LEGL 304

LEGAL WRITING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS I 

Fall 2000 

Assignment No. 1: Legal Encyclopedias 

1.     If you are looking for a detailed discussion of Michigan’s no fault automobile insurance law, are you likely to find it in American Jurisprudence 2d or Corpus Juris Secundum?  Why or why not?  What are you likely to find there? 

2.      In what volume of American Jurisprudence 2d will you find a comprehensive discussion of no-fault automobile insurance law? 

3.      What topic is no-fault automobile insurance indexed under in American Jurisprudence 2d?  On what page of the American Jurisprudence 2d index do you find no-fault automobile insurance law indexed? 

4.      In what topic and section number(s) of American Jurisprudence 2d will you find a discussion of the effect of no-fault automobile insurance laws on tort liability? 

5.      In what topic and section number(s) of American Jurisprudence 2d will you find a discussion of medical expenses and no-fault automobile insurance law?  In what topic and section number(s) of American Jurisprudence 2d will you find a discussion of rehabilitation treatment and no-fault automobile insurance law?

6.      Are no fault automobile insurance laws generally patterned after any uniform law?  How do you know this?  If so, what is the law called? 

7.      Does American Jurisprudence 2d cite any Michigan authority in connection with allowable medical expenses under no-fault automobile insurance law?  If so, what Michigan authority is cited, and for what rule of law does the authority stand? 

8.      In what volume of Corpus Juris Secundum will you find a discussion of the causal relationship between use of a motor vehicle and injuries sustained, in connection with no-fault automobile insurance law? 

9.      Under Michigan law, is there a causal relationship between injuries suffered by a motorcycle passenger and the use of that motorcycle, for purposes of Michigan’s no-fault automobile insurance law?  What case says so?  In what volume, section number, page, and note of what legal encyclopedia to you find that authority? 

10.  In what volume, section and note of what legal encyclopedia will you find McMullen v. Motors Insurance Corp., 512 NW2d 38, 203 Mich App 102 cited for the rule that a passerby injured by steam from a radiator is entitled to no-fault automobile insurance benefits under Michigan law?

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LEGL 304

LEGAL WRITING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS I 

Fall 2000 

Assignment No. 3: Federal and State Digests 

1.      In what volume(s) of the Michigan Digest Second do you find the descriptive word index?  In what volume(s) of the Michigan Digest Second do you find the cases alphabetically indexed? 

2.      Under what topic in the descriptive word index of the Michigan Digest Second are you most likely to find a listing of topics pertaining to Michigan’s no fault insurance law? 

3.      In the Michigan Digest Second, under what topic and at what key number(s) do you find digests of cases dealing with medical payments under Michigan’s no-fault automobile insurance law? 

4.      In the Michigan Digest Second, under what topic and at what key number(s) do you find digests of cases dealing with the effect upon a claimant of the claimant’s failure to obtain automobile insurance coverage? 

5.      In the Michigan Digest Second, under what topic(s) and at what key number(s) will you find Bak v. Citizens Insurance Company of America digested? 

6.      Using the United States Supreme Court Digest, provide the following information with regard to Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union: 

A.     The federal court where the case originated. 

B.     The United States Reports, Supreme Court Reports, and Lawyers Edition Second citations for the Supreme Court decision. 

C.     The topic(s) and key number(s) in the United States Supreme Court Digest where the decision is digested. 

7.  7.  In the Federal Digest Second, under what topic and at what key number(s) are you most likely to find digests of cases dealing with personal jurisdiction in federal courts? 

8.   8.  In the Federal Digest Second, under what topic(s) and at what key number(s) do you find Zippo Manufacturing v. Zippo Dot Com digested? 

9.  Using the Federal Digest Second, locate and provide the citations for at least three federal cases that deal with personal jurisdiction and the Internet or the World Wide Web.  At least one of the cases must be from the United States District Court for the Eastern or Western District of Michigan, or from the Sixth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.

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LEGL 304

LEGAL WRITING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS I 

Fall 2000 

Assignment No. 4 (Revised): West Regional Reporters & Federal Reporters 

            This assignment is in two parts.  Part I is based on the Fact Pattern for State Research Problems and calls for you to locate, in the appropriate West Regional Reporter, a case that will assist you in answering each of the following questions.  You must find a different case for each of the two questions.  Once you have located the cases, you must prepare a case brief for each of the cases, using the format discussed in class.  To receive full credit, you MUST copy each case you find and ATTACH the full opinion to your case brief.  For purposes of these questions, you may ignore any contractual insurance coverage issues resulting from the paperwork snafu mentioned in the facts.  That is, you may assume that a contract of insurance existed to cover the Rolls Royce at the time of the explosion. 

            Part II is based on the Fact Pattern for Federal Research Problems and calls for you to locate, in the appropriate West Regional Reporter, a case that will assist you in answering each of the following questions.  You must find a different case for each of the two questions.  Once you have located the cases, you must prepare a case brief for each of the cases, using the format discussed in class.  To receive full credit, you MUST copy each case you find and ATTACH the full opinion to your case brief. 

Part I 

1.      Under Michigan’s no-fault automobile insurance law, is Farm State required to pay for Mr. Mobster’s vocational rehabilitation? 

2.      Under Michigan’s no-fault automobile insurance law, is Farm State required to pay no-fault insurance benefits to Mrs. Mobster for the emotional distress she claims to have suffered as a result of the explosion and her husband’s resulting injuries? 

Part II 

1.  1.      What are the general rules regarding the exercise by a federal court of personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant? 

2.   2.       Based upon the facts given, does the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan have personal jurisdiction over Hot Cyberspace Stuff?  If your answer assumes any facts not given, you must clearly state the facts you have assumed.

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LEGL 304

LEGAL WRITING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS I 

Fall 2000 

Assignment No. 3 (Revised): Michigan Reporters 

            This assignment calls for you to locate, in the Michigan Reports or Michigan Appeals Reports, a case that will assist you in answering each of the following questions.  You must find a different case for each of the two questions.  Once you have located the cases, you must prepare a case brief for each of the cases, using the format discussed in class.  To receive full credit, you MUST copy each case you find and ATTACH the full opinion to your case brief.  For purposes of these questions, you may ignore any contractual insurance coverage issues resulting from the paperwork snafu mentioned in the facts.  That is, you may assume that a contract of insurance existed to cover the Rolls Royce at the time of the explosion. 

1.      Is the explosion, resulting from the booby-trapping of Mr. Mobster’s Rolls Royce, a use of the vehicle that entitles Mr. Mobster to no-fault automobile insurance benefits under Michigan law? 

2.      Is Mr. Mobster entitled to payment of his medical expenses under Michigan’s no-fault automobile insurance law?

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LEGL 304

LEGAL WRITING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS I 

Fall 2000 

Assignment No. 2: Citation Format 

You must put each of the following into proper citation formats under BOTH the Michigan Uniform System of Citation (MUSoC) and the Uniform System of Citation (the Bluebook). 

1.      A case in which the defendant is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and the plaintiff’s name is Gerald Heard.  It is reported in the Northwestern Reporter Second at volume 286, page 46, and in the Michigan Court of Appeals Reports at page 50, volume 93.  The Michigan Supreme Court reversed the holding of the Michigan Court of Appeals at volume 414 of the Michigan Supreme Court Reporter, page 139.  The Michigan Supreme Court decision is also found at page 1 of volume 324 of the Northwestern Reporter Second.  The case is discussed in 27 A.L.R. 4^th at page 163.  The case was decided by the court of appeals on February 2, 1993, and was reversed by the Michigan Supreme Court on April 8, 1994.  Provide the correct citation format to the Michigan Court of Appeals decision. 

2.      A case in which the plaintiff-appellant is Durward Chase, Jr., the first-named defendant is Fred C. Sabin, M.D., and the remaining defendants are Frederick C. Sabin, M.D. P.C., and Marquette General Hospital, formerly known as St. Luke’s Hospital.  It is case number 95889 on Calendar number 9.  The case was argued on January 11, 1994, and was decided by Chief Justice Cavanagh on May 17, 1994.  The case is reported at page 60 of volume 516 of the Northwestern Reporter Second, and in volume 445 at page 190 of the Michigan Supreme Court Reports. 

3.      Assume that you are citing to a rule of law that appears in the case identified in number 2 above.  The rule of law appears at page 192 of the official reporter, and at page 62 of the unofficial reporter.  Provide an example of an acceptable short form citation. 

4.      A case in which CompuServe, Incorporated is the plaintiff, and Richard S. Patterson, individually and doing business as Flashpoint Development were the defendants, was decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on March 15, 1995.  That decision is reported in volume 997 at page 568 of the Federal Supplement, and in volume 247 of the Federal Rules Decisions at page 403.  The decision of the district court was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, on July 22, 1996, after arguments that took place on June 14, 1996.  The Sixth Circuit’s decision reversing the District Court can be found in several places: at page 1257 of volume 89 of the Federal Reports, Third; at page 2065 of volume 65 of United States Law Week, and in volume 39 at page 1502 of the United States Patents Quarterly, Second.  First, provide the correct citation format for the decision of the United States District Court.  Then, provide the correct citation format for the decision of the Sixth Circuit. 

5.      The 16^th public act passed by the Michigan Legislature in 1997, which was passed on March 4, 1997. 

6.      First, provide the correct citation format for the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution.  Then, provide the correct citation format for sections 8 through 10 of article 6 of the 1963 Michigan Constitution. 

7.      First, provide the correct citation format for the 1994 compilation of the United States Code, title 28, section 1331.  Then, provide the correct citation format for chapter 600, section 301 of the Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated, 1994 edition (West Publishing).  That same statute appears at title 27A, section 305 of the Michigan Statutes Annotated, 1994 edition (Mead Publishing). 

8.      A law review article entitled “Jurisdiction in Civil Actions at the End of the Twentieth Century: Forum Conveniens and Forum Non Conveniens”.  The article appears at page 91 of volume 7 of the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, which was published on June 28, 1999.  The article was authored by Robert C. Casad, professor emeritus of the University of Kansas Law School. 

9.      A case in which the plaintiff is A & M Records, Incorporated and the defendant is Napster, Inc.  The case is not compiled in any printed reporter, but is available on the Internet at http://news.cnet.com/News/Pages/Special/Napster/napster_patel. You visited the website on August 23, 2000.  The case is case number C  99-5183, and it was decided by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on July 26, 2000. 

10.  The federal regulation that appears in the 1996 compilation of the United States Code of Federal Regulations at title 7, section 318.20.  The regulation was passed under the authority of the National Highway Transportation Safety Act on April 11, 1994.

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LEGL 304

LEGAL WRITING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS I 

CASE BRIEF FORMAT 

 

CASE BRIEF 

 

DOE V. ROE

487 Mich 112; 743 NW2d 512 

 

I.   PARTIES AND ALIGNMENT

A.     Plaintiff-Defendant

B.     Petitioner-Respondent

C.     Third Party Plaintiff-Third Party Defendant

D.     Appellant-Appellee 

II.  COURT 

III.  FACTS

A.     Must provide sufficient factual background so reader understands the nature of the case, and the issues involved.

B.     If in doubt as to whether a fact is important, include it. 

IV.   PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A.     Post trial appeal: the case was tried, a judgment was entered, and one or more parties has appealed.

B.     Pre-trial appeal: the case was disposed of before or during trial, and one or more parties has appealed. 

V.    ISSUE(S) TO BE DECIDED

A.     What issue(s) are before the court?

B.     For each issue before the court, there must be a holding, decision, ruling, or conclusion. 

VI.   LAW

A.     Current rule(s) of law: court will always say what the current rule of law is.

B.     History of rule: court may provide history of current rule of law, to show how it has evolved or why the rule is as it is.

C.     Comparison with other jurisdictions: especially if it is a case of first impression (meaning the first time a court has addressed this issue), court may compare other jurisdictions’ analyses and rules of law.

D.     Arguments of the parties: what does each side want the rule of law to be?  Do both sides want the rule to change?  Does one side want a change, and the other side want the law to remain the same?

VII.    ANALYSIS

A.     Court examines the arguments of the parties, in light of the law and the facts.

B.     Application of law to facts of the case.  Essentially, court explains why it is deciding the case as it is. 

VIII.    DECISION

A.     May be called holding, decision, ruling, or conclusion.

B.     For each issue you identify, there must be a corresponding decision.

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©2002, 2001 Daniel R. Ray, J.D.