You are a practicing lawyer and the child of Mr. John andMrs. Jane Cybertron. Both Cybertron's are highly educated and practicing engineers. Both the Cybertron's quit their employment and invested all their savings to start a small company (with no other employees). The Cybertrons have built a "Dronie." This Dronie is a drone with the capacity to provide the owners with directions to almost any location using Google maps. Additionally, this Dronie will follow the owner and be able to provide services such as music, companionship, answer questions, make telephone calls, call for help, etc.. all at the response of the owners' voice. The Dronies will need places to re-charge frequently. The Dronies have pre-built Dronie charging stations to which the drone will fly when the Dronie is low on battery. Once sufficiently charged, the Dronie will fly back to its designated owner. The Dronie is meant to be used where there is sufficient cell tower connectivity. The Dronie has broad appeal and usage across all age ranges.

The Dronie is tethered to the owner wirelessly through a beacon transmitted from the owners' wristwatch or jewelry. This beacon comes with the Dronie upon purchase. The Dronie automatically avoids objects in its path, duck under doors or emit a warning sound if there is an obstruction in front of the owner's pathway.

Dronie contains artificial intelligence which "learns" the owners' voice. Although the warning indicates that at times, the voice can be mistaken for another. The Dronie is programmed with Google maps and as indicated on the packaging and warning label, it must be updated frequently to accurately reflect any changes in mapping. The company will not be held responsible if the Dronie was not updated and did not reflect the current topography or accurate map. The Dronie has the ability to "learn" the name of frequent locations. For example, "Hey Dronie, go to Marges house." Dronie will associate the GPS coordinates of Marges house with the name Marge.

Powering the Dronie is the most technically challenging. When purchasing the Dronie, the owner will receive five Dronie charging stations. When the power indicator goes below a certain point, Dronie will fly to one of these charging stations to charge. When charged, Dronie will fly back to the original owner.

Dronies are only sold through online transactions and those acquiring the drones are required to agree through the click agreement that they grant permission to other purchasers of Dronies to use their inductive charging perches when unoccupied by other Dronies.

The Cybertron's entered into an agreement w a homeowner's association of a gated community, consisting of 500 homes. This gated community consists of golf courses, swimming pools, tennis courts, and many small manmade lakes filled with fish for those residents who wish to spend time fishing or boating on a lake.

One resident of each of the households receives a free Dronie for free if they agree to allow free installation of a powered dronie charging station on the eaves of their home, promise to provide survey feedback about their experiences with the Dronie, and click the new owners' agreement. Each new owner of the Dronie was supplied a unique code to enter when ordering. Over 90% of the homeowners agreed to the terms and conditions.

Your parents are receiving great feedback and the Dronie popularity is growing daily! Your parents are getting multiple requests for Dronies across the United States. Expected growth and profit predictions are in the millions, that is... if you (the lawyer) can solve a few legal issues.

LEGAL ISSUE #1:

Jasmine Jaggles is a homeowner in this gated community who agreed to the terms and has acquired a Dronie. Jasmine has enjoyed the Dronie and uses it often, until last week. Jasmine's elderly sister, Laura, has come to Jasmine's home to visit as she usually does. Laura has recently seen her Dr. who diagnosed her with the early signs of Alzheimer's.

Laura's husband had called Jasmine and asked Jasmine to have Laura come back home before it gets dark. Laura begged Jasmine to try out Dronie. Jasmine decided that Laura would be safer w Dronie versus walking back home alone. Jasmine also concluded that Laura's symptoms were not that bad as Laura was able to find her way to Jasmine's home without any help. Jasmine assumed that Laura would be ok, as she would follow her regular route and not have to cross any streets. Jasmine strapped the watch (beacon) onto Laura and sent Laura home. Jasmine told Dronie, "Hey Dronie, go to Laura's house." Laura and Dronie both headed back towards Laura's home.

All was going well until Laura got to the point in the road that was now covered by water. Dronie was unable to detect this water and continued to fly/direct Laura to go straight into the water. Laura got very confused and stressed. as she cannot swim. Laura told Dronie to stop, but as it was not the original owner's voice, Dronie did not stop. Laura attempted to grab the Dronie, but slipped and fell into the water. Laura's husband heard some screaming in the distance, ran out to find his wife Laura in the water struggling. Laura was pulled out and resuscitated. Laura experienced brain damage. Laura's husband is suing the Cybertron's for medical care expenses, pain and suffering, and an injunction to ensure that the Dronie's are never sold on the marketplace ever again.

Your parents have no insurance that would cover their liability under these extreme conditions. The Cybertrons believe that the fault would be that of Jasmine and the husband for placing Laura in a situation that could potentially compromise her safety, especially after being aware of Alzheimer's diagnosis. The Cybertron's strongly feel that the accident was NOT caused by the Dronie, the Dronie was functioning as indicated and that Jasmine invalidated the click agreement by not following the rules.

-"Many courts will not enforce disclaimers in cases of gross negligence, as allowing merchants to disclaim liability for their own gross negligent conduct,"Did the husband or Jasmine act negligently? Yes or no?

- If the husband is successful in his breach of a warranty claim, "the damages he can collect are the same as those he can collect under an ordinary negligence or strict liability theory," Damages can take the form of physical harm to a person or property, mental and emotional injury. Can the husband be potentially awarded the medical costs resulting in Laura's injuries, any missed work, additional expenses related to Laura's injuries, and costs associated with both mental and emotional injury as a result of Laura's injuries?

-Assuming that the case against your parents goes to court and assuming, for the sake of argument, that the click agreement is held to be invalid in entirety, please list the potential tort theories that the husband and Jasmine might consider in pursuing recovery. What are the elements of each theory in order for them to prevail? Are the husband and Jasmine likely to prevail in meeting those elements?

-If the click agreement is held invalid, the husband will claim that the Dronie is found defective and will be harmful to persons or property if offered on the market to the public. Potential tort theories that the husband may consider are negligence, misrepresentation, fraud, and/or strict liability. A tort is a private or civil wrong or injury to a person or property, which does not arise as a result of a breach of contract." Two major policies are supported by tort law: punish wrongdoers for their conduct and to compensating injured parties. Are any of these tort theories a possibility in this situation? Why or why not?

- Often courts will allow you to pursue one and only one tort theory. Out of all the tort theories, what is the best tort claim for the husband to pursue? Why? What is the best counterargument for this tort claim?