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Doe v. Dominion Bank of Washington
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- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
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- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
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- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
Jane Doe (Plaintiff) worked in an office located at 1430 K Street, a commercial building with offices leased to several companies. Dominion Bank (Defendant) held the master lease to the building. Beginning in February 1989, Defendant began to let its leases on office space expire in light of a contract to sell the property. By May 1989, five floors of the building were vacant. On the morning of May 24, 1989, Plaintiff was alone in her office. While taking the elevator to the lobby, the elevator stopped at one of the vacant floors. A man entered and dragged Plaintiff into a vacant office, where he raped and robbed her. Plaintiff subsequently brought a tort action against Defendant, alleging that Defendant had a duty to take reasonable measures to keep the tenants safe from criminal conduct and that Defendant had failed to do so. At trial, Plaintiff presented evidence regarding the building conditions, safety measures taken by Defendant, and criminal activity that had occurred in the building in recent years. This included evidence of the theft of personal and business property, drug use, and sexual activity in the building, as well as tenant complaints about intruders and inadequate security. One tenant had recently alerted building management to the repeated presence of a threatening intruder and requested heightened security on multiple occasions. Another tenant reported that its office had been burglarized. That same tenant reported an intruder in the building a week before Plaintiff’s rape. Plaintiff also presented a qualified expert witness, Anthony Potter. Potter noted that the security at 1430 K Street did not comply with acceptable standards of commercial building security, particularly because the building’s vacant spaces, floors, and offices were not secured or blocked off. Defendant moved for a directed verdict. The district court granted the motion, finding that, although Plaintiff adequately established the applicable standard of care, she failed to establish the rape was reasonably foreseeable.
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- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
- Policy: Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.
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