A man drove to his friend’s house for a party and parked his…

A man drove to his friend’s house for a party and parked his car on the street in front of the house. The street had a steep incline, but the man failed to apply his emergency brake before exiting his car. A couple moments after exiting the car, the man stopped 20 feet behind the car to tie his shoes. The friend, who had come outside to greet the man, noticed that the man’s car started to roll backward toward the man. The friend immediately ran toward the man and pushed him out of the way of the car, which slammed into a telephone pole a couple hundred feet down the street. The friend broke his hand in diving to the ground to protect the man. If the friend brings a negligence action against the man for his personal injury, will he succeed?

In the parking lot of a mall, two drivers, while simultaneou…

In the parking lot of a mall, two drivers, while simultaneously backing up, each carelessly struck the other’s car. Neither suffered physical injuries, but  the  damages  to  the  plaintiff’s  car totaled $10,000; damages to the  defendant’s car  were $1,000. The plaintiff sued to recover the damages to his car and the defendant counterclaimed for the damages to her car. At trial, it was determined that the plaintiff was 70% at fault and the defendant 30% at fault for the accident. The applicable jurisdiction has enacted a modified (i.e., partial) comparative negligence statute. After taking into account his own liability to the defendant, how much may the plaintiff recover from the defendant?

A woman underwent gall bladder surgery, which was performed…

A woman underwent gall bladder surgery, which was performed by the hospital’s head surgeon. An intern observed the surgery and provided time updates to the surgical team, since the team had a limited time in which to complete the operation. The woman experienced significant pain following the surgery, and returned to her doctor. An x-ray revealed that a hemostat, which is an instrument typically used in gall bladder surgery, had been left in the woman’s gall bladder. After the hemostat was removed, the woman continued to experience pain due to permanent injuries caused by the hemostat. The woman sued the head surgeon and the intern involved in her surgery. At trial, the woman did not provide any direct evidence that the surgeon or the intern had left the hemostat in her gall bladder. At the close of evidence, the intern moved for a directed verdict.  The judge granted the motion. What is the most likely reason that the judge granted the intern’s motion?