"I read in the newspaper today that the wide receiver from the University of Houston who broke his leg when he ran into a cart parked just off of the field is considering suing Marshall University. What do you think will happen if he does?" (Mike from Sugar Land, TX on 10/29/2008)

Douglas Peterson '06: If a lawsuit were filed today, Marshall University would attempt to settle the case as quickly and as confidentially as possible.
    The law applied to a case of negligence like this incident consists of a five part test. If all five parts exist, then there has been negligence and the plaintiff should be compensated. The five parts are: duty, breach of duty, actual cause, proximate cause and damage. Applying these factors to this case is fairly simple. We know that the Houston player in fact broke his leg and therefore there is damage in this case. The question then is whether there was a duty to the Houston player and whether the breach of this duty caused the damage.
    Marshall University invited the University of Houston to play football at their stadium. By doing so, the invitation gives rise to a duty that Marshall would make the premises safe for the invited activity. Marshall failed to execute that duty (breached the duty) when it failed to provide a playing field that was free from obstruction. We also know that if it were not for the obstructions, the Houston player would not have broken his leg, because he would have simply run out of the back of the end zone. This is the actual cause. The last element, proximate cause, is established when the defendant reasonably foresees the damage. I think that it is readily apparent that Marshall knew or should have known that leaving a cart in the back of the end zone is just asking for an injury.
    Since this situation has all five elements of negligence, the University of Houston player is entitled to present and future damages resulting from the injury. It is in both parties' best interest to settle early because it saves the cost of fighting it out in the courts. (Douglas Peterson is currently studying law at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2008, Peterson completed a prestigious internship with the legal department of the United States Olympic Committee).