Enterprise Liability: The Gas Station Cases
Hoover v. Sun Oil Company Questions
- 1. Does the result
in Hoover make sense? What arguments
would you have made
if you were plaintiff's
counsel? Defendant's
counsel?
- 2. If you were advising
Sun Oil regarding
its policies and practices,
would you rely on
this case? How would
it affect your advice?
- 3. If Barone's service
station had a leak
in its gas holding
tank, and gas had
been leaking into
the surrounding countryside
(and water table)
for twenty years,
who would be liable,
based on this case?
If you were a judge
and presented with
those facts (in a
court where Hoover was not binding) whom
would you hold liable?
Why?
- 4. Assume the facts
of Q. 3. If you were
representing a neighboring
landowner in a law
suit, whom would you
want to sue? What
arguments would you
offer to Judge Christie
to urge him/her to
distinguish Hoover?
- 5. Hoover is appealed to the
Delaware Supreme Court,
and you are the clerk.
Your judge is unhappy
with the briefs and
directs you to make
the best case for
each side AND then
to convince her of
the right answer on
the appeal. What argument(s)
do you make?
- 6. All tort law
involves decisions
regarding who should
bear the loss from
an accident which
has already happened.
In Hoover and Hoover-as-modified,
who should bear the
loss? Why? Whose fault
was it? What legal
doctrine supports
that result?
- 7. All tort law
involves structuring
incentives to reduce
the number of future
accidents. What rule
would reduce Hoover-like
accidents the most?
Should we adopt that
rule? Why or why not?
What countervailing
values might suggest
adopting a less-accident
reducing rule?
- 8. Can Hoover be distinguished from Humble Oil?
- 9.
If you were advising
an oil company regarding
its service stations,
how would you suggest
organizing the operation?
Consider at least
the following possibilities
and variants on them:
owning the stations
outright, franchising,
leasing to owner/operators,
creating a wholly
owned subsidiary to
own and operate the
stations, selling
only products to independent
operators. What legal
issues might affect
your decision? If
the EPA were to impose
no-fault liability
for oil spills on
the manufacturer of
the oil, how would
that affect your decision?
