Imagine that you are a paralegal in law firm. You have been tasked with drafting the initial memo regarding the case of a new client to the firm, Ms. Baker. After interviewing Ms. Baker, you learned the following:

Ms. Baker, a resident of Connecticut, was on road trip to visit the world's largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas. When she was driving in Kansas, her car was hit from behind by Ms. Smith, a Kansas resident. Unfortunately, Ms. Baker's car was totaled, she suffered injuries, emotional distress and lost time from work. Her damages exceeded $75,000. The police determined the accident was wholly the faulty of Ms. Smith.

Instructions:

• Draft an office memorandum to your supervising attorney in which you answer
• the following questions:
• Can this case be filed in federal court? Why? (HINT: See Diversity
• Jurisdiction)
• Identify and explain the first document that the firm should file in court on
• behalf of Ms. Baker that will let Ms. Smith know that she is being sued.
• Identify what information should be sought in discovery.
• Identify and explain witnesses that should be called on behalf of Ms.
• Baker at trial.
• Would ADR be helpful in this case? Why?

Answer:

Memorandum.

This case can be filled in a united states district court in the federal judiciary which has the authority to hear a civil case when the amount in damages exceeds $75,000 and where the parties are "diverse" in citizenship. This is known as the diversity jurisdiction. The United States Constitution, in Article III, 2, gives the Congress the power to permit federal courts to hear diversity cases through legislation authorizing such jurisdiction. We would need to fill an overarching obligations certification - form 4A. We would also need to fill in a proper basis certification -form 4B. This ensures that our complaint is not frivolous, vexatious, or tending to cause annoyance, frustration, or is an abuse of process. To notify the Mrs Smith that she is being sued, a compliant form 5A will be filled outlining the statement of our claim and a copy send to her. During the discovery, we should find both cars registration numbers and who they are registered to, including their addresses and if they were the ones driving the car. We also have to find if the cars had been in good working conditions and also find out what the the police report summarized. The insurance covers of both insurance companies should also be examined to determine extend of liability. The police should be called as witnesses for Mrs Baker. This is due to the fact that they had already established that the fault was on Mrs smith.

ADR, or alternative dispute would be appropriate in this case. This is due to the expenses and time consumed in lawsuits. Of the two common forms of ADR, mediation and arbitration, I would recommend latter. This is due to the conclusive nature of Arbitration over mediation which is a non-binding method.

Step-by-step explanation

A memo needs to be formatted in double spacing. This option is available in word but not in course-hero. If your lecture requires it you can add when you transfer the answer to a document editor.