Class7: Garner v. Burr and Rule Analysis

goal of legal reasoning

Identify legal relationships arising in a particular scenario

Method of Legal Reasoning

Identify legal relationships by applying legal rules to the facts in the scenario.

the layer must

(1) Identify sources of law that appear to be applicable to the scenario;

(2) Analyze the apparently applicable sources of law to identify legal rules;

(3) “[S]ynthesize the rules into a coherent structure in which the more specific rules are grouped under the more general ones”[KV, 2];

(4) Fully research the factual scenario; and

(5) Apply the structure of rules (from (3)) to the facts (from (4)) to identify the legal relations (rights, duties, etc.) among the parties in the scenario.

the process of determining which law applies is really about a process of

winnowing out the law that could not plausibly apply

choice of law winnows out the laws of government that

do not have power over “the persons or transactions involved in the situation”

rule analysis winnows out law that

do not apply to the subject mater (whats going on) in the scenario

constitutionalism winnows out law that does not apply because

it conflicts with “a law created by another entity of superior authority

negligence liability

if (1) v suffering an injury and (2) a owes a duty to persons like v to be careful not the cause the sort of injury v suffered an (3) a breached the duty and (4) the breach actually and proximately caused v’s injury, a commits negligence against v and is liable for v’s injury

respondeat superior

if an employee (acting in the scope of their job) commits negligence against a person, then the employer is vicariously liable for the injury

fellow servant rule

if an employee (actin in the scope of their job) commits negligence against a person, then the employer is vicariously liable for the injury

alabama employer liability act

if an employee is injured by the negligence of a co employee who is in charge or control of a car or train upon a railway or any part of the track of a railway, their employer is liable as if injured employee were a stranger (the employer is vicariously liable to the injured employee)

can carroll recover against the railroad?

yes, because alabama law (respondeat superior) applies

what happens to the railroad?

cannot recover, because Mississippi law (the fellow servant rule) applies

possible legal rules for determining which state’s law applies?

• lex loci contractus

• lex loci delicti

lex loci contractus

for contract cases, apply the law of the place where the contract was made

lex loci delicti

for tort cases, apply the law of the place where the injury occurred

WHO won the carrol case?

railroad because the alabama supreme court said carroll’s case was a tort case so lex loci delicti required application of the law of the state where the injury occured (mississippi)

in general, rules have the form

‘If X, then Y,’ meaning that if these facts occur, then this legal right or duties arises.

if x is the ___ ____ (antecedent) then Y states the _____ _____ specifically, a legal status or a relation among individuals, legal entities, or individuals and legal entities

• factual predicate

• legal consequence

example: a physician performing medical services for a patient has a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to the patient.

how would you turn this into a conditional?

• If a physician has a physician-patient relationship with a person and renders medical services to that person,

• then the physician has a legal duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury to the patient.

you have to ____ the first part of the condition because moving on the second part

establish

the second half of the conditional can fall because

first half doesnt make sense

if the conditional doesnt make sense you can

argue or attack it

a rule applies to a scenario if

the facts in the factual predicate match the facts of the scenario

how does KV recommend stating a legal rule?

• conditional: it [facts], then [legal relation] statement

• if a physician has a physician-patient relationship with a person and the physician renders medical services to that person, then the physician has a legal duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury to the patient.

how does Gardner and Bartholomew recommend stating a legal rule?

• general statements

• A physician who has a physician-patient relationship with a person and renders medical services to the person has a legal duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury to the patient.

both KV and G&B statements say

the same thing

both KV and G&B statements are different how?

• KV: uses the conditional form because he is interest in identifying the applicable law (helps you see the factual predicate that must be satisfied for a rule to apply)

• G&B: concerned with making arguments based on rules you have already identified, so they phrase rules in a more natural way

rule analysis - substance

rules create a right or a duty not for its own sake but in order to further a public policy

legal rules are understood to

advance policies that reflect social values

legal rules are usually not

based on a single policy but represent compromises among sets of opposing policies

example of substance: how do maximum speed limits balance opposing policies?

school zones

example of substance: how do the environmental laws balance opposing policies?

dumping

example of substance: how do laws regulating the safety of consumer goods balance
opposing policies?

banning kids toys

ex lawn darts —> they dont exist in a vacuum —> always have a reason

need to keep in mind polices and values when you

Analyze and apply legal rules; they don’t exist in a vacuum

The problem of generality

• order

• Rule

• Vague

• Application

Order

Tells a particular person or persons to do something

Order example

Order of custody

Rule

Tells people as members of a generic grouping or lass (drivers or physicians, etc) what they may do, must do, or must not do

Rule example

Obey traffic signals

A few rules of great generality are more efficient to write and research and are usually though to

reduce the prospect of unequal treatment, since all persons are subjects to the same rule

But even seemingly clear words are ___ at their edges: example

• Vague

• is a physician-patient relationship created whenever a doctor at a cocktail party answers a question about a medical issue

• IF NOT, what conduct triggers the existence of such a relationship (“the rendering of a medical service”)

Example of trying not to be vague

Contract

• retainer, agreement (money) —> representation

Courts consider the policies and values behind a rule when they

define the boundaries of the rule’s application

Courts consideration example