MS Bar Essay 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Mississippi bar essay presents a tort scenario where a product injures a consumer. Under strict products liability, the plaintiff must prove the product was:
- Negligently manufactured by the defendant
- Unreasonably dangerous due to a defect when it left the seller's control (Correct answer)
- Advertised in a misleading manner by the retailer
- Used in a manner intended by a majority of consumers
Correct answer: Unreasonably dangerous due to a defect when it left the seller's control
Strict products liability requires proof that the product was in an unreasonably dangerous defective condition when it left the defendant's control, not that the defendant was negligent.
Question 2: In a Mississippi domestic relations essay, a court is asked to modify a prior child custody order. The moving party must show:
- That the other parent has committed any misconduct since the prior order
- A material change in circumstances affecting the child's welfare since the prior order (Correct answer)
- That modification is in the best interest of the child alone, without any threshold showing
- That the child has expressed a preference for the other parent
Correct answer: A material change in circumstances affecting the child's welfare since the prior order
Mississippi requires the moving party to first demonstrate a material change in circumstances before the court will conduct a best-interest-of-the-child analysis for custody modification.
Question 3: A Mississippi essay on civil procedure asks about service of process on a corporation. Which method is NOT a proper means of service under the Mississippi Rules?
- Delivering process to the corporation's registered agent
- Leaving process with an officer or managing agent of the corporation
- Posting process on the front door of the corporation's principal office (Correct answer)
- Delivering process to any agent authorized to receive service
Correct answer: Posting process on the front door of the corporation's principal office
Posting process on the door of a corporation's office is not an authorized method of service under the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
Question 4: On a Mississippi evidence essay, the opposing party objects that a business record offered under MRE 803(6) is inadmissible because it was prepared in anticipation of litigation. The record is:
- Admissible regardless, because business records are a firmly rooted hearsay exception
- Inadmissible if the primary purpose of preparing the record was for litigation (Correct answer)
- Admissible only if the custodian testifies live at trial
- Inadmissible as double hearsay unless each layer qualifies under a separate exception
Correct answer: Inadmissible if the primary purpose of preparing the record was for litigation
The business records exception under MRE 803(6) excludes records prepared primarily in anticipation of litigation because they lack the circumstantial trustworthiness of routine business entries.
Question 5: In a Mississippi wills essay, a testator's holographic will is found with interlineations made after execution. The interlineations are:
- Valid as part of the will if entirely in the testator's handwriting and dated (Correct answer)
- Automatically incorporated into the will as a valid codicil
- Invalid because any change to a will requires formal witness attestation
- Valid only if separately signed by the testator
Correct answer: Valid as part of the will if entirely in the testator's handwriting and dated
In Mississippi, a holographic will's interlineations are valid if they are entirely handwritten by the testator and the changed instrument is dated and signed.
Question 6: A Mississippi criminal procedure essay addresses the right to counsel at a lineup. A defendant has a right to counsel at a post-indictment lineup because:
- The Sixth Amendment right attaches at all identification procedures from arrest forward
- Post-indictment lineups are critical stages of prosecution where the absence of counsel may prejudice the accused (Correct answer)
- The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination covers all identification procedures
- Due process requires counsel at any procedure where reliability might be compromised
Correct answer: Post-indictment lineups are critical stages of prosecution where the absence of counsel may prejudice the accused
Under United States v. Wade, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at post-indictment lineups because they are critical stages where the absence of counsel may prejudice the defendant's right to a fair trial.
Question 7: In a Mississippi agency essay, an undisclosed principal's agent contracts with a third party. When the third party discovers the principal, the third party may hold:
- Only the agent liable, because the agent was the contracting party
- Only the principal liable once the principal's identity is revealed
- Either the agent or the principal liable, but not both simultaneously (Correct answer)
- Both the agent and the principal jointly and severally liable without election
Correct answer: Either the agent or the principal liable, but not both simultaneously
When an undisclosed principal is discovered, the third party may elect to hold either the agent or the principal liable, but must choose one — the third party cannot pursue both to judgment.
MS Bar Essay 3
A Mississippi bar essay presents a tort scenario where a product injures a consumer.
Under strict products liability, the plaintiff must prove the product was: