Legal Memorandum – Duty, Actual and Proximate Cause

Legal Memorandum – Duty, Actual and Proximate Cause
Review the fact pattern below.

Prepare a MEMORANDUM addressing the following:
Identification and analysis of all potential defendants including
Duty owed
Whether duty was breached
Whether actual cause can be established
Whether proximate cause can be established
Identify any potential issues of contribution or indemnification (assume that the state legislature for your state has adopted the doctrine of joint and several liability)
Module 7 Fact Pattern(Attached)

Legal Memorandum – Duty, Actual and Proximate Cause
The accident involving cars driven by Lisa and the college student led to the injuries, abrasions, and bruises on Alexis. The accident happened due to the failure of the drivers. All the drivers had challenges that resulted in the accident. The accidents could have been stopped if they had taken the appropriate measures as well as observing the traffic rules. The accidents details gave rise to potential defendants, the duty owed, actual cause, proximate cause and potential issues of contribution.
To start with, the potential defendants, in this case, are the two drivers (Rasband, 2003). Both the drivers Lisa and the college students had mistakes that contributed to the accident. In this respect, the college students run the red lights by mistake and the breaks had failed leading to the accident. Also, Lisa failed to efficiently stop the car in time because she was driving while on the phone.
Consequently, the duty owed in this case entails standard of reasonable care that needs to be observed by the drivers (Dana, 2007). In this case, the drivers needed to ensure that their cars were in the right conditions and they were alert in the course of driving the vehicles. On the other hand, the duty was breached since the breaks in the car of the college student were not in the right condition and Lisa breached the duty as she was on her phone while still driving.
Finally, there were the actual and proximate causes in the accident (Ratner, 2001). The actual cause of the accident was the student running the red lights due to defects of the breaks. Also, the proximate cause of the accident was as a result of Lisa being on the phone while driving. In the case, that she was not on the phone she would be able to stop the car. Lastly, the potential causes of the accident included failure of the breaks and Lisa was on the phone while driving.
References
Dana, S. W. (2007). Implementing team-based learning in an introduction to law course. Journal of Legal Studies Education, 24(1), 59.
Rasband, J. R. (2003). Priority, Probability, and Proximate Cause: Lessons from Tort Law About Imposing ESA Responsibility for Wildlife Harm on Water Users and Other Joint Habitat Modifiers. Envtl. L., 33, 595.
Ratner, S. R. (2001). Corporations and human rights: a theory of legal responsibility. Yale Law Journal, 111(3), 443-546.