# Just...shrug your shoulders and move onto the next thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 4, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780 "2001-12-04T04:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/1 "2001-12-04T04:09:24Z")
Fuckity fuck fuck fuck! Holy fucking shit this fucking sucks! 200 pages left to go tonight and miles to go before I sleep. I should really make some coffee or something. That’s really a good idea because caffeine is good. 1500 pages down, 500 to go. T minus 131 hours, 5 minutes, 4 seconds and counting. And what of it anyway? Huh? Who the fuck gives a god damn rats ass whether police have the right to adverse possession of my illegal drugs if my dead grandmother’s hearsay tip led them to the car in the first place? If I make a contract with you to shove a red hot peppercorn up your ass, must I also include fireworks and scales as consideration? Will my prior bad acts come into play if I take the stand saying I sexually assaulted a dog while filing a countersuit to the illegal aliens who have claimed squaters rights on my missurveyed property? You’re all fucking bullshit and I want it all out of my head right now, you hear me? Or at the very least I want you to all line up single file and dance down onto the page at the appropriate time. Lord knows I’ve tried to corral all you thoughts for a week now. I’ve given up. You’re on your own. You fucking hear that subconcious? You here that ego? Id, you listening? I’ve given up on the lot of you. Fucking suck nitrous and mentally masturbate to the victoria’s secret catalog for all I fucking care. Brain, I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. But if you help me pass these tests, I’ll go back to killing you with beer. Tons and tons. Pabst blue ribbon vats full that you can swim through like that guy from the Green Team before Michael J Fox got the blue team kicked out. FUCKING CONCENTRATE!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!1 pant pant pant. Wow. I think I’m feeling better now. Thanks SDMB ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/2 "2001-12-04T05:34:39Z")
**Ender** , I’m not sure if you need a hug or a switch to decaf. Good luck with the tests either way. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/3 "2001-12-04T13:31:50Z")
Ahhhhh! The 1L blues. Just fight your way through it. It’ll get better. Actually, I recently had to deal with a deed from the United States to a public development agency for conservation purposes for a term of years coterminous with a development lease, with a remainder to a municipality, with the municipality having a right of defeasance under certain circumstances and the United States having a right of reverter under other circumstances. I had a serious first-year property flashback, and realized that if I had gotten that deed on an exam I would have soiled myself. If I were cruel I would have copied the deed and sent it to my property professor for the torture of later classes. The scary things is that the warped situations that you think came out of the twisted brains of law professors do come up in practice with some frequency. Just try to break the problems down into their compenent parts. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/4 "2001-12-04T14:33:19Z")
Heh. Like a trust that resolves to _nothing_? Send the deed, **Billdo**. Future students will have warstories to tell their colleagues over cocktails. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/5 "2001-12-04T14:51:53Z")
But I’m seriously freaking. I didn’t think I’d do that. I thought I’d be calm but I’m not. l’m not ready. Not a chance. And a week isn’t going to change that. Please everyone keep me away from clocktowers. **Billdo** , that was hilarious, I know my prof is going to find your deed and use it on the exam. OK, you think exam questions come from real life? Really? Allow me to relate to you one of my torts exam questions from this summer. This is to the best of my ability to remember…I’m sure I’m missing a few details: On street X, there is a motorcycle travelling East towards streey Y. Also on street X, there’s a van travelling West towards street Y. The people in the van aren’t wearing seatbelts. On street Y, there’s a sports car going in excess of the speed limit towards street X. At the X, Y street junction is a bus stop with an old man who is walking across the crosswalk. Across the street is the bus depot where a man is up on the roof trying to change a sign despite not having the requisite knowledge to do this. Behind the bus depot is a park where two people are flying identical model airplanes. One of the planes hits the man up on the roof and he falls over the side onto another building owned by Z. The sports car on street Y has to swerve to avoid the old man crossing the road and hits the van instead. The motorcycle hits all of them because the accident can’t be avoided. The wheel of the motorcycle flies off and lands on the already crushed roof that the guy fixing the sign had landed on previously. The roof collapses. That’s the setup. That’s not the question. That’s the freaking setup! The question was actually question **s**. Broken up into **24 parts!**. This was just ONE of the question on the test. I answered 21 parts, ran out of time, and answered the last three 22) yes 23) no 24) only on Tuesdays And now I have to deal with 5 of these tests. I need to study some more. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/6 "2001-12-04T15:45:38Z")
I think **Ender** ’s OP made more sense than **Billdo** ’s post. 😉 Besta luck with the exams, buckomelad! ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/7 "2001-12-04T15:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Brain, I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. But if you help me pass these tests, I’ll go back to killing you with beer. Giggle. Good luck, Enderw. Is there any way you can find a Law and Order marathon on cable somewhere to take your mind off things? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/8 "2001-12-04T15:54:27Z")
:shrug: Next thread, coming up . . . ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/9 "2001-12-04T16:13:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by magdalene \* > \*\*Good luck, Enderw. Is there any way you can find a Law and Order marathon on cable somewhere to take your mind off things? \*\* No. A strange thing has happened since I entered law school I started yelling back at the television. Object, you moron, that’s Hearsay! What do you mean withdrawn? He hasn’t given a basis for the objection! You can’t approach the witness like that! It’s pathetic, really. I think L&O would just rile me up even more. I know the Practice did, this last Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/10 "2001-12-04T16:25:24Z")
> [@](#): > > **The roof collapses.** Hey! I think I saw that on the news! Seriously, there are weirder things than even that IRL. Not often, but they do happen. Sailing craft A, owned by Z, but leased to operator X, participating in a regatta organized by Y, fails to yield right-of-way to Vessel B, which is carrying hazardous waste without complying with applicable state and federal regulations, and is out compliance with applicable Coast Guard safety regulations. Vessel B alters course and crosses the channel centerline, violating the right-of-way of a foriegn warship leaving harbor and it’s US Military escort. The Warship is under the control of a harbor pilot, as is container vessel C, following closely behind the warship. The warship alters speed to avoid collision, causing the container ship C to alter course to avoid colliding with the warship, resulting in collision between vessel B and ship C, and a subsequent toxic waste spill in the harbor. Who pays for the clean-up? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/11 "2001-12-04T16:39:16Z")
[_shrug_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=102420&goto=next) ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/12 "2001-12-04T16:52:53Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* **OK, you think exam questions come from real life? Really?** Actually, look for some variation of the following hypothetical coming soon to a torts exam near you: \*You represent a tenant in an office building complex W. The complex W is owned by a public authority formed under a multi-state compact P, but was recently leased by ground lease to a consortium of private developers D. A group of terrorists T, controlled by a Saudi national living in Afganastan O, board an airplane owned by airline A. The terrorists T take box cutters past the employees of security firm S hired by airline A. Because of the procedures used by airline A as recommended by federal agency F, the terrorists T are able to hijack the airplane with the box cutters and fly the plane into office complex W. Office complex W was built by designed by architect R to sustain an airplane crash, but its support members were originally designed to be insulated with asbestos. As it was being built by construction firm C, however, the use of asbestos was discontinued due to governmental regulation. The airplane’s crash into office complex W caused a fuel fire that eventually buckled the support members, causing office complex W to collapse, destroying your client’s office space. Who is liable to your client for damages and why?\* Tell me that’s not as wacky as any thing that can come from the twisted mind of a law professor. {By the way, remember that bees are domestic animals, not wild animals, when innocents are attacked.) ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/13 "2001-12-04T16:57:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tranquilis \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > **The roof collapses.** > > Hey! I think I saw that on the news! > > Seriously, there are weirder things than even that IRL. Not often, but they do happen. > > Sailing craft A, owned by Z, but leased to operator X, participating in a regatta organized by Y, fails to yield right-of-way to Vessel B, which is carrying hazardous waste without complying with applicable state and federal regulations, and is out compliance with applicable Coast Guard safety regulations. Vessel B alters course and crosses the channel centerline, violating the right-of-way of a foriegn warship leaving harbor and it’s US Military escort. The Warship is under the control of a harbor pilot, as is container vessel C, following closely behind the warship. The warship alters speed to avoid collision, causing the container ship C to alter course to avoid colliding with the warship, resulting in collision between vessel B and ship C, and a subsequent toxic waste spill in the harbor. > > Who pays for the clean-up? \*\* Wait, I know this one. The ships were carrying blue and red paint, and both crews are marooned, right? Right? ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/14 "2001-12-04T17:41:13Z")
Hi **Ender**! Welcome to Hell. Restrooms to the right, quadruple espresso and Mountain Dew are in the kitchen. Take a deep breath, man. You’ll do fine. If you’ve paid reasonable attention to the profs during the semester and made a half-assed attempt at reviewing the cases you’re OK. It’ll come when you need it. And remember, if **Zappo** could do it, so can you! 😉 Zap! Six years out and still getting the shivers thinking about shifting and springing executory interests _Aaargh! Fixed the frickin’ coding! - UB_ [Edited by UncleBeer on 12-04-2001 at 04:21 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/15 "2001-12-04T18:02:42Z")
Aaargh. Frickin’ coding. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/16 "2001-12-04T22:14:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Weirddave \* > **Wait, I know this one. The ships were carrying blue and red paint, and both crews are marooned, right?** Har! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/17 "2001-12-04T23:28:34Z")
If y’all wanna see the Torts final I took back in '99, my professor put it online [here](http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/cochran/Torts/tortsexam99.htm). Behold, the first problem: > [@](#): > > Jack and Jill met in their Torts class during their first week at Big University School of Law. Big University is located in Anywhere, which is the capital of the state of Euphoria. Jack and Jill became friends and would often go to dinner, movies, and nightclubs together. Jack lived off campus and would usually drive when he and Jill went out. In addition, Jill would sometimes buy liquor for Jack, who, at 20 years of age, was under the legal drinking age in Euphoria. > > On the eve of Jack’s 21st birthday in mid-January, Jill threw him a party and invited other members of their Torts class. Because Jill lived on campus in a small dorm room, a friend offered her house for the party. Jill planned a special celebration and purchased two large kegs of beer and some other items from Anywhere Liquor Store at about 8 p.m. When Jack arrived at 10 p.m., the party was well underway. Jack paid the $5 “cover charge” and walked into the house. It was packed with students and their guests, and Jill was busy serving beer from a keg. At other times, however, the party guests served themselves. > > At midnight, Jill popped the cork of a bottle of champagne and playfully “forced” Jack to drink about one third of the bottle in “chug-a-lug” style. She then drank about one third and proceeded to pour the rest over Jack’s head while singing “Jack is finally legal.” > > Jack and Jill returned to drinking beer for the remainder of the evening. They spoke three or four more times that night before Jack left the party at about 1 a.m. > > Meanwhile, at about 1 a.m., John Wilkes was using one of several phone booths located at the corner of 1st Street, which runs in an east-west direction, and West Avenue, which runs in a north-south direction. This intersection is one of the busiest in Anywhere and annually places in the top 10 locations for the most car accidents in the city. The phone booths were installed by the Euphoria Telephone Company (ETC) on the west sidewalk of West Avenue, beginning approximately 15 feet south of 1st Street and set back from West Avenue approximately 4 feet. The phone booths are located in front of the Anywhere Liquor Store, where John works. > > After his shift ended at 10 p.m. and the store closed, John went to his car, parked in the lot just south of the store, and discovered that his car battery was dead. He then went to the pay phones to call the Euphoria Automobile Association (EAA) for assistance. His minor problem soon turned into a major hassle. Time passed and John waited in his car because of the bitter mid-January cold, but no EAA truck came. John made four follow-up calls, and each time EAA operators apologized for the delay, promising that a truck would arrive within 30 minutes. Each time the EAA operator told John to remain with his car. Finally, at 1 a.m., John called again and demanded to speak to a supervisor. > > By the time the supervisor was on the line talking with John, Jack had begun his journey home which took him southbound on West Avenue. At the intersection of 1st Street, Jack lost control of his car. > > In the phone booth, John was talking to the EAA supervisor and looked up to see Jack’s car headed for the phone booth. John attempted to flee, but the phone booth door jammed, trapping him inside. John was severely injured when Jack’s car struck the phone booth. > > At the scene of the accident, police tested Jack’s blood alcohol level and discovered that it was almost twice the legal limit for Euphoria. > > When John regained consciousness, he told police that the phone booths had been struck twice in the past 18 months, both times by drunk drivers, though the booths fortunately had been vacant at the time of those accidents. John said that he did not like using the phone booths because of their dangerous location, but he felt that he had little choice given the weather that night. > > An investigator later discovered that the door of the phone booth jammed because it had not been lubricated in over a year. Customarily, ETC lubricates the doors of their phone booths about every 3 months. > > You are an associate at Whizbang, Gottum & Cochran. John has come to your firm to handle his case, and you have been assigned to determine whether John has an action in tort against any of the following possible defendants: Jack, Jill, Jill’s friend who owned the house, EAA, ETC, and the owner of Anywhere Liquor Store. > > You discovered in your research that the applicable standard of liability is negligence and that Euphoria courts apply the “foreseeability test” when determining proximate cause. Although the Euphoria legislature has been unwilling to enact a dram shop statute, it long ago enacted a criminal statute with the following provisions: “Every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be sold, furnished, or given away, any alcoholic beverage to any habitual or common drunkard or to any obviously intoxicated person is guilty of a misdemeanor.” > > Write a memo to your supervising attorney discussing whether actions in tort should be brought against the possible defendants, and discuss whether any of them might have defenses because of John’s actions. So, how many defendants can YOU find? And there were two more problems after that…\>shudder\< ---
**Author:** ![zoony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e99b99/32.png) [@zoony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoony)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/18 "2001-12-05T00:10:07Z")
**Ender** , I don’t know if you deserve more pity for going through what you’re going through, or if I deserve it for identifying with your rant within the first several words. Console yourself with the knowledge that real world of practise is about as exciting as imagining watching paint dry, 90% of the time. What you’re experiencing now is about 25 practise-years worth of excitement in 84 weeks time. There’s a twisted part of me that would like to go back to an exam situation and answer those impossibly perfect questions with what happens in the real world. [sub]oh yeah, and you get paid…[/sub] z ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-shrug-your-shoulders-and-move-onto-the-next-thread/96780/19 "2001-12-05T00:54:23Z")
Then there are those of us whose clients include a rock star and a beer company. Keep that in mind–there really is a payoff! 😃