Business Law Notes Appeal Plaintiff Can appeal rulings of law not fact when factual disputes happen then you go to trial jury will find the facts in a trial Cant appeal fact bc you won t have those witnesses again or try those cases again Brings the case The series of motions test the plaintiffs of case because in American law the plaintiff has the burden of proof then discovery has motions also then summary then trial to determine facts then the ruling on the motion An appeal can happen Defendant Appellant The old plaintiff in an appellate case Appellee Affirmed reversed remanded Common Law Remand it send it back for more facts affirm leave it alone reverse change it Rely on dealing with precedent judges follow decisions of other judges which gradually become common law that judges make Many countries are common law or case law countries us Trial applellate cases Facts law Precedent Stare decisis Chapter 1 Restatement every 30 40 years states restate the law of torts for example Functions of Law 3 Facilitating planning and the realization of reasonable expectations you know what will happen when you make decisions like not testing a product before putting it on the market if it has defects Soldano vs O Daniels Circle Inn There is a third party good sumaritan the son is suing for the wrongful death of his father Wrongful death is the civil version of manslaughter Plantiff is suing the bar where is father is killed also but we don t have that part of the case civil case settled Notice here that the acts of the employee are attributed to the employer Soldano is trying to prove that the employer is responsible for the wrongful death of his father but there is no responsibility to come to the help of someone in peril no criminal or civil liability The lower court dismissed the case so the appeal appeals that decision and now it goes to trial Soldano s lawyers changed the case that the employer impeded the third party to come to the aid of someone in peril instead of the defendant fail to come to the aid They then created a new duty but a small one though bc of the list included that limits the extent of the duty Felder vs Butler Felder is the plaintiff and Butler is the defendant who owns the bar where a woman was visibly drunk and got into a car accident harming Felder In the 1951 case theres no civil money damages for serving someone who was already drunk so Maryland says you can sue Hawkins but not Butler Felder files lawsuit so lower court dismisses the case and appealed the dismissal so the court of appeals highest court took it right away She has to try to distinguish her facts from the facts in Hatfield but she can t so she argues to change the law in the biggest Maryland court She tries to argue that drunks are now more common and times have changed people are taking drunk driving seriously and many states impose this liability Why does Maryland court say no They say its best done by the legislature and they didn t change it so their intent was to keep it in tact Intent on non action is kind of odd We have a descent the majority affirms it but the judge wants to change it
View Full Document
Unlocking...