In the following exercise, the assignment is to prepare a trial court brief. The assignment contains the memo from the supervising attorney, which includes all the available facts of the case. Complete the brief based on these facts. When preparing the heading of each assignment, use your name for the "To" line, and put "Supervising Attorney" after the "From."n
Following the assignment is a reference to the ap¬plicable enacted and case law.n
The first time you cite the opinion, use the citation format you are given for the opinion in the assignment.n
I Melia v. Dillon Cos., Inc., 18 Kan. App. 2d 5, 846 R2d 257 (1993).n
I Melia, 18 Kan. App. 2d 5 at846 P.2d at.n
Do not conduct additional research. Complete the assignment using the facts, enacted law, and case law contained in the assignment. For the purposes of the assignment, assume the cases have not been overturned or modified by subsequent court decisions. In most instances a simple trial court brief such as the one presented in this assignment would not include a table of contents, table of authorities, or preliminary statement. It would be com¬posed of a question presented, statement of the case/facts, and argument sections. For the purposes of this assign¬ment, do not include a table of contents, table of authori¬ties, or preliminary statement section. For the title page, use the format presented in section VIA of this chapter. The court is the District Court and the state is New Mexico.n
Memo:n
To:[Your name]n
From:Supervising Attorneyn
Re:White v. Calkin, Civ. 03-388n
Our client, Sage Rent-A-Car Inc., leased a vehicle to Jeffery Calkin. Mr. Calkin failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with Jane White, the plaintiff. Ms. White filed a negligence suit against both Mr. Calkin and Sage Rent-A-Car. In paragraph 36 of the complaint, plaintiff claims that Sage is required to carry insurance under the provisions of the Mandatory Financial Responsibility Act and therefore, under the act, has a duty to assume responsibility for this accident. When Sage incorporated, it filed a surety bond with the superintendent of insurance and is self-insured under the act. I do not read the act to extend liability to lessors for the damages that result from the negligent use of vehicles by lessees. Therefore, I plan to file a Rule 1-012B(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.n
Please prepare a rough draff of a brief in support of the motion to dismiss.n
Statutory Law:n
NMRA 1-012B(6)—The rule provides in part, "the following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by motion:n
(6) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted;