Complaint

The formatting's way off, and you don't get the pleading paper background here, but otherwise this is a copy of my first Complaint! I got a decent grade on it, so I thought I'd share. It's kind of a neat thing to have actually written one of these, even if some of the langauge is copy-and-pasted in (which we were instructed to do ^_^).

PEPPERDINE ASSOCIATES
Amber L. M. (Bar No. 144206)
1423 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California 90017
(310) 320-2003

Attorneys for Plaintiff

UNITED STATES DISTRICT FOR

THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

PETER PLANT, an individual,

Plaintiff,

vs.

DANNY DAT, an individual; and, EASY GO CARTS, INC. a corporation; and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive,

Defendants

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Case No.: TBA
Dept: TBA
Judge: TBA


COMPLAINT FOR:
1. NEGLIGENCE
2. STRICT LIABILITY (PRODUCT DEFECT)

Filing Date: September 12, 2004
Trial Date: None set


Plaintiff Peter Plant (“Plaintiff”) hereby complains and alleges as follows:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 United States Code section 1332 as there is complete diversity between the Plaintiff and Defendants and the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of $75,000.00. Venue is likewise proper in this district under 28 United States Code section 1391 because Defendants’ acts of negligence and strict liability complained of herein have occurred and are occurring in this judicial district.

THE PARTIES

2. Plaintiff is a citizen and resident of the State of Florida.

3. Defendant Danny Dat (“Dat”) is a resident of Los Angeles, California.

4. Defendant Easy Go Carts (“Easy Go”) is incorporated in Delaware and thus is a citizen of the State of Delaware.

5. The true names and capacities, whether individual, corporate, partnership, associate or otherwise, of defendants Does 1 through 10 inclusive, and each of them, are unknown to plaintiff who therefore sues them by such fictitious names. Plaintiff will seek leave to amend this Complaint to show the true names and capacities of Does 1 through 10 when he has discovered them. Plaintiff alleges that, at all times mentioned herein, all of the defendants acted or participated in some manner in the acts alleged herein, and in some way caused and are responsible for plaintiff's damages. All references to the named defendant shall include, without limitation, Does 1 through 10 inclusive.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

6. Plaintiff is a sophomore at the University of Florida on a basketball scholarship. He grew up in Miami, where he has lived his entire life.

7. Dat is a retiree who lives in Los Angeles and often goes to Disneyland with his grandchildren.

8. On July 1, 2009, Plaintiff flew to Los Angeles with some of his friends to go to Disneyland.

9. While at Disneyland, during the fireworks show, which started at 10:00 p.m., Dat ran into Plaintiff with a golf cart at which time Plaintiff saw that Dat was so engrossed in watching the fireworks show that he was not looking at where he was driving.

10. The cart Dat was driving was a 2009 RXZ Golf Cart made by Easy Go Carts Inc, which he had rented from Disneyland for the day.

11. In a report taken by a Disneyland security officer it was noted that Dat’s golf cart seems to have malfunctioned because the accelerator pedal was stuck.

12. The security officer also attached a copy of a letter dated August 1, 2009, to his incident report. The letter was from Easy Go to Disneyland, in which Easy Go notified Disneyland that there was a problem with the design of the 2009 RXZ Golf Cart’s brake and gas pedals. Testing showed that unless the pedals were greased during the monthly maintenance check, the pedals would stick.

13. Because of the accident, Plant suffered severe damage to his left foot. The damage was so extensive that three of his toes had to be amputated. His doctor bills to date total $85,000; however, Plant will have many more follow-up visits to his doctor. Plant fears that he may not be able to play basketball anymore, and that he might lose his scholarship. I believe that Plant has a claim of negligence against Dat.

COUNT 1

(Negligence: Against Danny Dat)

14. Plaintiff incorporates herein by reference paragraphs 1 through 13 of this Complaint.

15. Dat had an affirmative duty to Plaintiff to use care in the operation of a motor vehicle in the presence of pedestrians.

16. Dat breached this duty of care owed to Plaintiff, and was negligent, in at least the following ways:

(a) Failing to ensure before driving that his vehicle was fully operational

(b) Failing to take note of his surroundings and the pedestrians in his immediate vicinity and allowing himself to become distracted by the nearby fireworks display.

17. Defendants’ negligence was the legal and proximate cause of Plaintiff’s damages but Plaintiff is presently unaware of the full extent of those damages. Plaintiff will seek leave to amend this Complaint when the full extent of its damages are ascertained.

COUNT 2

(Strict Liability (Product Defect): Against Easy Go Carts and Does 1-10)

18. Plaintiff incorporates herein by reference paragraphs 1 through 13 of this Complaint.

19. The cart driven by Dat in this incident was a 2009 RXZ Golf Cart, which is made by Easy Go Carts Inc.

20. Golf carts are intended for use as a method of transportation at golf courses due to their large size and the subsequent amount of required walking. Disneyland, like a golf course, is large in size and requires a lot of walking. Disneyland purchased such carts from Easy Go for the purpose of providing, for a fee, an alternative method of transportation within the park for guests who wished to take advantage of that option. This was the purpose for which it was being used at the time of the incident by Dat, a retiree.

21. Easy Go sent a letter dated August 1, 2009, to Disneyland, in which Easy Go notified Disneyland that there was a problem with the design of the 2009 RXZ Golf Cart’s brake and gas pedals. Testing showed that unless the pedals were greased during the monthly maintenance check, the pedals would stick.

22. Due to the defective design of the 2009 RXZ Golf Cart’s pedals, the gas pedal of the cart driven by Dat on July 1, 2009 stuck while he was driving it, preventing him from taking corrective measures once he realized the imminent danger of collision.

23. Plaintiff has been damaged by Easy Go’s defective design and has strict liability for those damages in an amount to be proven at trial.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Peter Plant prays that judgment be entered against the named defendants as follows:

For the First Count

1. For compensatory damages in an amount of $85,000 plus the cost of any follow-up visits to his physician and pre- and post prejudgment interest pursuant to Civil Code Section 3291.

For the Second Count

2. For damages according to proof at trial but no less than the jurisdictional minimum of this Court; and

3. For punitive damages.

For all Causes of Action

4. For attorneys’ fees and costs of suit incurred herein; and

5. For such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.

DATED: September 13, 2009

Pepperdine Associates
By: Amber M.
Attorneys for Plaintiff

Week 2...

Okay, first thing: I told everyone that I would post my address, and then I did not. Oops! So here it is:

Pepperdine School of Law
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy. #0228
Malibu, CA 90263-0228

Now that that is taken care of, I have a few other things to say. First, let’s talk about my books. I did, as some of you may recall, spend way too much money on my books this year. They were ridiculously expensive. (They’re just 1L case books; it’s not like they contain the secret to life or the formula for world peace or something!) So can someone please explain to me why my ridiculously expensive books are already showing signs of wear? I’m not just talking a bent page or two either, I’m talking about all those pretty black and gold titles on the cover and spine wearing away! Seriously! I’ve only been carrying them to and from class for the last two weeks. There is no way they should be looking so worn already. For the kind of money I paid, the publisher should be using indestructible inks and foils on my book covers, sheesh!

And now for the weather. While I am happy that the weather here in Malibu is so warm (I am hearing reports from my beloved Portland of sweaters and scarves, and I laugh at you! Muahahaha! I think I shall go to the beach today… insert evil smiley face here), I wouldn’t mind if it were a little less so. Last week was so hot! And muggy. We were struggling with our tiny, inadequate fans just to get a bit of air movement through the apartment. And then our professors come zooming into class (in their suits): “Is it hot in here, are you guys hot? Here let me crank the AC all the way up!” So there we are, dressed in tank tops and shorts and flip-flops, FREEZING because the professor feels the need to compensate for the outdoor temperature. I’ve begun toting a sweatshirt to class with me, because I would like to survive long enough to graduate law school, and frostbite has never been my preferred method of dying. At least the temp has decided to drop the last few days so the weather has cooled noticeably and things are finally pretty comfortable here (although they’re still blazing on the other side of the canyon. Whew!)

As for school itself, things are both picking up and slowing down. The workload isn’t as bad now that I know a little better what I am doing, but the assignments are getting bigger, it’s time to start outlining, and professors have started to say things like “you won’t need to know this for the exam, but you’ll need to know this and this and this…” (Keep in mind that there is only one exam, the final in December. It’s the only grade, literally. So for the professors to be talking about it in September…it’s a little stressful.)

Also, I finally got called on this week. Three times. The first was a little disastrous—the prof. asked a question about a case, but didn’t tell me which case it was. So I asked, and he said “the first one.” Which first one? The first one we discussed in class that day? The first one we discussed that week? The first one ever? (Keep in mind that discuss three to five cases per class per day…that adds up to a lot of cases!) Just as I figured out which one he wanted, he called on someone else. Failure! Not entirely my fault, but still embarrassing! So of course he called on me the next day so that I could redeem myself, and it was fine, but even so…I still have not been called on to actually go over a case brief, however. I am fully okay with this though.

On the upside, I think I’m going to love my new church. Goldman recommended that I start at Conejo Valley CoC, so that’s what I did. My roommate and I liked it so well that we’ve decided to attend there on a regular basis. There are some definite differences (they have women do bible readings there for instance, which is really weird for me) but other than that, they’re CoC as usual. And they might well be the most visitor friendly congregation I’ve ever been to. They are so loving and friendly! Our first Sunday there, we were invited out to lunch. When we declined (we were nowhere near finished reading for the first day of class) and explained that might be easier for us in a couple of weeks when we’d figured out the swing of things, we were told that they would hold us to that and that we would be expected to go out to lunch with them in the very near future.

This last week, the preacher and three or four other people caught us on our way out the door for introductions because they didn’t recognize us and they wanted to say hello and make us feel welcome. When we expressed an interest in staying and getting involved, and mentioned that we liked Conejo because it’s a family-oriented congregation (can we say kids everywhere? It’s what we wanted in a SoCal church home, so it’s good, but so many kids!), they started pointing out who we needed to talk to to get involved in the children’s ministries. We both felt very uplifted when we left, which we decided was a good thing since we are going to be spending most of our time in a very stressful environment. I really hate trying to find, and then get settled in at, a new church (especially with a home congregation like Cordova! Who can compare?), but I really feel like Conejo is going to make that transition easy, and even enjoyable. It’s a huge relief.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. I’m mostly over the weird cold/allergies thing I had going on this last week, so my roommate has (mostly) stopped following me around with Lysol spray and Clorox wipes. We have some kind of baking spree going on apparently, with some new goody being made at least once a week. (This week, I’ll be making banana pudding). I finally got my room set up, and will be taking pictures to post here or on Facebook sometime in the next few days. And this long weekend has been absolutely lovely, both for getting things done and for relaxing (we went out to see a movie last night with our neighbors, which was a lot of fun). Maybe I’ll actually feel ready when classes start up again tomorrow! (Although, I still don’t want to be called on!)