Download Civil Procedure: Distinguishing Corporate and Individual Treatment in Mortgage Disputes and more Exams Civil procedure in PDF only on Docsity! EXAM#____________ Page 14 of 17 Lund/ Civil Procedure I/ Final 2012FL Part II: Short Answer Questions (5 pts. each, 15 pts. total) Recommended Time: 25 minutes 1. Civil procedure has some laws that take the form of a clear “rule” and other laws that take more the form of a “standard.” What is the difference? Give an example of each. What is the benefit of having a clear rule? When might it be better to use a standard? 2. In what ways do the laws of civil procedure treat a corporation differently than an individual? (Give some examples.) Why might civil procedure treat a corporation differently than an individual? 3. What are some of the procedural safeguards for the due process clause? How do these safeguards help ensure that people are not “deprived of . . . property, without due process of law”? End of Short Answer Questions Continue to Essay Question EXAM#____________ Page 15 of 17 Lund/ Civil Procedure I/ Final 2012FL Part III: Essay Question (35 points) Recommended Time: 1 hour 35 minutes Professor Lund (CA) has decided to buy a house in Louisiana where her cousins live. She Googles “mortgage quotes,” which directs her to a site that aggregates various quotes from hundreds of different banks. You cannot apply for a mortgage on the site, rather it is just an aggregator site, i.e. compiles information from the banks’ own websites. In addition to giving the basic information about the lender, it also provides a link to the lender’s own website, as well as a “contact lender” form that asks for your Name, Phone, Email, and Message (“I am interested in this quote”), which then sends the bank an email with your address in the “From” line, as if you had emailed them yourself. Banks are aware of this site and can opt out of having their information posted on the site, but few choose to do so. Professor Lund selects several banks and “contacts” them. She later gets a call on her cell phone while in California from a sales representative from the Kansas National Bank (Kansas), who gets her basic information over the phone to start the application process. The Bank does business in all 50 states. Professor Lund exchanges many emails with her mortgage broker, including the official agreement guaranteeing a quoted rate of 3.25%, as long as the mortgage is finalized within 60 days. She emails her broker about whether 60 days is enough time and is assured, “Don’t worry, we’ll have the mortgage finalized way before the 60 day time limit.” Based on that promise, Professor Lund signs the agreement. Things do not go as planned. Her broker frequently delays responding to her emails or forgets to ask her to obtain certain things. By the time Professor Lund closes the purchase on the home, it has been 90 days and mortgage rates have skyrocketed to where Professor Lund will have to pay $60,000 more in interest over the life of the loan. The bank is federally insured, “FDIC.” Consequently, it is subject to various federal regulations, including disclosure rules on the amount of interest the bank will charge. 1. Can Professor Lund sue Kansas National Bank in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Louisiana (W.D. La., where the home is located) for breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress? If not, where would be appropriate? 2. How can Professor Lund serve the Bank with process in the W.D. La.? What if Lund had sued in California federal court; how could she serve the Bank then? 3. The Bank moves to transfer venue to the U.S. District Court of Kansas (D. Kans). Can they? If the transfer of venue were granted, which state’s choice of law provision would apply? 4. Assume that Kansas substantive law would apply to this case. The Bank asserts that Professor Lund’s complaint was not sufficiently detailed. Kansas courts have been so congested with mortgage disputes that judges have started requiring a heightened standard of pleading for mortgage related claims, i.e. that the complaint specify exactly what statements were made on which dates. Professor Lund concedes that her complaint does not satisfy the Kansas state standard. However, she argues that FRCP 8 should apply, which only requires that the complaint contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,” which she believes her complaint clearly satisfies. What law should the federal court apply? END OF EXAM
