LEGAL RESEARCH TERM PROJECT

DIRECTIONS: This project will account for 10% of your final grade in this course. The project is due on the day of the final exam. No student can receive a final grade for the course (other than an ‘I’ or an ‘R’) unless the project has been completed. Project work must be done independently.

For each of the five sections below (numbered I through V), choose only one of the three questions. Do the research necessary to answer that question. Your research should be both thorough and efficient. When you are satisfied that you have found the answer to a question, provide:

a) a list of the research materials that you consulted;

b) a list of the topics or keywords you used in your research;

c) the answer to the question; and

d) the citation of the authority that supports your answer.

Your completed project will consist of five questions, one chosen from each section. Projects must be typed or neatly hand written.

SECTION I: GENERAL ISSUES (Choose one of the following three questions);

1. A) What is the doctrine of adverse possession? B) Does the doctrine of adverse possession apply in Virginia?

2. A) What is the dead man’s act? B) Does Virginia have such an act?

3. A) What is a blue sky law? B) Does Virginia have such a law?

SECTION II: CASELAW PROBLEMS (Choose one of the following three questions):

1. Your client’s mother took a drug known as DES while she was pregnant with the client, As a result of her mother’s ingestion of the drug, the client developed cervical cancer. Only three manufacturers were making and selling DES when the client’s mother took the drug. Each manufacturer had a one-third market share. The client has no way of proving which of the three manufacturers made the pills her mother actually took. Will the client’s inability to identify a particular manufacturer as the defendant prevent her from suing in (A) California? or B) Wisconsin?

2. Your client had hip surgery four years ago. His hip was worse after the operation than before it occurred. The client received ongoing therapy from the doctor who had been his surgeon. Six weeks ago, the client switched doctors and learned for the first time that the doctor who operated on his hip had committed malpractice. The client would like to sue the doctor for the four-year old malpractice. Your supervising attorney knows that the applicable statute of limitations has expired but he asks you to find out whether the statute will be “tolled” (to allow the client more time to sue) under those circumstances. Under these circumstances, is a statute of limitations governing malpractice or personal injury claims tolled (A) in West Virginia? and

(B) in Virginia?

3. Your client is a 22-year old emotionally disturbed man. His emotional problems were diagnosed by a school psychologist when he was in grade school. The psychologist recommended to his parents (who are wealthy people) that they seek professional help for their son. The parents refused to get treatment for the boy. As a result, he now has a severe learning disability, paranoia and an adjustment disorder. He cannot hold a job or function in an ordinary social setting. He wants to sue his parents for simple negligence in failing to provide him with professional help. Your supervising attorney is afraid that the parents may be able to raise immunity as a defense. Can his parents claim immunity from this lawsuit (A) in Pennsylvania?

and (B) in Wisconsin?

SECTION III; CASELAW FROM THE U.S. SUPREME COURT INTERPRETING TH E U.S.

CONSTITUTION. Choose one of the following three questions.

1. Your client, an atheist, is upset because a prayer is read in the public announcement system at the beginning of each home football game at the public high school that he attends. He is a member of the school band and is required to attend and play at each home game in order to receive credit for band class. Your supervising attorney tells you that the U.S. Supreme Court has announced a three-part test which is used to determine whether a practice like the one to which the client objects violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by unlawfully establishing a religion. What are the three parts of the Supreme Court’s test?

2. Your client, the Society for Public Decency, wants to put as many “girly’ magazines as possible out of business. The Society intends to apply political pressure to local prosecutors throughout the country, to encourage the prosecutors to bring obscenity charges against publishers of the magazines. The Society is seeking legal advice first, so it can determine which magazines are most likely to be legally obscene and make the best targets. Your supervising attorney tells you that obscene materials are not protected by the First Amendment provisions governing freedom of speech and freedom of the press. She also tells you that the U.S. Supreme Court has included a legal definition of obscenity in one of its decisions. She believes that the Court’s definition of obscenity has changed several times, and that the current definitions has three parts and incorporates community standards. What is the Supreme Court’s current definition of obscenity?

3. Your client is a suspected drug dealer. He was arrested almost a year ago and has been held without bond. Because of the congested criminal courts, he has still not received a trial date. Your supervising attorney is considering a motion to dismiss the charges based upon a violation of the client’s right (under the Sixth Amendment) to a speedy trial. The attorney tells you that the Supreme Court has identified four factors which should be considered in determining whether a defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial has been violated. What are the four factors?

SECTION IV: STATUTES. Choose one of the following three questions.

1. For what crime is death an authorized punishment (A) in Virginia? and (B) in West Virginia?

2. What are the grounds for divorce (A) in Maryland? and (B) in Virginia?

3. Assume a married man dies without a will, leaving a surviving spouse, a 22-year old son and a 15-year old daughter. How will the property which he held in his name at the time of his death be divided among the survivors (A) in Maryland? and (B) in Virginia? (Assume the children are the children of the man who died and his spouse).

SECTION V. PROCEDURAL ISSUES IN FEDERAL AND VIRGINIA TRIAL COURTS. Choose one of the following three questions.

1. Your client is one of several small landowners who were harmed by an oil spill. The client does not have the resources to sue the oil company, but she could sue if her suit were combined with the suits of the other injured landowners in a class action. What are the requirements for certifying a class action (allowing a suit to be brought as a class action) (A) in the federal system? and (B) in a West Virginia state trial court?

2. Civil discovery is designed to permit the parties in a civil case to find out as much as possible about one another’s cases prior to trial. What are the authorized ways of obtaining civil discovery (A) in a federal trial court? and (B) in a Virginia state trial court?

3. In civil litigation, “service” is the process of making sure that the person who is sued in court receives a copy of the complaint which was filed against him, along with a copy of an official summons or notice to appear in court. What are the legally sufficient ways of serving a defendant in a civil case (A) in the federal trial court? and (B) in a Virginia state trial court?