Mixed Deck — All KY BAR Topics Flashcards

At trial, a party seeks to authenticate a threatening phone call by testifying that she recognized the caller's voice from prior conversations. This voice identification is:

Answer: Sufficient authentication based on familiarity with the voice acquired at any time

A voice may be identified by opinion based on hearing the voice at any time under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker, including familiarity gained afterward.

Under the UCC, what is the primary rule for determining the place of delivery for a sales contract involving goods?

Answer: Delivery must be made at the location specified in the contract

Under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which governs sales of goods in Kentucky, the place of delivery is primarily determined by the agreement between the buyer and seller. If the contract explicitly specifies a delivery location, that provision takes precedence. In the absence of such a contractual term, the UCC provides default rules, such as delivery at the seller's place of business, but the parties' express agreement is paramount.

A lawyer moving from one Kentucky firm to another previously worked on a matter now adverse to the new firm's client. The new firm can avoid imputed disqualification under Rule 1.10 if:

Answer: The moving lawyer is timely screened from the matter, receives no part of the fee from it, and written notice is given to the affected former client

Rule 1.10 permits screening with no fee apportionment and written notice to cure imputation for lateral hires.

A Kentucky plaintiff discovers three years after surgery that a misdiagnosis caused her ongoing harm, which she could not reasonably have detected earlier. Her medical negligence claim is:

Answer: Timely if filed within one year of when she discovered or reasonably should have discovered the injury, subject to the five-year outer limit

Kentucky applies a discovery rule to medical negligence, running the one-year period from actual or constructive discovery, with a five-year statute of repose under KRS 413.140(2).

A landowner excavates near the boundary line, and the neighbor's land in its natural state subsides. Under the common law right of lateral support, what is the excavator's liability?

Answer: Strict liability for subsidence of land in its natural condition

A landowner is strictly liable when excavation causes adjacent land in its natural, unimproved state to subside.

What is the difference between separate and marital property in divorce?

Answer: Separate property was owned before marriage or received as a gift; marital property was acquired during marriage

Separate property generally includes assets owned before marriage, inherited individually, or received as gifts. Marital property includes assets acquired during the marriage through joint effort.

A buyer signs a contract to purchase a house, and the house burns down before closing through no one's fault. Under the majority equitable conversion doctrine, who bears the risk of loss?

Answer: The buyer, because equitable title passed at contract signing

Under equitable conversion, the buyer holds equitable title from the moment of contracting and bears the risk of loss absent a contrary agreement.

A Kentucky lawyer negotiating a settlement makes a statement about her client's 'bottom line' that overstates it. Under Rule 4.1 and its comments, this is:

Answer: Generally acceptable, because estimates of price or value and a party's intentions as to settlement are not statements of material fact in negotiation

Comment to Rule 4.1 treats settlement posturing about value and intentions as non-material puffery under accepted negotiation conventions.

A party seeking to avoid a contract shows the other side knowingly misrepresented a material fact and the avoiding party justifiably relied on it. What is the contract's status?

Answer: Voidable at the election of the deceived party

Fraudulent misrepresentation in the inducement renders a contract voidable by the innocent party.

What is an agency's enabling statute?

Answer: The law enacted by Congress that creates the agency and defines its authority and powers

An enabling statute is the legislation that creates an administrative agency, outlines its mission, grants its powers, and sets the boundaries within which it must operate.

What is exhaustion of administrative remedies?

Answer: A requirement that parties must pursue all available agency processes before seeking court review

Exhaustion requires parties to complete available administrative proceedings before filing suit in court, allowing agencies to apply their expertise and potentially resolve disputes without litigation.

A Kentucky lawyer is appointed by the court to represent an indigent defendant. Under Rule 6.2, the lawyer may seek to avoid the appointment only for:

Answer: Good cause, such as an unreasonable financial burden, a conflict, or the client or cause being so repugnant as to likely impair the representation

Rule 6.2 allows declining appointments only for good cause, including conflicts, unreasonable burden, or impairing repugnance.

A buyer orders 100 blue chairs. The seller ships 100 red chairs with a note: "Blue unavailable; sending red as an accommodation." What is the legal effect of the shipment?

Answer: It is a counteroffer, not an acceptance, so the seller is not in breach

Under UCC § 2-206, shipment of nonconforming goods with a seasonable accommodation notice is a counteroffer, not acceptance.

Which lawyer advertisement would violate Kentucky's rules on communications about legal services?

Answer: Claiming 'I guarantee you will win your case'

Guaranteeing outcomes creates unjustified expectations and is a false or misleading communication under Rule 7.1.

What is the purpose of the Administrative Procedure Act?

Answer: To establish procedures for agency rulemaking and adjudication, and provide for judicial review

The APA establishes the framework for how federal agencies create rules, conduct hearings, and make decisions, while also providing citizens the right to challenge agency actions in court.

What is the hearsay rule?

Answer: Out-of-court statements offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted are generally inadmissible

Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of what was stated. It is generally inadmissible unless an exception applies.

A judge presiding over a bench trial is asked to take judicial notice that Louisville is in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The court:

Answer: May take judicial notice because the fact is generally known within the jurisdiction and not subject to reasonable dispute

Courts may judicially notice facts not subject to reasonable dispute that are generally known locally or readily verifiable from unquestionable sources.

A plaintiff settles with one of two joint tortfeasors before trial in Kentucky. At trial against the remaining defendant, the jury's award against that defendant is determined by:

Answer: The remaining defendant's own percentage of fault, with fault apportioned to the settling tortfeasor

Under KRS 411.182, fault is apportioned among all parties including settling tortfeasors, and the non-settling defendant pays only its own share.

What is the best interest of the child standard?

Answer: A legal standard that prioritizes the child's welfare in custody, visitation, and support decisions

The best interest standard requires courts to consider multiple factors focused on the child's physical, emotional, and developmental needs, rather than the parents' preferences or convenience.

What is the elective share for a surviving spouse?

Answer: A statutory right to claim a minimum portion of the deceased spouse's estate regardless of the will

The elective share allows a surviving spouse to claim a statutory minimum percentage of the estate, overriding the will if necessary to prevent disinheritance.