The following are the work products from my trial practice class.
In this case, Elroy Fudd purchased a casket called the “Golden Finished Pine” model from Bell’s Funeral Home for his grandmother Myra Fudd’s funeral. During the graveside service, as pallbearers carried the casket containing Myra Fudd’s body up a hill to the burial site, the handle broke off the casket. This caused the casket to fall to the ground and Myra Fudd’s body to roll out and down the hill.
Fudd and others witnessed this traumatic incident. Fudd claims he has suffered severe emotional distress requiring treatment by psychologists and others. He sued Caskets-R-Us, the manufacturer of the casket, alleging the casket was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous (strict liability claim) and that Caskets-R-Us breached the implied warranty of merchantability.
Caskets-R-Us denies the allegations and argues that Fudd and Bell’s Funeral Home, which sold Fudd the casket, were negligent. Caskets-R-Us claims Bell’s should not have sold that particular casket model for someone as heavy as Fudd’s 425-pound grandmother.
My partner and I represented Caskets-R-Us as defendants in this action.
Case Files
Below are the files presented to us, filed by myself or my partner, and filed by opposing counsel.
Initial case file (Complaint, Answer, Prepared Exhibits) – August 22, 2023
Defendant’s Sept 12 Offer of Judgement (Jackson Lanier) – September 12, 2023
The certificate of service for the offer of judgment was only created because my professor needed to know what was given to opposing counsel.