Write a Legal Memorandum about a Complaint in a Lawsuit

You are working as an intern in the legal department of the Kellogg Company, the well- known manufacturer and distributor of breakfast cereal and other food products.

Part of your job as an intern in the legal department is to prepare memoranda to Kellogg's executives about pending lawsuits against the company. Your supervisor has informed you that a family in Washington state, the Rectors, has sued Kellogg in federal court in a case entitledRector v. Kellogg Co., Court No. 09-cv-00294 (W.D. Wash. filed March 6, 2009). (You previously read the complaint and answered questions about the lawsuit in the first homework assignment earlier this semester.)

The lawsuit alleges that the two members of the Rector family became ill with salmonella poisoning by eating contaminated "Austin" brand peanut butter crackers manufactured by Kellogg. The complaint states three causes of action. You have been given the assignment to write a memorandum to the company's General Counsel that answers the following questions:

(1) In each of the three causes of action, what legal elements will the plaintiffs need to prove to win the lawsuit? (2) Do the allegations of fact, if proven, support the causes of action? (3) What should Kellogg should do in response to the lawsuit?

Your memorandum about the lawsuit should be structured in the following way:

The memorandum should be not more than two pages in length, use 12-point font, be single-spaced except for double-spacing between paragraphs, and include To, From, Date and Subject (or "Re") headings. The memorandum may be less than two pages in length, but the questions probably cannot be answered satisfactorily in significantly less than one page.

The first paragraph should tell the reader why you are writing the memorandum and succinctly state the conclusion you reach in the memorandum. The first paragraph should not be more than two or three sentences.

The remainder of the memorandum should respond to three questions you have been asked. (A recommended way of organizing the response might to discuss questions (1) and (2) for the first cause of action, then for the second question, and then for the third question, followed by question (3).)

1This assignment was created in collaboration with Professor Lene Skou. -1-

This assignment will count 15 percent of the Law 1101 course grade. You will be graded on your understanding of the case and related course material, as well as on the clarity and quality of the presentation.

You should refer to the textbook (chapters 5 and 6), class PowerPoint slides, and class discussion for the relevant legal principles. These sources should be sufficient for purposes of writing the memorandum and you should assume that the legal principles discussed in these sources will be applicable in this lawsuit. The use of other publications or online materials is discouraged because they might lead you too far afield or might be inaccurate. Academic integrity will be required in this assignment. If you copy language from the textbook or any other published source (but not including the class PowerPoint slides), you need to put the language in quotation marks and use a proper citation form as a reference.

You are allowed and encouraged to discuss this assignment with your classmates or others, provided that you do not copy any other person's words into your memorandum.

In-Class Group Discussion

This assignment will include an in-class group discussion that will conducted as follows:

1. Each students reads the assignment and the complaint. 2. The class breaks into small groups (3 to 5 students) to discuss the questions in the

assignment. 3. Class discussion to share the results of the group discussions.

Additional Information

As with the first memorandum assignment, this assignment is part of Baruch's emphasis on developing skills in written communication. "The objective is to teach students to produce professional, clear, concise, evidence-driven, persuasive communication that is audience-aware and purpose-oriented." Sally Fay, "The Market-Responsive BBA,"BizEd(Nov. 2020).