We discussed the Erie1 case in Civil Procedure this morning.
In Erie, the plaintiff was walking2 on a path near railroad tracks. A train passed and the plaintiff was struck by something sticking out from the train (either a hook or a door…)
So of course, Professor V pulls up a slide of a little stick figure walking by a set of train tracks! It was amazing and the entire class laughed until Professor V mentioned that the plaintiff’s injuries were so serious that he had his arm amputated. Womp.
Professor V: “Even though he lost his arm, my stick figure has both arms because I didn’t have the heart to cut an arm off, I mean, I thought about having the stick arm sitting on the path, but, I just couldn’t do it!”
1 Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (U.S. 1938)
2 Walking, at night…when torts happen.