SOME SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Bernardo is a lawyer who agrees to represent Horace in a personal
injury action, for a contingent fee of 35%. Just before trial, Horace
fires Bernardo for no good reason and hires Jaynell to represent him.
If Bernardo successfully sues Horace for breach of contract under California
law, Bernardo will recover
a. 35% of Horace's total recovery
b. 35% of Horace's net recovery (after deducting Jaynell's fee)
c. any costs Bernardo incurred and his customary hourly fee
d. any costs Bernardo incurred and his customary hourly fee,
but only if Horace wins the underlying action
e. a proportionate share of Jaynell's contingent fee
2. A power plant spews out large amounts of pollution on neighboring
houses and farms. After the neighbors bring suit, the court issues
an injunction ordering the factory to provide the neighbors with masks
that they can wear when the pollution is particularly bad. This injunction
is best characterized as
a. prophylactic
b. preventive
c. prohibitive
d. structural
e. restorative
3. Bob steals a tractor from his employer. He sells
it the next day for $40,000 (its fair market value) and buys gold
ingots with the money. It is a good investment and a year later
the ingots are worth $80,000. Bob sells the ingots, opens a bank
account, and puts the money in the bank. When the employer, a
large corporation, conducts an audit, it finds out that Bob stole the
tractor, and he admits to what he did, but he refuses to pay the
company back because he claims they underpaid him for many years.
In fact, the company did pay him less than state law required. If
the company sues Bob, how can it recover the most money?
a. the company will recover nothing, because it had unclean hands
b. the company should get a contructive trust on the gold
c. the company should sue for the common count of money had and received
d. the company should sue for conversion, and the court should apply the New York rule for valuing fluctuating assets
e. the company should waive the tort (conversion) and sue in assumpsit
4. One day while Linda is away from home, her neighbor Ed notices smoke
coming from her garage. He runs over and puts out the fire with his
fire extinguisher. Linda, who had set the fire herself to collect
the insurance money, is annoyed that her scheme failed and refuses Ed's
request that she buy him another fire extinguisher. If Ed sues, the
court will likely grant Ed
a. a restorative injunction
b. legal restitution in the amount of the fire extinguisher
c. legal restitution for the value of the fire extinguisher and
Ed's time
d. a constructive trust
e. damages
5. Which argument against granting punitive damages against a private
company is LEAST likely to be effective in a suit by one plaintiff in a
mass tort or product liability case?
a. compensatory damages (including pain and suffering) are often
sufficient to deter further wrongdoing
b. because there are multiple plaintiffs, the first to sue will
likely receive large punitive damage awards and later plaintiffs may get
nothing
c. the manufacturer, to a certain extent, can pass the costs
of a punitive damage award on to the consumer
d. punitive damages violate the Eight Amendment
e. punitive damages are often a large windfall to the plaintiff
6. The following is NOT a reason traditionally given in support of the
collateral source rule:
a. the plaintiff will generally have to pay part of her recovery
to her lawyer as a contingent fee
b. the rule punishes the tortfeasor for his wrongdoing
c. the plaintiff often paid the premium for the benefits she
received from another source
d. if insurance pays the benefit, the insurance contract often
allows for subrogation and/or a refund of a tort recovery
7. Betty embezzles $5000 from a bank where she works. She uses
all the money to buy a 1985 Harley Davidson motorcycle. She later
trades it at a Harley shop for a 1986 Harley, which is newer but in somewhat
worse condition (no money changes hands). Harleys now go up in value.
The 1985 Harley is worth $7000 and Betty's 1986 Harley is now worth $6000.
What is the bank's best option, based on current law, and assuming no punitive
damages are available?
a. an equitable lien on the 1985 Harley
b. an equitable lien on the 1986 Harley
c. a suit for conversion
d. a constructive trust on the 1985 Harley
e. a constructive trust on the 1986 Harley
8. Which of the following equitable defenses is MOST likely to be applied
to an action at law?
a. estoppel
b. unconscionability
c. laches
d. unclean hands
9. The husband in a divorce action tries to sneak a real pistol into
a courtroom during divorce proceedings with his wife. He is caught
by marshals at the front entrance to the courthouse, where they are operating
a metal detector. The marshals escort the husband into the judge's
courtroom on the second floor, where the judge summarily sentences him
to prison for three years. Under the modern approach, the sentence
is
a. valid, but only if the judge had jurisdiction over the divorce
action
b. valid, because this is criminal contempt
c. valid only if court was in session, in which case the husband's
act would be an obstruction of justice
d. invalid, because this is indirect contempt
e. invalid, because this is criminal contempt
10. The standard for granting consequential damages under the U.C.C.
is that
a. the seller must have known or had reason to know of the buyer's
requirements and needs
b. the damages must have been reasonably foreseeable to both
parties
c. the damages must have been reasonably foreseeable to the defendant
d. the seller must have known of the buyer's requirements and
needs
e. the defendant must have known or had reason to know of the
plaintiff's requirements and needs
11. Hal is severely injured in an automobile accident. He is 25
years old at the time. Doctors estimate that he will need medical
care for the rest of his life. At today's rates, they estimate that
the care will cost $10,000 per year. In order to adequately compensate
Hal, Kristol, who negligently ran into him, should be assessed damages
in the amount of
a. $10,000 per year for the duration of Hal's life expectancy
b. The same as (a), but reduced to present value
c. The same as (a), but adjusted for inflation and reduced to
present value
d. nothing, because the amount of damages is not reasonably certain
e. nothing, because the fact of damages is not reasonably certain
12. Mike contracts to buy a house from Terry for $100,000. Mike
then spends $500 for a contractor's inspection. For reasons beyond
her control, Terry cannot convey good title to the property, so the deal
falls through and Mike sues. By the time of judgment, it would cost
Mike $103,000 to buy an equivalent house. Under the American rule,
Mike will probably get
a. specific performance
b. $500 for the inspection
c. $3000 for the contract/market differential
d. b and c only
e. a and b only
13. Candy is a contestant in the Miss Loyola contest, which has a total
purse of $10,000. She is one of five finalists. Unbeknownst
to the organizors, she is in reality a feminist who finds these spectacles
degrading to women. During the final round, a swimsuit competition,
she appears on stage wearing large slabs of beef at appropriate places
on her body, along with a banner declaring. "To you guys I'm just a slab
of meat." She is quicky disqualified and escorted off stage.
Assume that she can successfully sue the contest organizers for breach
of contract. As a remedy, a court operating under the American rule
will likely
a. invalidate the contest and order it to be completed again
b. grant Candy her expectation: the full amount of the
prize ($10,000)
c. give Candy nothing because any damages would be speculative
d. give Candy one-fifth of the prize ($2000)
e. permit expert testimony on the probability that Candy would
have won and multiply the total prize times this probability