With that in mind, consider this scenario:

Dwight is a professional goat farmer and keeps his livestock in a fenced$-$in pasture at the edge of the property. One section of the fence is a partition fence exactly on the property line with his neighbor, Jim. Jim is a sports writer for a local newspaper and doesn't own livestock, though he has an extensive garden that includes blackberry bushes.

Under the entity Herd of Goats, LLC$,$ Dwight sells various goat products$$including milk, manure, fiber, and meat$$and also rents out the goats for use in clearing vegetation. Jim occasionally sells excess produce at the local farmers' market.

The shared section of the fence is not well maintained due to disagreements between Dwight and Jim over responsibility. One day, while Jim is working from home and Dwight is visiting a customer, some of Dwight's goats escape through a hole in the shared section of the fence and devour Jim's blackberry bushes. Jim attempts to prod the goats back to their pasture using an old wooden baseball bat. Being prodded causes one goat to kick another goat, injuring it$.$ A different goat then bites the baseball bat, getting splinters in its mouth when the bat breaks. Dwight returns and he and Jim are able to get all of the goats back into the pasture, after which Dwight uses bailing wire to temporarily patch the hole in the fence.

Dwight sues Jim for the injuries to his goats and the harm to his business due to the injured goats. Jim countersues over the destruction of his bushes and claims that Dwight's business, as the livestock owner, is liable for not maintaining the fence.

In your initial post, provide and explain your answers to the following questions:

Who do you think is primarily at fault here, for what, and why?

How does Dwight's operation of his farm as an LLC affect the situation and his liability?

What preparations or protections could have prevented this situation?