UT Bar Specific Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Utah's modified comparative negligence rule, a plaintiff is barred from recovery when their fault is:
- 50% or greater (Correct answer)
- Greater than 50%
- Any percentage at all
- 75% or greater
Correct answer: 50% or greater
Utah Code 78B-5-818 bars recovery when the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds 50%.
Question 2: What is the general statute of limitations for a personal injury action in Utah?
- Four years (Correct answer)
- Two years
- One year
- Six years
Correct answer: Four years
Utah Code 78B-2-307 sets a four-year limit for personal injury claims not otherwise specified.
Question 3: Utah recognizes unsolemnized (common-law-style) marriages only if:
- A court or administrative order establishes the marriage under the statutory criteria (Correct answer)
- The couple cohabited for at least seven years
- The couple filed a joint tax return
- One spouse takes the other's surname
Correct answer: A court or administrative order establishes the marriage under the statutory criteria
Utah Code 30-1-4.5 requires a judicial or administrative determination that the statutory elements of an unsolemnized marriage are met.
Question 4: In dividing marital property at divorce, Utah follows which approach?
- Equitable distribution (Correct answer)
- Community property with equal division
- Title-based distribution
- Mandatory 50/50 split of all assets
Correct answer: Equitable distribution
Utah is an equitable distribution state, dividing marital property fairly rather than strictly equally.
Question 5: Utah water rights are governed primarily by which doctrine?
- Prior appropriation (Correct answer)
- Riparian rights
- Correlative rights
- Absolute ownership
Correct answer: Prior appropriation
Like most arid western states, Utah allocates water under the prior appropriation doctrine of 'first in time, first in right.'
Question 6: Before filing most medical malpractice suits in Utah, a claimant must first:
- Serve a notice of intent and participate in prelitigation panel review (Correct answer)
- Obtain a certificate from the state medical board
- Post a bond covering the defendant's fees
- Arbitrate the claim to final judgment
Correct answer: Serve a notice of intent and participate in prelitigation panel review
The Utah Health Care Malpractice Act requires a 90-day notice of intent and prelitigation panel proceedings before suit.
Question 7: Utah's wrongful death cause of action is notable because it is:
- Guaranteed by the Utah Constitution, which bars its abrogation (Correct answer)
- Available only to surviving spouses
- Capped at $100,000 in all cases
- Limited to intentional killings
Correct answer: Guaranteed by the Utah Constitution, which bars its abrogation
Article XVI, Section 5 of the Utah Constitution provides that the right of action for wrongful death shall never be abrogated.
UT Bar Specific Law 2
Under Utah's modified comparative negligence rule, a plaintiff is barred from recovery when their fault is: