PROJECT FOR TORTS Project Overview — Case Analysis: John Jones and the Hockey Game Fight The project is cumulative, spanning the five weeks of this course. You will get hands-on experience through activities directly related to real-world job demands. For the assignment, assume you are an assisting paralegal preparing a personal injury case for trial under your attorney’s supervision based on the following facts: John Jones is the father of 10-year old Jimmy, who plays on a park district hockey team. Jones served as an assistant coach for the team this year. Neither the head coach nor Jones receives any pay for their work with the team as they work entirely on a volunteer basis. The Mustangs, as the team is known, were playing the Colts in a match one afternoon at the park district ice rink. During the game, as Jimmy was chasing down the puck, he lost his footing and fell, tripping opposing player Andy as he went down. Andy got up and smacked Jimmy with his hockey stick. John yelled at Andy and yelled at the referee to do something about the boy’s conduct. Andy was sent to the penalty box. Andy’s father Alan came out of the stands and punched John in the face. John wants to sue Alan, Andy and the park district, so he comes to your law office to discuss the matter. Over the course of the class, you will analyze and prepare this case for trial. For all assignments, assume jurisdiction is the state of Texas. During the course, you will complete the following:  In Week 1, you will prepare interview sheets to interview your client and any other person related to the case.  In Week 2, you will draft an attorney demand letter to the defendants and a contingency fee agreement for your client for the injuries he sustained.  In Week 3, you will draft a complaint against the defendants for your client’s personal injuries.  In Week 4, you will draft written interrogatories and requests for admissions to be served on a defendant in your client’s case.  In Week 5, you will draft a settlement agreement to be presented to the defendants. Note: Late assignments will not receive full credit. Grading criteria are based on your ability to demonstrate:  Critical thinking/ legal analysis  Accuracy in identifying legal issues and applicable laws  Originality  Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling  Properly formatted legal documents and/or legal citations NOTE: The Project assignment is completed incrementally on a weekly basis. Please retain this project for your portfolio. Project Assignment for Week 1 Draft Interview Sheet As a paralegal, you will be asked frequently to conduct or to sit in on client interviews, whether initial consultations or follow-up or phone-based interviews. Taking the time before client meetings to draft a list of questions will help you not only to be prepared to make the most efficient use of everyone’s time but also will provide a ...

1. PROJECT FOR TORTS
Project Overview — Case Analysis: John Jones and the Hockey
Game Fight
The project is cumulative, spanning the five weeks of this
course. You will get hands-on
experience through activities directly related to real-world job
demands.
For the assignment, assume you are an assisting paralegal
preparing a personal injury case for
trial under your attorney’s supervision based on the following
facts:
John Jones is the father of 10-year old Jimmy, who plays on a
park district hockey team. Jones
served as an assistant coach for the team this year. Neither the
head coach nor Jones receives any
pay for their work with the team as they work entirely on a
volunteer basis. The Mustangs, as the
team is known, were playing the Colts in a match one afternoon
at the park district ice rink.
During the game, as Jimmy was chasing down the puck, he lost
his footing and fell, tripping

2. opposing player Andy as he went down. Andy got up and
smacked Jimmy with his hockey stick.
John yelled at Andy and yelled at the referee to do something
about the boy’s conduct. Andy was
sent to the penalty box. Andy’s father Alan came out of the
stands and punched John in the face.
John wants to sue Alan, Andy and the park district, so he comes
to your law office to discuss the
matter.
Over the course of the class, you will analyze and prepare this
case for trial. For all assignments,
assume jurisdiction is the state of Texas.
During the course, you will complete the following:
your client and any other
person related to the case.
defendants and a contingency
fee agreement for your client for the injuries he sustained.
for your client’s personal
injuries.

3. for admissions to be served
on a defendant in your client’s case.
presented to the defendants.
Note: Late assignments will not receive full credit. Grading
criteria are based on your ability to
demonstrate:
NOTE: The Project assignment is completed incrementally on a
weekly basis. Please
retain this project for your portfolio.
Project Assignment for Week 1
Draft Interview Sheet
As a paralegal, you will be asked frequently to conduct or to sit

4. in on client interviews, whether
initial consultations or follow-up or phone-based interviews.
Taking the time before client
meetings to draft a list of questions will help you not only to be
prepared to make the most
efficient use of everyone’s time but also will provide a starting
point for identifying some of the
potential legal actions, issues, and defenses involved.
Keep in mind you probably will have more questions that need
to be answered once the client
has given you the information you requested, so you need to
plan accordingly with your time and
materials.
Week 1 Tasks
Your supervising attorney asks you to interview John regarding
his potential lawsuit. Draft an
interview sheet. It should include the questions you will ask him
to determine whether your law
firm should represent John in his case. Additionally, identify at
least three (3) others you will
want to interview.
Prepare the interview sheet as Microsoft Word documents and
submit it to the W1: Project

5. Dropbox.
Name your document
SUO_LGS1004_W1_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.
On a separate page, cite all sources using the Bluebook. Note:
The Project assignment is
completed incrementally on a weekly basis. Please retain this
project for your portfolio.
Project Assignment for Week 2
Demand Letter and Contingency Fee Agreement
Along with composing memoranda, a paralegal’s legal writing
skills come into play in drafting
other legal documents, whether as part of client communication
or court filings. In this exercise,
you’ll be drafting an attorney demand letter to opposing counsel
and the defendant, as well as a
contingency fee agreement for your own client to agree to and
sign.
Week 2 Tasks

6. Draft two documents, an attorney demand letter to the
defendants and a contingency fee
agreement for your client, John, for the firm to represent him in
a lawsuit for the personal
injuries he sustained.
Using the case information as a guide, make up any information
required to complete the
contingency fee agreement.
Note: You may use Westlaw Formfinder as a guideline. Cite all
sources according to Bluebook
format.
Submit your documents in a Word document to the W2: Project
Dropbox.
Name your document
SUO_LGS1004_W2_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.
Sample fee agreement:
http://www.legalforms.name/Service%20agreements%20forms/c
ontingentfeeretainer.pdf
Project Assignment for Week 3
Drafting a Complaint
Along with composing memoranda, a paralegal’s writing skills

7. come into play in drafting other
legal documents, whether as part of client communication or
court filings. In this exercise, you’ll
be drafting a complaint to be filed with the court. As such,
format is very important, as is the
ability to state a claim upon which the action is based, the
law(s) violated, the damages suffered,
and the remedies sought.
Week 3 Tasks
Draft one complaint against Alan, Andy, and the park district
for the personal injuries sustained
by John. Include separate counts if necessary. Cite all sources
using the Bluebook format.
Note: You may use Westlaw Formfinder as a guideline.
Submit your assignment in Microsoft Word format to the W3:
Project Dropbox.
Name your document
SUO_LGS1004_W3_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.
http://www.legalforms.name/Service%20agreements%20forms/c
ontingentfeeretainer.pdf
Project Assignment for Week 4

8. Drafting Interrogatories and Requests for Admissions
Another setting in which a paralegal’s legal writing skills come
into play is in the drafting of
legal documents for the pretrial phase of discovery. In this
exercise, you’ll be drafting both
written interrogatories and requests for admissions to be served
on the defendant and opposing
counsel. Most court rules limit the number of questions allowed,
so make sure your questions are
on-point and relevant to acquiring useful information for your
case.
Week 4 Tasks
Draft fifteen (15) interrogatories to be served on one of the
defendants in John's case in
Microsoft Word format.
In a separate document, draft ten (10) requests for admissions to
the same defendant in your
client’s case.
Submit the documents to the W4: Project Dropbox. Cite all
sources according to Bluebook
format.
Name your document

9. SUO_LGS1004_W4_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.
Project Assignment for Week 5
Settlement Agreement
Paralegals’ legal writing skills are used in the drafting of legal
documents not only in the pretrial
phase of discovery but also in negotiating and settling claims
between parties outside of court.
In this exercise, you’ll be drafting a settlement agreement to be
served on the defendants and
their opposing counsel for their consideration and, hopefully,
signature.
Sample Settlement Agreement
Sample Settlement and Release Agreement 1
Week 5 Tasks
All three defendants, Andy, Alan, and the park district, wish to
settle the case. Your supervising
attorney asks you to draft a settlement agreement that can be
presented to the defendants on the
case.
Draft the agreement, using one agreement for all three
defendants and submit as a Microsoft

10. Word document to the W5: Project Dropbox. Cite all sources
according to Bluebook format.
http://www.legaldocs.com/htsgif.d/xrelease.htm
Name your document
SUO_LGS1004_W5_A2_LastName_FirstInitial.doc.
REMEMBER: The Project assignment is completed
incrementally on a weekly basis. Please
retain this project for your portfolio.
CONTINGENT FEE RETAINER
STATE OF _________(1)________)
SS:
COUNTY OF ________(2)________)
KNOW YE ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS,
This Agreement is made and entered into this _(3)_ day of
________(4)________, ____
(5)_, by and between ________(6)_________, of

11. ___________(7)____________, hereinafter
called the "Attorney", and __________(8)__________, of
____________(9)______________,
hereinafter called the "Client".
WHEREAS, Client desires to initiate proceedings against
___________(10)_________,
of _____________(11)___________________, Client hereby
retains and employs Attorney to
prosecute said action to final judgment or to any other
settlement satisfactory to Client.
Client agrees to pay Attorney for his services under this
Agreement a sum equal to _(12)
_ percent of any monies or property obtained or received by
Client as the result of voluntary
compromise or other out-of-court settlement; _(13)_ percent if
received after judgment; and _(14)
_ percent if received by Client after appeal.
Client further agrees to reimburse Attorney for all proper
expenses incurred by Attorney
pertaining to such action or settlement.
Except as provided herein, Attorney shall not be entitled to any
other compensation from
Client for legal services related to this Agreement.
It is agreed between the parties hereto that Attorney shall have a
lien for payment of his
fee on all monies or property obtained, received or recovered by
compromise, settlement,
judgment or any other means whatsoever.
In the event legal action is required to enforce any provision of
this Agreement, the

12. prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable
attorney's fees and costs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this
Agreement on the date
first above written.
_____________(15)______________
_____________(16)______________
NOTICE
The information in this document is designed to provide an
outline that you can follow
when formulating business or personal plans. Due to the
variances of many local, city, county
and state laws, we recommend that you seek professional legal
counseling before entering into
any contract or agreement.