February 2020 MEE Practice Flashcards

Flashcards covering key legal terms from the February 2020 Multi-State Essay Examination (MEE) questions and analyses in Contracts, Real Property, Civil Procedure, Secured Transactions, Agency, and Evidence/Criminal Law.

Predominant Purpose Test

The standard used to determine whether Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) or the common law of contracts governs a transaction involving both goods and services by considering the main thrust of the contract.

Substantial Performance

A common law doctrine where a breaching party is entitled to the other party's performance if the breach was not material, typically requiring the injured party to pay the contract price minus any offset for damages.

Material Breach

A failure to perform a contractual obligation that is significant enough to excuse the injured party from further performance, determined by factors such as the loss of expected benefit and the good faith of the breaching party.

Diminution in Value

A measure of damages sometimes used in construction contracts when the cost of replacement or completion is disproportionately high compared to the economic benefit, defined as the difference between the property's market value if properly completed and its current value.

Title Theory of Mortgages

A legal framework where the grant of a mortgage by one joint tenant severs the joint tenancy because it is considered a title transaction that severs the "unity of title."

Four-Unities Test

The common law test to determine the existence of a joint tenancy, requiring unity of time, title, interest, and possession.

Right of Survivorship

The legal right of a surviving joint tenant to automatically own the entire property upon the death of a co-tenant.

Permissive Joinder (Rule $20(a)(2)$)

A rule allowing a plaintiff to join multiple defendants in a single action if the claims arise out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of occurrences and involve a common question of law or fact.

Impleader (Rule $14(a)(1)$)

A procedural device (third-party complaint) that allows a defending party to bring in a nonparty who is or may be liable to it for all or part of the claim against it.

After-Acquired Collateral (UCC § $9-204(a)$)

A provision in a security agreement that creates or provides for a security interest in property that the debtor acquires or creates after the agreement is executed.

Account Debtor

A person, such as the developer in the road-building contract, who is obligated on an account, chattel paper, or general intangible.

UCC § $9-406(a)$ Discharge

A rule stating that an account debtor is discharged by paying the original obligee only until they receive authenticated notification that the account has been assigned and that payment is to be made to the assignee.

Apparent Authority

The power of an agent to affect a principal's legal relations with third parties, created when a third party reasonably believes the agent has authority based on the principal's manifestations to that third party.

Disclosed Principal

A principal whose existence and identity are known to the third party at the time of the contract; generally, only the principal (not the agent) is liable on contracts made by the agent with actual or apparent authority.

Respondeat Superior

A doctrine of vicarious liability where an employer is strictly liable for the physical torts of an employee committed within the scope of employment.

Negligent Selection

Direct liability of a principal for harm to a third party caused by an agent's conduct if the principal was negligent in hiring or choosing the agent for a task they lacked competence to perform.

Self-Defense (Common Law)

An affirmative defense used when a defendant reasonably believes force is necessary to protect themselves from imminent unlawful physical harm, provided the force used is proportionate.

Adoptive Admission (Rule $801(d)(2)(B)$)

A nonhearsay statement offered against an opposing party that the party manifested they adopted or believed to be true, such as through a head nod or thumbs-up signal.

Hillmon Doctrine

A principle under Federal Rule of Evidence $803(3)$ that permits the use of a declarant's statement of then-existing intent to prove the declarant's future conduct.

Rule $609(a)(2)$ Crimes

Convictions for crimes involving dishonest acts or false statements that must be admitted for impeachment purposes regardless of the punishment length.