Category: Legal

Question 1.)
Denny’s law firm represents several large corporations. As a senior corporate paralegal, Denny always has access to confidential information regarding the price of stock of those corporations, as well as the business deals those corporations are considering. As a result of knowledge gained about an upcoming merger of two of the corporations represented by the firm, Denny buys stock in those corporations. Because of his financial interest in those corporations, Denny spends most of his time doing work for them, while neglecting the others.
Is it ethically permissible for Denny to purchase stock in these corporations?
What actions should the law firm take once they find out Denny purchased stock in two of the corporations?
Should Denny have disclosed his financial interest in the corporations as soon as he purchased the stock?    
What other concerns should the firm have about Denny’s actions? Should Denny be fired? What do you think appropriate sanctions should be?
Question 2.)
Perry has been working as a domestic relations paralegal for three years for the same firm. He interviews clients, prepares uncontested dissolution petitions, , arranges for these petitions to be filed, communicates with the clients, and sees their cases through to the end. As most cases only require one appearance by a lawyer, Perry does ninety percent of the work on each case. Perry has a signature stamp with the attorney’s signature on it, as well.
His supervising lawyer reviews his work but, as of the last year, never has had to make any corrections. When Perry’s supervising lawyer takes a four-month medical leave of absence, Perry continues working. He prepares a new lawyer (unfamiliar with domestic relations cases) at the firm to make the required court appearances. The clients and the firm are happy with Perry’s work so far and are unaware that he has been unsupervised during the four months his supervising lawyer was off for medical leave. https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/OrlikA8 
Has Perry committed any ethical violations? If so, how? What about the supervising lawyer?
What would you do differently if you were Perry?
How should the law firm have handled Perry’s situation differently?
Has the law firm committed any ethical violations?
Question 3.)
Watch the video
Goldman, T. F. (n.d.) Zealous Representation Issue: Signing Documents. Pearson Always Learning. Pearson. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/chet/careersresources/goldman_civillit4e/goldman_civillit4e_ch8.html. 
You are working as a paralegal for the law firm that represents one of the plaintiffs in the Arkansas Bus Collision Case. A paralegal signs a pleading for the attorney so that the pleading can be filed before the statute of limitation expires. Discuss the following questions.
May a paralegal ever sign a pleading for an attorney?
What procedures should the paralegal follow before taking any documents to the courthouse for filing?
What are your local court rules for signing pleadings?
What special rules apply to signing pleadings in your state that require electronic filing, or e-filing?
What rules apply to signing pleadings in federal court?
Question 4.)
Electronic discovery, or e-discovery, is now common with discovery. You are working as a paralegal for the law firm that represents one of the families in the Arkansas Bus Collision Case. Your supervising attorney is not happy with the firm’s current e-discovery vendor, and the contract is up for renewal. The supervising attorney has asked you to research different software companies that provide e-discovery solutions and to make a recommendation on which company to use. The firm is a boutique law firm with approximately 30 attorneys with offices in two different states.
Conduct research and compare at least two different software companies that offer e-discovery solutions. What questions would you ask a representative of the software vendor? What features are similar? What features are different? Which company do you recommend? Explain.

Pick any well-known married couple in the media. Assume that they are getting a divorce here in Florida and that you work for the law firm that is representing the wife. Your firm has already served the Standard Family Law Interrogatories on the husband. You are asked to draft additional interrogatories meant to elicit as much relevant information as possible about the husband’s personal and business finances. The information will be used in the firm’s representation of the wife on alimony and property-division issues. 
Draft five (5) to ten (10) additional interrogatories. You do not need to know actual information about the finances of the person questioned through the interrogatories. A major purpose of the interrogatories is to find out what you do not know and to obtain factual information about the other party’s case in order to prepare for trial.
Then 
1. Myrtle and Purvis had been engaged to be married for two years. During the two-year period, Purvis had bought Myrtle a new car, a diamond ring, and a dog named Sue. When the date for the wedding finally arrived, Myrtle left Purvis standing at the altar. Purvis and Myrtle signed a written agreement that provided that Myrtle would pay Purvis $17,500 for the car, the ring, and the dog named Sue. After reading Florida Statutes Chapter 771, is this contract between Myrtle and Purvis enforceable? What additional information would you like in order to make your decision? Does either of them face any penalties?
2. Read Florida Statutes § 741.21. What are the limitations on marriage between relatives in Florida?

The student will review pages from the Florida Bar News on the Bar’s website at www. floridabar.org which provides summaries of disciplinary actions taken by the Florida Supreme Court regarding Florida lawyers. The student will choose one disciplined lawyer and research the facts and circumstances surrounding the rule violations and explain what the rule states and how the attorney might have avoided the action that led to the discipline. The student will prepare a written outline explaining the circumstances and applicable rules and not just cut and paste the facts and rules.
Suggested Format for Presentation:
1.Description of the lawyer (name, how long practicing, what type of law
2. Description of lawyer’s actions, rules violated, and disciplinary action taken
3. An explanation of the rule(s) that were violated
4. Possible steps the lawyer could have taken to avoid violating the rule and the discipline imposed
Please make sure you research the rules that were violated 
Be very detailed

Discussion board for chapters 1 and 2. Devote a page worth of response to each chapter.   Students are expected to submit one
“substantial post” for each chapter, current event,
internet research topic or assigned paper
summary post. Substantial meaning “having
substance” typically at least two paragraphs
detailing your interpretation of the chapter,
current event, or other post, what you found
interesting, learned, disagree with, etc. Posts
with grammatical and spelling errors and not written
on a graduate college level will not
receive full credit.  It is requested that you type your posts in a type font that is at
least
12pt. or larger.
Regarding discussion board
posts, to be considered substantial, a post must summarize    the
assigned chapter; or
address a current event, internet research question or a paper            summary
in a substantive manner. Regarding
chapter posts, you may summarize the chapter and
choose to answer a few of the
questions at the back of the chapter. 
What did you like or
dislike in the chapter?  What did you find interesting?  
the writing must have meaningful
substance in the response.
Or a combination of all the above.  
Chapters 1 and 2