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Question 1 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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When Paralegal Jenny goes to the
local courthouse, she can retrieve a list of upcoming home foreclosures.
What can Jenny do with this information?
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A.Her employing law firm can
send a direct mail advertising to the people on the list, providing
information about the law firm and its services.
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B.Jenny has to wait 30 days
after the posting but can contact the people on the list after that time.
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C.Her employing law firm can
call the people on the list and offer to represent them.
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D.Jenny can go door-to-door
and talk to the people on the list about her law firm and what they can
do to help.
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Question 2 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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After working on the defense
side of asbestos litigation for many years, Paralegal Kawika decides he
wants to work for a small firm and branch out away from asbestos into real
estate or family law. Kawikasends out some resumes and gets a call from a
law firm that does primarily real estate and family law but does represent
some asbestos plaintiffs. Kawika should
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A.interview with this firm but
bring a list of his current clients with him so they can check for
conflicts.
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B.interview with this firm and
accept an offer from them only after getting a written waiver of the
conflict from his current employer
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C.not bother to interview with
this firm because the conflict of interest is obvious and no asbestos
plaintiffs lawyer would hire him.
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D.interview with this firm and
accept an offer from them only after getting a written waiver of any
potential conflicts from the new employer
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Question 3 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Paralegal Bryce prefers
freelance work. In order to get clients, Bryce may
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A.advertise his services in
any publication.
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B.advertise his services in
publications that target lawyers and law firms.
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C.not advertise because it is
illegal for paralegals to advertise.
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D.not advertise in
publications but he can call law firms and ask for employment.
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Question 4 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Lara Lawyer’s standard
advertising says: “Contingency fee arrangements available in personal
injury cases. No Recovery, No Fee!” This ad is
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A.misleading and deceptive if
clients are held responsible for paying costs even if they lose.
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B.not permissible because it
is illegal for lawyers to advertise fees.
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C.perfectly fine and a fairly
typical ad.
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D. misleading and deceptive
only if clients are held responsible for paying costs when they lose.
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Question 5 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Patty Paralegal’s job requires
her to call all 250 of the firm’s corporate clients twice each year and
give them some information. Most of these telephone calls take less than 2
minutes, especially if she can just leave a voicemail. The smallest
billable amount at Patty’s law firm is .1 or 6 minutes. If Patty makes 30
phone calls per hour, but bills them at 6 minutes, Patty’s one hour becomes
3 hours. Therefore, at the end of an 8 hour day, Patty can bill 24 hours!
Patty should
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A.ask her supervising lawyer
for permission to not bill clients for this service but ensure that the
time she spends at this task is added to her annual cumulative billable
hours.
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B.bill each call at a full
hour because no one is going to know.
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C.ask her supervising lawyer
for permission to just not bill clients for this service.
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D. bill each call at 2 minutes
and let the accounting department deal with it.
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Question 6 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Rhonda Lawyer has agreed to take
on the criminal defense case of the famous rap star: Bent Nikel. Bent has
been arrested for the murder of his 3rd wife. As part of the fee agreement,
Rhonda, a budding writer, wants to secure the literary rights to the entire
story. Bent has no objections to this agreement. As Rhonda’s trusty
paralegal, you should
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A.advise Rhonda that you would
like to help her with her book.
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B.advise Rhonda that she
should make Bent pay her for writing his life story.
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C.advise Rhonda privately that
this agreement is probably a violation of her ethical duties.
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D.advise Rhonda that Bent can
give her the literary rights
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Question 7 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Laura Lawyer ‘s client Curtis
brought a check for $2000 to Laura as an advance payment retainer. Laura
instructs you to include the payment in Curtis’s fee agreement and put this
money in the firm’s General Operating Account. You
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A.should put this money in the
trust account so that it can be drawn against as the firm incurs costs
and fees on behalf of Curtis.
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B.should put this money in the
trust account because it belongs to the client until it is earned.
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C.can do this because an
advance payment retainer is considered earned when Laura receives it. No
part of the money belongs to the client so it does not have to be put in
the Trust Account.
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D.should deposit this check
but make no note of it in the fee agreement because it is not proper to
make this sort of note in a fee agreement.
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Question 8 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Maggie Rudin was accused of
murdering her millionaire 4th husband. Because she was denied access to her
husband’s money, Rudin needed a pro bono lawyer. Attorney Amador agreed to
take the case pro bono in exchange for the right to turn her story into a
movie script. Rudin agreed. Each time Rudin met with Amador, Amador made
sure the t.v. news media was there so that the public would get a picture
of her as the wrongly accused grieving widow. Amador did not interview
witnesses, but had all of the documents copied and placed into trial
notebooks. Before trial, Amador took a month-long vacation and left Rudin’s
case with the public defender assisting on the case. Which of the following
can be said of Amador?
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A.Amador was negligent in the
preparation of Rudin’s defense only if she is convicted.
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B.Amador was not negligent
because everyone prepares for trial differently.
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C.Amador was negligent in the
preparation of Rudin’s defense if his action/inaction fell below the
standard of care of the reasonable lawyer under the circumstances
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D.Amador was not negligent
because he was part of a defense team and the rest of the team had an
equal obligation to prepare for trial.
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Question 9 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Attorney Brite represented
Martin in a personal injury case for injuries that she received when a
kitchen cabinet in her apartment fell on her. The complaint that Brite
filed on Martin’s behalf named many defendants, including various
subcontractors and others, some of whom later provided evidence that they
should not have been named as defendants.
Several of the defendants named
in the complaint filed motions for summary judgment. Brite delegated
responsibility for opposing those motions to a new associate in his office,
Gresby. Gresby had minimal legal experience and never opposed a motion for
summary judgment. Brite was aware of Gresby’s inexperience, but he assigned
the matter to Gresby nonetheless.
To respond to the summary
judgment motions, Gresby needed to submit documents or affidavits on
Martin’s behalf that would show the court that there was a genuine issue of
material fact requiring a trial. Rather than doing so, Gresby opposed the
motions orally, relying solely on legal arguments. The trial court granted
the defense motions. Brite
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A.
will not be found to be incompetent unless Martin loses her case.
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B.should be found to be
negligent for improper delegation and supervision AND filing a complaint
against defendants without first doing enough background on the case to
determine the proper defendants
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C.should be found to be
negligent for improper delegation and supervision of his associate.
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D.will not be found to be
incompetent because it was Gresby who wrote the losing summary judgment
documents.
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Question 10 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Sarah has just been made a
member of the bar and is going to open her own law office. You will be her
first employee! What advice can you give her about professional liability
insurance.
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A.It would be a good idea to
research state law to find out if professional liability insurance is
mandatory in your state. She will need a different policy to insure the
firm for bodily injury and property damage because professional liability
insurance covers direct financial loss and expense to the legal professional
that arise from claims of neglect, omissions or errors, but not
intentional torts.
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B.professional liability
insurance does not cover bodily injury or property damage.
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C.professional liability
insurance covers direct financial loss and expense to the legal
professional that arise from claims of neglect, omissions or errors, but
not intentional torts.
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D. some states require lawyers
to have professional liability insurance (so we should go look that up.)
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Question 11 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Attorney Evans lost a motion for
a new trial. In his anger, he wrote a letter to the judge accusing him of
making the adverse ruling based on religious bias because both the judge
and opposing counsel are Jewish, and Evans is not. While appealing the
judge’s ruling, Evans wrote to the judge:” I feel that your Ruling was
either the result of your incompetence in the matter or perhaps worse and
reflected a Jewish bias in favor of the Kaplan firm whose actions were in
my judgment inexcusable in this cause. If in fact it represents
incompetence I will drop the matter but if it is a Jewish bias I will file
a complaint under the Rules for Handling Complaints of Judicial Misconduct
or Disability.” Evans:
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A.will be found to be
incompetent to continue to practice law because his letter was
discourteous, prejudicial to the administration of justice, and
defamatory.
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B.may be found to be
incompetent to continue to practice law only if he loses his appeal.
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C.cannot be found guilty of
anything, or incompetent, because his words are protected by the First
Amendment.
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D. may be found to be rude,
but nothing more
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Question 12 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Jody and Sam have agreed to end
their marriage amicably. They have worked out all of the details of who
will get what assets and how their money will be divided. In order to save
money, they want to hire one lawyer to write up their agreement. Larry
Lawyer
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A.can take this representation
so long as both parties sign a waiver of the conflict.
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B.should not take this
representation because, even if Jody and Sam have agreed to all of the
details of their agreement, there is a conflict of interest between the
two people.
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C.is obligated to take the
representation because lawyers have a duty to take cases regardless of
how they feel about the clients.
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D.can take this representation
so long as both parties pay him an equal amount.
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Question 13 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Bronson Paralegal is writing a
motion that will be filed with the state court. He has located a case that
holds exactly the opposite of the point he is trying to make. In order to
rectify what Bronson sees as a losing motion, Bronson simply quotes from the
case’s ruling and inserts the word “not” at the appropriate place. Now the
quote stands for the proposition that Bronson needs. “Unless the judge
reads very carefully, he will never notice this small insertion,” thinks
Bronson. Just to be sure his supervising attorney doesn’t get into trouble,
though, Bronson tells the attorney what the case really says. Which of the
following is likely to happen next?
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A.Bronson may be told to fix
the sentence back to an accurate quote, even if it means losing the motion.
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B.Bronson may be fired for
attempting to mislead the court but, at the very least, he will be in
alot of trouble.
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C.Bronson may be demoted from
doing legal research to organizing documents.
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D. Bronson will be told to fix
the sentence back to an accurate quote, he may be demoted or he may be
fired for attempting to mislead the court
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Question 14 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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The plaintiff, Leandro Rizzuto,
climbed a ladder manufactured by the named defendant, Ladders, Inc. while
shopping at a Buy-It-All store. The ladder collapsed suddenly and the
plaintiff fell to the floor, incurring serious physical injuries. The
plaintiff filed a product liability action against Ladders and the
defendant, Buy-It-All, alleging that the ladder had been manufactured and
designed improperly, and had been sold without proper warnings. Thereafter,
the plaintiff asked the defendants repeatedly to preserve the ladder and to
afford him an opportunity to examine the ladder. The defendants’ expert
examined the ladder and concluded that it was not defective. The defendants
thereafter destroyed the ladder, despite the fact that the plaintiff had
never had an opportunity to inspect it. Plaintiff will bring a motion for
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A.spoliation of evidence.
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B.tortious interference with
prospective business advantage.
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C.suppression of evidence.
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D. pretexting of evidence.
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Question 15 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Betty Plaintiff’s law firm has
hired an associate from an out-of-town office of Defendant #1’s law firm.
When Defendant #2’s law firm discovers this conflict of interest, they
(Defendant #2’s law firm) brings a Motion to disqualify Plaintiff’s law
firm. The ruling of the court will probably be
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A.There is no problem unless
the newly hired associate is working on the case.
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B.Defendant #1 is the harmed
party. Unless that party brings the motion,the court will not rule
against Plaintiff because only Defendant #1 is potentially harmed by the
conflict.
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C.There is no problem because
the associate is from an out-of-town office.
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D.Everyone involved in the
case is harmed so Plaintiff’s counsel will be disqualified.
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Question 16 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Attorney Fleamer is the
Executive Director of a non-profit organization: Homes for Kids. This
organization works in conjunction with state agencies that find permanent,
adoptive homes for foster children. Fleamer’s assistant, Paralegal Lara,
suspects that Fleamer has used agency money to fund personal vacations and
purchase a new personal automobile. Lara should
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A.speak with the local police.
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B.maintain her loyalty to her
employer by saying nothing.
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C.speak with Fleamer
personally or, if she does not feel comfortable doing that, report
Fleamer to the appropriate authorities.
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D.quit. Find a new job working
for more honest people.
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Question 17 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Attorney Howard has just gotten
a “letter of reproval” from his state’s lawyer disciplinary authority. He’s
cleaning out his desk, assuming he is no longer authorized to practice law.
You, his trusty paralegal, have one thing to say to him. What is it?
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A.A letter of reproval doesn’t
mean you are disbarred!
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B.Put your stuff back in the
drawers, my friend. You can still do paralegal work.
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C.Don’t call us. We’ll call
you.
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D.Dude. Take care and have a
nice life.
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Question 18 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Paralegal Beverly is researching
a point of law dealing with whether or not a law firm’s website can use a
suedoname for the URL. In other words, can her law firm use the web address
“www.terrificlawyers.com”? She
cannot locate any state statute on point but has conflicting information
from other states. What is her best course of action now?
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A.She should advise the firm
to go ahead with the plan because if there is no law against it, it is
probably okay.
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B.She should advise the firm
to ask their state’s appropriate authority (such as the state bar’s
ethics committee) for an advisory opinion on using the trade URL name.
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C.Beverly should advise the
firm that she is not qualified to do this assignment because there is no
clear law on the subject.
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D. She should advise the firm
to not use the trade URL because if there is no law authorizing what they
want to do, it is probably illegal.
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Question 19 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Drake Paralegal’s cell phone rang.
When he answered it, his best friend, who lives in another state, said:
“Drake! I’ve just been stopped by the police! What should I do?” Drake
responded: “Keep your mouth shut except to ask for a lawyer.” Then the
phone connection was lost. Which of the following is true?
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A.Drake’s response was not UPL
because his friend did not specifically ask for legal advice.
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B.Drake’s response was not UPL
because it was not legal advice, just common sense advice.
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C.Drake’s response was UPL
because he assessed his friend’s legal need, applied his knowledge of the
law to it, and gave a response.
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D. Drake’s response was UPL
because he gave advice in a criminal matter.
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Question 20 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Connie Paralegal is divorcing
her husband. She hired a lawyer but has decided that she does not want to
pay for a lawyer. She fires the lawyer and makes a court appearance by
herself against her husband’s lawyer. Connie
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A.has committed UPL because
she must have a lawyer represent her.
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B.has not committed UPL
because she has the right to represent herself.
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C.has committed UPL because
paralegals cannot make appearances in court.
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D.has committed UPL but will
not get in trouble for it unless the lawyer complains.
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Question 21 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Paralegal Samson has just
completed the legal case of his life being part of the team that
represented Mrs. Incredibly Rich in her divorce from Mr. Incredibly Rich.
Now that the case is closed, Samson is looking forward to telling his wife
all about it. Samson
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A.can tell his wife about the
parts of the case that are likely to not come up again if the parties end
up back in court.
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B.can tell his wife all about
the case because, now that the case has closed, his duty of
confidentiality has ended.
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C.must keep his client’s
confidences forever so he can never tell his wife about the case.
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D.can tell his wife about the
case after the time for an appeal has passed.
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Question 22 of 25
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2.5/ 2.5 Points
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Paralegal Beverly was sitting
with Client Morrie, reading through Morrie’s interrogatory answers from
last year in preparation for Morrie’s upcoming deposition. After reading
one particular interrogatory response, Morrie declared: “OMG, Beverly! I
can’t believe we wrote that answer! That’s completely wrong!” and then,
mumbling to himself, Morrie said, “or maybe that was the lie I decided would
be better than telling the truth. Hmmm.” When Beverly asks you what you
make of that conversation with Morrie, you
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A.tell her that it is not
protected by any privilege because it is potentially a confession to a
crime.
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B.tell her that Morrie’s words
are completely covered by the attorney/client privilege so she will never
have to repeat it to anyone outside of the office, but she should report
the potential perjury to a supervising attorney.
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C.tell her that it is not a
protected communication because she is not an attorney.
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D.tell her that it is
protected confidential information so she cannot be called upon to
testify about it.
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Question 23 of 25
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13.0/ 15.0 Points
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Do law firms need to advertise?
When can potential clients be contacted and what is the rationale behind
the law governing it?
This essay is a large percentage
of your Final exam grade. Please remember that an essay is
comprised of paragraphs not two or three sentences. Also you must
include a Bluebook citation to your source even if it is our
textbook. An outside source is required for full credit.
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Question 24 of 25
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12.0/ 15.0 Points
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Describe the “duty of integrity”
and its purpose. Explain if it is permissible to merely threaten to report
misconduct. Why or why not?
This essay is a large percentage
of your Final exam grade. Please remember that an essay is comprised of
paragraphs not two or three sentences. Also you must include a Bluebook
citation to your source even if it is our textbook. An outside source is
required for full credit.
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Question 25 of 25
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13.0/ 15.0 Points
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What makes a claim frivolous?
Give an example of a frivolous claim, and explain what some possible
penalties are in detail. Remember to use proper Bluebook citation format
and answer each part of the question.
This essay is a large percentage
of your Final exam grade. Please remember that an essay is comprised of
paragraphs not two or three sentences. Also you must include a Bluebook
citation to your source even if it is our textbook. An outside source is
required for full credit.
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Question 25 of 25 15.0 Points
What makes a claim frivolous?
Give an example of a frivolous claim, and explain what some possible
penalties are in detail. Remember to use proper Bluebook citation format
and answer each part of the question.
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