Little Jimmy O’Leary, lives in Birmingham, Alabama and works as a law clerk for a federal judge in Mississippi. While Little Jimmy O’Leary hates the humidity of Florida, he owns a vacation home in Marco Island, Florida which he rents out. Over the summer break, Little Jimmy O’Leary decides to visit his father who lives in Marco Island, Florida. While driving on Interstate 75 in Florida, Little Jimmy O’Leary gets into a car accident with Sally Johnson, who owns a vacation home in Florida, but is a resident of New Jersey. As a result of the accident, Little Jimmy O’Leary suffers serious injuries and a totaled car. In addition to severe brain injuries, Little Jimmy O’Leary loses all use of his right arm. Sally Johnson suffers no serious medical injuries, but her Fiat 500 suffers over $5,000 in damages. After recovering from his injuries, Little Jimmy O’Leary returns home to Alabama. Because Little Jimmy O’Leary cannot type with his right hand, he loses his job as a law clerk.
Assume that you were Jimmy’s attorney and you are preparing to file a lawsuit against Sally, what type of factual information would you need to obtain before filing your lawsuit against Sally? What questions would you ask Jimmy about the accident before filing suit? Let’s say that you were going to interview a witness to the accident, what types of questions would you ask the witness about the lawsuit?