Hacking v. Town of Belmont
New Hampshire Supreme Court
736 A.2d 1229 (1999)

- Written by Kate Luck, JD
Facts
Chelsea Hacking, a sixth-grade student, sustained a permanent injury to her leg during a school basketball game after the other team’s players knocked Chelsea down twice and stepped on her leg. Chelsea’s parents, Nancy and Charles Hacking, Jr. (plaintiffs), sued the town of Belmont and the Shaker Regional School District (collectively, the school district) (defendants), which organized the game, for negligence. The Hackings alleged that the school district was negligent in training and supervising the referees and coaches, and that the referees and coaches were negligent in their decision-making during the game. The school district filed a motion to dismiss, alleging that it was immune from suit under the discretionary-function doctrine. The trial court denied the school district’s motion to dismiss, and the school district filed an interlocutory appeal.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Brock, C.J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 964,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,006 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
- AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New
Understand your casebook readings in seconds
Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.
Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,006 law school casebooks.

