Deck 25: How to Brief Cases and Analyze Case Problems

Question 1

Global Enterprises Corporation (GEC) engages in what some unhappy ex-employees and disgruntled consumers consider to be bad corporate behavior.These individuals post "horror stories" about GEC on rogue Web sites.By providing a forum for complaints, the potential for damage to the reputation of any corporation via the Internet has

A)decreased.
B)increased.
C)neither decreased nor increased.
D)both decreased and increased.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Jennifer, a sophomore at West High School, posts suggestive-but not pornographic or obscene-photos of herself on Facebook.The images do not identify the school and require "friend" status to be viewed.Jennifer intends the photos to be humorous, and this is how her friends understand them.Under the First Amendment, West can most likely

A)suspend or otherwise punish Jennifer for posting the photos.
B)require that Jennifer remove the photos but not punish her.
C)require that Jennifer remove the photos and punish her.
D)not punish Jennifer or restrict her posts.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Ahsan and Imani want to obtain a divorce and divide their marital property according to the principles of sharia.Officially recognized sharia courts with the full power of equivalent courts within a judicial system to rule on issues of divorce and financial disputes between couples have been sanctioned in

A)Canada.
B)Great Britain.
C)the United States.
D)no Western jurisdiction.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Khalil and Jasmin sign a prenuptial agreement that provides for any dispute to be arbitrated according to Islamic law.When a dispute arises over the parties' marital property in Iowa, Jasmin files a suit in an Iowa state court to contest the arbitration provision.According to rulings in other states' courts in similar cases, the provision will most likely be

A)enforced.
B)rewritten to remove the Islamic law clause.
C)struck down as outside the common legal framework of our society.
D)suspended while the court considers an equitable result.

Question 5

In terms of the power of Congress, John Marshall's decision in Gibbons v.Ogden

A)delegated the power.
B)increased the power.
C)made no changes.
D)reduced the power.

Question 6

Ira is a judge in a court of equity.In this court, Ira may bar a suit if it is not filed within a proper time under the doctrine known as

A)equitable limitations.
B)equitable maxims.
C)laches.
D)limitation de baris.

Question 7

Clark appeals a decision in his suit against Dona, grounded on rights provided in the U.S.Constitution, to the United States Supreme Court.The task of the Court to interpret and give meaning to those rights is made more difficult because

A)foreign laws affect the legal environment unpredictably.
B)government's role alters with each new election.
C)parties' expectations vary with each step in the judicial process.
D)society's perceptions and needs change over time.

Question 8

In Smartphone Games Inc.'s suit against Thermopylae Apps Corporation, Thermopylae seeks to discover electronically stored information (ESI) that should be in Smartphone's possession.If Smartphone did not preserve the ESI despite a clear duty to do so, the company should most likely

A)ask the court to sanction Thermopylae for an unreasonable request.
B)reconstruct the ESI to the best of its ability.
C)refuse to provide the ESI on the ground that it is confidential.
D)settle the dispute.

Question 9

In a brief filed in Lea's suit against Mica in a state court, Neil, Lea's attorney, cites, Ole! Cafe v.Pan Foods Corp., an unpublished opinion.With respect to the persuasiveness of unpublished opinions, most states

A)allow their courts to consider such opinions.
B)do not allow their courts to consider such opinions.
C)impose certain hierarchical rankings.
D)require their courts to consider such opinions.

Question 10

Bly is a judge in a country that follows a common law system.In this system, Bly's application of a principle of law to a certain set of facts must be adhered to by

A)all judges in courts of inferior rank.
B)all other judges.
C)no other judges.
D)only those judges who elect to apply it.

Question 11

According to the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in Gibbons v.Ogden, as used in the Constitution's commerce clause, commerce means

A)all business dealings.
B)all business dealings that affect more than one state.
C)most business dealings that affect more than one state.
D)only business dealings that affect all of the states.

Question 12

Trending Topix, Inc., is dissatisfied with its rankings in Google, Inc.'s search results and files a suit, seeking an injunction.The court is most likely to rule that under the First Amendment, search results on Google are

A)protected opinions.
B)not protected if they are "unfair" in ranking the search results.
C)not protected if the search engine uses a computerized algorithm.
D)subject to limited protection as commercial speech.

Question 13

In a brief filed in Gene's suit against Hoyt in a federal court, Ilsa, Gene's attorney, cites, Jon v.Klint, an unpublished opinion.According to a ruling of the United States Supreme Court, the judge in Gene's suit

A)may consider the unpublished opinion persuasive.
B)must apply the unpublished opinion as binding.
C)must ignore the unpublished opinion.
D)must issue a judgment in Hoyt's favor.

Question 14

World Investment & Trading, Inc.(WIT), encourages its employees to build trust with its customers and other companies.Unfounded complaints and exaggerated charges leveled against WIT online would most likely be regarded by a court as

A)an expression of fact.
B)a form of speech protected by the First Amendment.
C)an inappropriate online disclosure.
D)libelous.

Question 15

FastBreak Ltd.is dissatisfied with its ranking in Google Inc.'s search results.FastBreak files a suit against Google, seeking an injunction.Google argues that its search results are constitutionally protected speech.FastBreak's best argument against Google's position is that

A)the First Amendment protects humans against state censorship and protecting a computer's speech is not related to that purpose.
B)the trillions of decisions made by computers each day do not all constitute protected speech.
C)computerized algorithms, which generate computer language, do not constitute speech.
D)search results constitute commercial speech, for which the First Amendment provides only limited protection.

Question 16

Devon, a senior at Central High School, participates in a social media forum on which he posts destructive, bullying lies about Beau, a fellow student.Beau's parent complains to Central officials.Under the First Amendment, Central can most likely

A)punish Devon for the posts.
B)transfer Beau to a different school.
C)require that all students' future posts be made on the school's public Web site.
D)post an official note calling Devon's posts "juvenile and silly."

Question 17

Arno is judge in a country that follows a civil law system.In Arno's court, the primary source of law consists of

A)administrative decisions.
B)a statutory code.
C)case precedents.
D)the laws of other nations.

Question 18

Business Credit Company files a suit against City Developers, Inc., and seeks, as part of dis-covery, certain electronic documents in City Developers's possession.City Developers did not preserve the requested data-e-mail mes-sages among employees.The court is not likely to sanction City Developers if

A)the data was not saved because there was no reasonable anticipation of litigation.
B)the e-documents were destroyed when the suit was filed.
C)the e-mail messages were trashed when the discovery request was made.
D)the e-mail system was wiped clean to avoid revealing incriminating evidence.

Question 19

Keisha is a state court judge.A statute of limitations limits

A)the amount of a judgment that Keisha can issue in any one case.
B)the length of a trial in Keisha's court.
C)the number of cases that Keisha is permitted to hear.
D)the time during which a certain suit can be brought in Keisha's court.

Question 20

Paoli asserts against River City a claim based on allegedly conflicting rights and protections stemming from the U.S.Constitution.In this case, the role of the United States Supreme Court is to

A)decline to review the claim due to the conflict.
B)defuse the conflict by eliminating rights or protections.
C)designate a lower court to make a decision.
D)determine the appropriate balance.

Question 21

Officials with the U.S.Department of Homeland Security search the laptops and smart phones of Diego, a Mexican citizen, and Ethan, a U.S.citizen, when they cross the border between the United States and Mexico.Diego and Ethan object to the search.The most likely basis for their objection is that the search constitutes

A)an invasion of privacy.
B)a breach of contract.
C)a breach of the principle of comity.
D)a breach of the act of state doctrine.

Question 22

Recent advances have fostered the growth of a relatively new industry to profit from crime.Statistics show that criminals have learned it is easier, less risky, and more profitable to

A)rob banks using traditional means.
B)steal via the Internet.
C)engage in legitimate activities such as stock trading via the Internet.
D)sell their stories to movie, music, and TV producers or video-game makers.

Question 23

According to the United States Supreme Court in Miranda v.Arizona, an individual must be apprised of certain of his or her rights whenever the individual is

A)arraigned in a court.
B)imprisoned in a jail.
C)sentenced for a crime.
D)taken into custody.

Question 24

Jack initiates a sequence of events that results in an injury to Kay.According to the New York Court of Appeals in Palsgraf v.Long Island Railroad Co., the question of whether Jack was negligent with respect to Kay depends on whether Kay's injury was reasonably foreseeable to

A)a bystander.
B)an insurance company.
C)Jack.
D)Kay.

Question 25

Lora initiates a sequence of events involving Mike that results in an injury to Nell.According to the New York Court of Appeals in Palsgraf v.Long Island Railroad Co., if Lora was negligent with respect to Mike, Lora

A)is solely liable for Nell's injury.
B)is not liable for Nell's injury.
C)may be liable for Nell's injury⎯this is a separate issue.
D)shares liability with Mike for Nell's injury.

Question 26

Grace hosts Harvest, a social networking site.Idle Fields, a competitive site, hires Jeb to anonymously post on Harvest stories that question its privacy practices.Harvest might most successfully sue Idle Fields for

A)slander of quality.
B)intentional infliction of emotional distress.
C)false imprisonment.
D)none of the choices.

Question 27

According to the United States Supreme Court in Miranda v.Arizona, an individual must be apprised of certain of his or her rights

A)after any questioning.
B)at any time during questioning.
C)only in the absence of questioning.
D)prior to any questioning.

Question 28

In the United States, the freedoms of speech and press are strongly protected.To have a complaint heard by a sympathetic court and effect a greater chance of winning, a plaintiff might file a defamation lawsuit in

A)England or Wales.
B)New York.
C)Saudi Arabia.
D)the United States.

Question 29

When Maja, an attorney and a U.S.citizen, crosses the border between the United States and Canada, she expects the U.S.Department of Homeland Security to search her laptop.To avoid disclosing confidential client data during the search, Maja could

A)keep client files on a device that she does not take abroad.
B)carry client files abroad only in hard copy.
C)refuse to consent to a border search of her laptop.
D)assert her right to be free from unwarranted government intrusion.

Question 30

Libel tourism is

A)enforcing a foreign libel judgment against a writer in the United States.
B)financing terrorist groups with damages awarded in foreign libel cases.
C)forum shopping on an international scale.
D)restricting the free speech of international tourists.

Question 31

An extensive hacking operation uncovered in 2013 and linked to the "Comment Crew" involved the theft of hundreds of terabytes of data and intellectual property.The goal of the attacks was to

A)help Chinese companies compete against U.S.and foreign firms.
B)conduct diplomatic espionage.
C)acquire prepackaged hacking software on the Internet.
D)publicize a certain sophisticated, organized, and well-funded gang of cyber mercenaries.

Question 32

Chad hosts Durango, a social networking site.Eagle's Nest, a rival site, hires Frank to pepper Durango with stories that raise questions about the site's privacy policy.Durango might most successfully sue Eagle's Nest for

A)wrongful interference with a business relationship.
B)trespass to property.
C)negligence.
D)none of the choices.