. Gillespie had traversed the staircase upwards of 250 times, and often warned her

friends about the "rickety step" while heading into the backyard.

Mr. Fratelli knew about the instability of the step since September 2020 and reported it directly to the Potter Corporation in October 2020.

In August 2021, a patron almost fell off the step that broke under Ms. Gillespie.

No warning signs were ever put up to warn patrons of the wobbly step.

It will take almost a full year for Ms. Gillespie's wrist to heal.

Due to her broken wrist, Ms. Gillespie lost her job with the Texoma Philharmonic.

No employee or owner of the Leaky Cauldron personally warned Ms. Gillespie of the rickety step on January 2, 2022.

It had been raining all day on January 2, 2022, but it had stopped raining about an

hour before Ms. Gillespie's incident.