Prof. Law & Ethics
77393/06 Spring 2003
03: Jan 29, 2003

Reading and questions for class 04, Feb. 3:
Morrison v. MacNamara
What is main issue in this case?
What is the locality rule?
What is the rationale for the locality rule?
Why did the D.C. Court of Appeals discard the locality rule?
Although Heath v. Swift was about pilot negligence, the court in Heath mentioned a standard for physicians. Compare that standard with the standard that the court applied in Morrison.
Compare the standard of care in Watkins with the standard in Morrison.
Can you think of any professions where the locality rule should still apply?

Aves v. Shah
What standard of care did the U.S. Court of Appeals apply to Dr. Shah? How does it differ from the standard the court applied in Morrison?
What is the "common knowledge" exception to the requirement of expert testimony? Who decides when the exception applies?
Prepare a brief for Aves v. Shah. I will not collect your brief but we will discuss this case and what a brief of it could contain.

Hodges v. Carter
Notice that this case is mentioned in Heath v. Swift Wings.
In order to understand what mistake the defendant lawyers, Carter and Topping, made when they handled Hodges' fire insurance claim, you have to know the procedure for starting a civil lawsuit. See your text, pages 61 - 66.
The mistake that Carter and Topping made concerns substituted service. You can find an explanation of substituted service under the definition of service in Black's Law Dictionary.
What mistake did the defendants make in this case?
What did the plaintiff Hodges lose as result of the the mistake?
Why were the defendants not liable to Hodges for their mistake?

Civil Procedure
It will be helpful for you to know the course of a civil lawsuit. You will find information about this in Chapter VII, Part I. Read pages 225 - 238.