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FE1 Exam Thread (Mod Warning: NO ADS)
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Hi All
Just wondering, does anyone else find it difficult to identify principles of negligence in a question been asked? ie: Causation, duty of Care? Or am I the only one. Im really finding this area the most difficult so far in the subject.
Has anyone any tips on how you'd identify it in prob q? It seems that the exmainer asks the question in such a way that it appears to be a total different area to what he is actually looking for... What am I doing wrong
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Hi All
Just wondering, does anyone else find it difficult to identify principles of negligence in a question been asked? ie: Causation, duty of Care? Or am I the only one. Im really finding this area the most difficult so far in the subject.
Has anyone any tips on how you'd identify it in prob q? It seems that the exmainer asks the question in such a way that it appears to be a total different area to what he is actually looking for... What am I doing wrong
It shouldn't be all that difficult, you're missing something. Gather up a few past papers and go and meet a solicitor for a coffee if you can, just look over the questions. If you're doing any intensive course it should be covered, ask if it's not. Take Q3 from last March:QUESTION THREE
Sam is an old age pensioner who lives in a large house in an isolated country area. His house is on the side of a hill and set well in from the road but he has a nice brick path leading from his gate to the front door. During recent unusually cold weather with very low temperatures, this path often froze over making it very icy.
Several times the postman has complained to Sam about just how dangerous the path was but Sam just kept saying that there was nothing he could do and that this cold snap was highly unusual. One night, Sam was watching a television programme talking about the lack of salt to grit the roads to prevent ice forming. Sam thinks this is a great idea and begins to spread table salt over his path in preparation for the postman the following morning. The ice begins to melt almost instantly and Sam was very pleased. However, as the temperature continues to drop the melted ice re¬freezes.
Around midnight, while Sam was asleep, William was driving past Sam's house when his car broke down. Seeing that there was a light on in Sarn's house, William decided that he would see if he could get help. While William was walking up the path he noticed that it was very slippy. William was about to get off the path when he slipped, sliding down a steep embankment which had been obscured by some hedging. As a result of the fall, William broke his leg and could not move. Despite calling at the top of his voice no one came to his aid. The postman found William the next morning suffering from severe frostbite.
Advise William of any potential claim in tort against Sam for these events.
Causation of the injury - neglected path, icy path, broken-down car, or simply the exceptionally cold weather? Apply the 'but for' test - 'but for the wha' - Wm wouldn't be hurt'?
Duty of care - maybe yes to the postman obviously, but how foreseeable is it that a stranger (in law and in the colloquial sense) will come up the path in the middle of the night? Statutory duty owed under the OL Act? Is Wm a visitor, licensee or trespasser? What standard is owed to each category?
Has there been reasonable discharge of the duty of care - the salt?
I personally wouldn't find that difficult, I think if you talked through a few questions with someone you ought to pick up how to analyse the fact patterns.
Q4 in March 2010 was a classic essay:QUESTION FOUR
The distinction between causation and remoteness is one that is neither helpful nor desirable in our legal system as they are really the same question asked in a different form.
Critically discuss this statement referring to relevant authority.
You could do worse than preparing the bones of an answer to a question like that, if you like doing essays. It is framed in a very conceptual way. Keeping the question in mind, read the chapters in McMahon & Binchy on causation & remoteness, and just jot down the best points that will make up your essay. The exercise should help you absorb the key principles of each concept from an exam question viewpoint.
PS - I scan my exam papers for my own records, I didn't spent all morning typing this!0 -
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Hi All
Just wondering, does anyone else find it difficult to identify principles of negligence in a question been asked? ie: Causation, duty of Care? Or am I the only one. Im really finding this area the most difficult so far in the subject.
Has anyone any tips on how you'd identify it in prob q? It seems that the exmainer asks the question in such a way that it appears to be a total different area to what he is actually looking for... What am I doing wrong
I'd be inclined to suggest that the principles of negligence tend to be very straight forward, and are to be discussed exactly in the same manner as you find them in many text-books. The difficulty as you suggest is that the questions are often framed in a manner that makes you second guess which principles to focus on.
I always found that the best way to approach the questions is to first identify the potential plaintiff/s and defendant/s.
Then for Common Law Negligence I'd next examine the facts using the elements of Proximity and Foreseeability, to determine if there is a Duty of Care owed. This is mostly a given, but it needs to be addressed none the less as it's a required proof.
If a statutory duty applies, that would need to be examined and identified.
It would have to be shown that the defendant breached the duty of care owed to the plaintiff, by not meeting the requisite standard. It should be noted that there are various different standards owed by and to different classes of individuals. Case-law and statute law inform these standards.
One would have to be satisfied that a recoverable harm has been suffered, that the damage isn't too remote and that the breach of duty has caused the injury suffered by the plaintiff. This analysis will often involve discussion of multiple causes, Novus Actus, and Legal and Factual Causes, among other potential issues.
The above analysis should be carried out in your head while you read the question. If you think you can relate each of the elements of a negligence action to the facts of a particular question, then you can be 80% sure you've probably identified the question properly. It can be very difficult in the exam due to the fact that the questions, as you pointed out are often hard enough to classify on the spot, particularly under the pressure of time management.
Typically, if you have misidentified a question, and know your material, you will realise that at an early stage of attempting to answer the question, so don't panic, just put a line through it and work on.
After identifying the broad area of Tort/Negligence that the question falls within, a second and third reading of the question should indicate what principles need to be focused on as opposed to being just mentioned. These will always be the principles that arise from facts within the question which tend to give rise to contentious issues.
Make sure you know all about how courts deal differently with Pure Economic Loss, and why they treat this category of loss differently. Also know why there are different standards of care. Aside from the obvious reason that such will most likely arise in some form or other on the paper, being able to understand why different rules apply will give you a better overall understanding of the basic principles of Negligence.0 -
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