Tort Law Assignment Legal Advice for Ross and Rachel’s Claims

Specification

After a long “on-again, off-again” relationship, Ross and Rachel got engaged last Christmas and they decided to celebrate with a romantic weekend away over St. Brigid’s Day Bank Holiday. They booked a deluxe suite in The Cliff View Hotel—a newly opened five-star hotel in Connemara—for three nights, but the trip did not go entirely to plan.

After arriving at the hotel on Friday evening, they decided to head to the bar for a drink. However, as Rachel sat down, the seat of her bar stool slipped off the base due to a loose screw and she fell to the floor. She fell heavily on her left side, hitting her shoulder and head off the floor. Hotel staff immediately came to her assistance and asked if she wanted help back to her room but, embarrassed, Rachel insisted she was fine and took a seat on a lower armchair.

Some time after midnight, and after several drinks, Rachel and Ross left the bar to head back to their hotel room. However, while walking down the stairs, Rachel felt dizzy and lightheaded, and she lost her footing and fell forward down the last eight steps of the stairs. Ross, who was walking behind Rachel, tried to grab her as she fell, but he also lost his footing and fell down the stairs, landing on top of Rachel. They were both shaken and in pain but were able to get up and make it back to their hotel room.

When Ross and Rachel awoke on Saturday morning, they both had aches and pains all over and Rachel had a very bad headache. As a result, they decided to relax in the hotel and spent most of the day in the jacuzzi and sauna.

By Sunday morning, Ross and Rachel were feeling slightly better and were anxious to get out and about, so they decided to head on the 6km cliff walk which was advertised in the hotel reception. The route commenced in a forested area beside the hotel and then continued along the coast with high cliffs on one side. All of the land on which the route is situate is owned and occupied by Land Holdings plc.

A short while into the walk, as Ross was crossing a bridge over a stream, one of the planks of wood on the base of the bridge snapped causing Ross’s leg to slip through the gap and suffer a severe gash. Ross managed to bandage his wound with an old scarf he was wearing and limped back to the hotel to rest.

Rachel decided to carry on with the walk. When she reached the cliff section, there was a barbed wire fence on the cliff side of the walk, which prevented her getting a “selfie” at the edge of the cliff. After some distance, Rachel spotted a gap in the fence, which she was able to slip through to take a “selfie”. However, as she was walking back to the path, she slipped on some loose stones, causing her to fall and dislocate her left shoulder. Thankfully, although she was beside the edge of the cliff, Rachel was able to grab on to a large rock with her right arm to stop herself falling over the edge.

Rachel made her way back to the hotel, but she was in severe pain due to her dislocated shoulder and decided to take a shortcut across Farmer Joey’s field. As she was opening the gate (which was not locked), she noticed a sign reading “Trespassers must be able to outrun the bull!” and another reading “Notice under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995” with a lot of small writing underneath. Rachel ignored these signs, believing them to be a joke, and continued across the field. However, when she was halfway across the field, Rachel realised that there was a bull in the field and that it was charging at her. She ran as fast as she could to the other side and just managed to climb over the gate before the bull crashed into it. Realising that she could have been killed or seriously injured, Rachel became very anxious and “on edge” and has been unable to sleep and has been having repeated nightmares and intrusive thoughts about the incident since it occurred.

Stressed by the series of unfortunate events, Ross and Rachel had an argument at breakfast on Monday morning, which ended with Ross suggesting that they should “take a break” and not go ahead with the wedding.

Rachel now wishes to sue The Cliff View Hotel (and any other parties who may be liable) arising from the foregoing. She also wants to know if Ross would have a claim for damages in Tort Law for the injuries he suffered (in the hope that this might make him reconsider the proposed “break”).

Advise Rachel about any causes of action which she might have in Tort Law against The Cliff View Hotel or any other parties who might be liable, any causes of action which Ross might have in Tort Law and against whom such claims should be brought, and any factors which might affect the prospects of success of any such claims.

Instructions

Support your answer by reference to relevant sources.

Do not identify yourself on the assignment other than by stating your examination number on the cover page. (Your examination number is the number on the Portal. The cover page is in Moodle’s “Miscellaneous Documents” section.)

The assignment must comprise at least 2,000 words but must not exceed 2,500 words. State the precise word count on the cover page. Footnotes and the bibliography are excluded in reckoning the word count provided you use them only to acknowledge and cite sources. Words in additional text in footnotes are included in reckoning the word count.

Paginate the assignment. State the total number of pages on the cover page.

Word process the assignment using appropriate legal language and style (see chapter 7 of the Introduction to the Legal System Manual). Type in no smaller than 11pt font.

Plagiarism is prohibited (see Rule 29 of the Education Rules and pp. 21–22 of the Diploma Student Handbook). Acknowledge and cite all sources appropriately in both footnotes throughout the assignment and a bibliography at the end of it.

Compile a research trail for your assignment. For information about legal-research trails, see the below Research Trails—Guide, p. 93 of the Legal System Manual, and your notes about Legal Research and Writing—Tutorial 4. The trail must be no longer than two pages and is excluded in reckoning the word count.

Do not discuss the assignment with any person or attempt to obtain or confer a benefit by any improper means.

Retain a copy of the assignment.

The assignment accounts for 20% of the marks in this subject. As it is part of the assessment in Tort Law, it is subject to the regulations governing assessments.

King’s Inns will publish a provisional result for and feedback about the assignment. That result might not be the final one, as it will be subject to review by the External Examiner and Examination Board. King’s Inns will publish the final result after the Examination Board in June.

Submission and Deadline

Submit the assignment on both Moodle and Turnitin.

Do so no later than 6 p.m. on Monday, March 31.

The two electronic copies of the assignment must be identical.

Upon submitting the assignment on Moodle, you must sign an assignment-submission form. By doing so, you confirm that the assignment is exclusively your work.

The assignment’s submission on Moodle stops time running. The examiner corrects the copy you submit on Moodle. King’s Inns needs the Turnitin copy for plagiarism-detection purposes.

Assignments submitted after the deadline will fail automatically unless the Registrar had extended the submission deadline. An application for such an extension must be made to the Registrar before the deadline expires.

Research Trails—Guide

A research trail is a written record of your research methodology. Compiled while researching, a research trail details all the steps you took while researching, in the order you took them.

A good research trail demonstrates the following:

• You did your own research, and the assignment is your own work.
• You researched in a sensible and methodical way.
• You researched relevant and up-to-date sources.

Before researching, you should make a research plan. Because they help students adopt a more coherent and logical approach to research, research plans are a good time-management device. Making a research plan involves deciding:

• what needs to be done (what is being asked?).
• what information needs to be found (what do I need to know to answer the question?).
• where that information might be found, e.g., online databases, textbook indices.

Research plans and research trails are different. A research trail is a record of how exactly you researched in accordance with your research plan. Because they record research in detail, including where information was found, research trails help students avoid (i) duplication of work and (ii) plagiarism.

You should make a contemporaneous note of the steps you take, as you take them, when you research. This would ensure that you do not forget any steps. This note can then form the basis of your research trail.

In a series of numbered paragraphs, describe the sources you researched (noting whether primary or secondary source and hardcopy or electronic resource) and explain why you chose to use them. For example, the opening paragraphs of your research trail might say something like:

1. I began by consulting my notes about [relevant topic] for a good general idea of the key principles and sources. Then I looked up relevant chapters in the following textbooks to deepen my understanding: [list of textbooks and chapters].
2. Having read those textbook chapters, I decided that I should look at the following key primary sources: [e.g., relevant legislation and cases] I went to [e.g., Westlaw IE] to consult the consolidated legislation and I read the following sections: [list of sections]
3. Then I went to the following legal databases and carried out searches using the following terms: [list search terms]. That led me to find the following cases: [list of cases]

Your narrative should include a record of the relevant information you located (e.g., legislation, cases, and academic commentary). Set it out in a way that would allow another person to follow each of the steps you took.

Set out cross-referencing you carried out between sources to ensure the information you have located is accurate, including up to date.

If you researched using online resources, set out a record of the key words used to perform the most effective searches and the search strategies employed. You don’t have to detail every search.

As you carry out online searches, you should keep a record of your precise search, including the date on which the information was retrieved, and then record the most relevant information in your trail.

Make a note of what did not work (this can also be helpful particularly for developing future search strategies). If you found information that is irrelevant, set out why you disregarded that information and how you redirected your research.

Your research trail should end with you cross checking your references and bibliography.