For this Portfolio Project, you are being placed into a hypothetical scenario in which you are working as a paralegal at Morgan & Morgan, LLP, which is a civil litigation law firm. You received an assignment from the Managing Partner, Lori Morgan, with respect to a new client named Kelly Taylor. The Managing Partner indicated that Ms. Taylor is interested in bringing a personal injury lawsuit against "Miller's Fun Park" due to a recent ziplining accident. Miller's Fun Park is a small family-run outdoor amusement park that includes a zipline through a forest of trees, two go-karts, and a small rock-climbing wall.

 

The Managing Partner indicated that she would like you to be involved in all parts of this potential lawsuit. She explained that she will need you to draft several legal documents including a research plan, a predictive memorandum, a complaint, a discovery document, and a motion. The Managing Partner met with Kelly Taylor yesterday. Below are the interview notes from their meeting (herein referred to as "Client Interview Notes").

 

Client Interview Notes

 

• Ms. Taylor visited Miller's Fun Park on a Tuesday evening at 9pm in the month of January. She described the weather as chilly, but clear. It was not raining or snowing. Given it was 9pm, it was dark out. She was joined by her friend, Brian Greene.
• Miller's Fun Park does not appear to have a website. It does have a Facebook Page that has not been updated in several years.
• At the time of the incident, Ms. Taylor was 22 years old. She is petite in nature, weighed 100lbs and is 5 feet tall. She is employed as a Kindergarten teacher at a local elementary school. Mr. Greene was 25 years old, weighed 180 pounds and is 6 feet tall.
• Prior to visiting Miller's Fun Park, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Greene went to a local pub where they drank a few alcoholic beverages and had some appetizers. Ms. Taylor cannot remember how many drinks she had. She thinks she had two or three glasses of wine. She thinks Mr. Greene had four or five beers. She said she did not feel sober enough to drive, but she would not consider herself to be "drunk." Neither Ms. Taylor nor Mr. Greene can locate the receipt from the pub.
• After the pub, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Greene called a ride share service to drive them to Miller's Fun Park. Ms. Taylor indicated she had never been ziplining before and she was really excited. Mr. Greene had been ziplining two times in the past, but not at Miller's Fun Park.
• Ms. Taylor explained that when they arrived at Miller's Fun Park, there was a person at the front desk. His name tag read "Walter Miller, Owner." She said he looked to be about 65 years old. Upon arrival, Ms. Taylor and Brian Greene each purchased tickets for the zipline from Mr. Miller. It cost $19.99 to ride the zipline. Ms. Taylor indicated that there was a sign that stated that the zipline was 40 feet long and 30 feet high. She remembered another sign that read: "For your safety, you must be at least 18 years old to ride the zipline. No exceptions." She indicated that she did not remember seeing any other signs that stated any height or weight requirements or any other restrictions to ride the zipline. Ms. Taylor described the zipline as a "long rope connected to two huge trees."
• Ms. Taylor indicated that she signed a waiver when she purchased the zipline tickets, but she did not read it. She thinks it was only a sentence or two. She cannot remember if there was any fine print. She does not have a copy of the waiver. Ms. Taylor did not know if there were any other customers or employees at the Miller's Fun Park that evening, but she said she did not remember seeing anyone else.
• After purchasing the tickets and signing the waiver, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Greene headed over to the zipline. Mr. Miller accompanied them. On the way to the zipline, Mr. Miller received a phone call on his mobile phone. Ms. Taylor could only hear his side of the conversation, but she said he seemed distracted and irate. She thinks he was talking to his wife and they seemed to be having an argument.
• No one checked Ms. Taylor or Mr. Greene's height or weight prior to riding the zipline. They did not receive any safety training or instructions. They were given helmets.
• While Mr. Miller was talking on the phone, he fitted Mr. Greene in the harness and ensured he was wearing a helmet. Mr. Miller cleared Mr. Greene to ride the zipline. Mr. Greene rode the zipline and yelled "WEEEEEE this is so fun!"
• After Mr. Greene was safely to the other side. Mr. Miller fitted Ms. Taylor into the zipline harness. He was still on the phone arguing with his wife. According to Ms. Taylor, Mr. Miller seemed distracted. He did check to ensure Ms. Taylor was wearing a helmet.  He cleared Ms. Taylor to ride the zipline.
• After riding the zipline about eight feet, Ms. Taylor indicated that she knew something felt "wrong." The next thing she remembers is waking up on the ground. She had fallen approximately 30 feet onto a pile of leaves. She thinks the only witnesses were Mr. Greene and Mr. Miller.
• Mr. Miller immediately called 911 and Ms. Taylor was rushed to the nearest emergency room. Mr. Greene accompanied her to the emergency room. The medical team determined that she had fractured both of her legs and suffered a concussion. Ms. Taylor required several surgeries. She has been out of work since the accident. She has significant pain and is still not able to walk without the assistance of a walker. Her doctors believe she will eventually be able to walk again, but it is unclear if she will have any future mobility issues. Her medical bills are substantial but she does not know the exact amount. She thinks they are at least $5,000.

Requirements and Formatting

Your Portfolio Project must be formatted as follows:

• APA formatting
• Title Page
• Times New Roman or Arial 12-point font
• 1-inch margins
• Page numbers in top right corner
• Provide citations for your sources

Use The Bluebook to properly format your citations

 

As described above, you are a paralegal at the law firm of Morgan & Morgan, LLP. The Managing Partner, Lori Morgan, has asked you to compose a Research Plan related to the potential lawsuit that the client, Kelly Taylor, is interested in bringing against Miller's Fun Park with respect to the zipline accident described in the Client Interview Notes above. 

The Managing Partner indicated that the cause of action for this lawsuit is negligence. As part of the Research Plan, you should perform research on the law of negligence in the state in which you reside. Please use LEXIS+ to perform this research. Specifically, you are locating legal authority that will help to determine if Miller's Fun Park was negligent with respect to the occurrence of Ms. Taylor's accident. It would be useful to find cases with similar facts to Ms. Taylor's situation. However, depending on your state, you might not be able to find anything specific to ziplines. Please find cases that are analogous to a ziplining incident. Incidents related to rock climbing, amusement park rides, or any other recreational activity would be useful. 

 

At this point, the only cause of action that we are interested in is negligence. We are not considering any criminal liability or any other civil legal theory. We are also not going to consider any possible lawsuits against the manufacturer of the zipline. Assume that there are not any Statute of Limitations concerns. We must focus solely on the possible negligence of Miller's Fun Park. Mr. Miller is the sole owner of Miller's Fun Park. The only factual information that is available is the information in the Client Interview Notes provided above. 

 

Your Research Plan must include:

1. A description of the goal of the legal research.
2. A vocabulary list of the factual and legal search terms that you used to research on LEXIS+.
3. Identification of any court cases that might be relevant to the potential lawsuit. Please be specific. You must list the actual names of cases (and The Bluebook citations) that you think could be relevant. You must include at least three cases. The case law must be from courts in the state within which you reside.
4. Identification of any secondary sources, such as websites, law review articles or books that might help you to better understand a claim of negligence. You must include at least one secondary source and the appropriate citation.

 

Please add an introduction and a conclusion. You must also summarize the facts based on the Client Interview Notes. Your Research Plan should be at least 500 words. Please use appropriate headings. Remember that you should not apply the law or make any legal predictions in this Research Plan.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Research Plan Negligence Claim Against Millers Fun Park Introduction This research plan outlines the legal research strategy for the potential lawsuit that Kelly Taylor intends to pursue against Mille... View the full answer