Fact Pattern under Model Rules - Professional Responsibility - Exam | Exams Law

EXAM#____________

Baldwin: PR LSN Final 2011FL Page 2 of 4

Essay Question Number One (30 points)

Recommended Time: One hour

Your answer to this question is worth a maximum of thirty (30) points. Recommended time to

spend on this question: One hour.

Judy is a junior partner at a big firm who is working on a litigation matter with, among others, a

senior partner named Prentice. Judy is in charge of day to day decisions on the case, but Prentice

is the senior lawyer, and it is his case. The firm represents (on a pro bono basis) a plaintiff in an

employment discrimination case. Defendants have requested production of various categories of

electronically stored information, including emails and plaintiff’s Facebook postings that

concern either her employment situation or the lawsuit.

Judy and Prentice discussed the pending requests and what needs to be done to respond. Judy

volunteered to coordinate with the client to obtain responsive documents, but Prentice said he

would do that. When it came time to respond to the requests, Judy asked what responsive

documents Prentice had located. He said that none existed and she should draft the responses to

so state. Judy asked Prentice for details of what he had done to try and identify responsive

documents, but he gets angry and tells her to “leave it alone and do what I say,” and tells her that

“the firm has spent enough on this case.” This is not the first time Judy has been concerned that

partners at the firm are not complying with their discovery and other obligations, and she has

heard that the firm has a reputation in the legal community for unethical behavior in discovery.

Pressed for time, Judy prepares and serves discovery responses to the other side that say that

plaintiff has searched and has no responsive documents. She knows that the applicable

discovery rules require that she have a good faith basis for believing the statements contained

there to be true. The other side brings a motion to compel, and Judy successfully convinces the

judge (who is very unsophisticated in electronic discovery matters) that the motion should be

denied, based on the same statements she made in the discovery responses. Later, in a

conversation with the client, the client tells Judy that when Prentice asked her for documents a

while ago, the client told Prentice she did not think she had any responsive documents, but that

she was not sure. The client says that as far as she knows, no one conducted a search of her

computer to determine whether any documents exist. However, the client also says that she does

not think she now has any responsive documents in her possession since her hard drive crashed

last week and she threw out her old computer.

Judy comes to you as outside counsel to the firm, tells you the situation and asks your advice.

Analyze the professional responsibility issues presented by this fact pattern under the Model

Rules, and advise Judy as to what she should do now.

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Essay Question Number One (30 points) Recommended Time: One hour

Your answer to this question is worth a maximum of thirty (30) points. Recommended time to spend on this question: One hour.

Judy is a junior partner at a big firm who is working on a litigation matter with, among others, a senior partner named Prentice. Judy is in charge of day to day decisions on the case, but Prentice is the senior lawyer, and it is his case. The firm represents (on a pro bono basis) a plaintiff in an employment discrimination case. Defendants have requested production of various categories of electronically stored information, including emails and plaintiff’s Facebook postings that concern either her employment situation or the lawsuit.

Judy and Prentice discussed the pending requests and what needs to be done to respond. Judy volunteered to coordinate with the client to obtain responsive documents, but Prentice said he would do that. When it came time to respond to the requests, Judy asked what responsive documents Prentice had located. He said that none existed and she should draft the responses to so state. Judy asked Prentice for details of what he had done to try and identify responsive documents, but he gets angry and tells her to “leave it alone and do what I say,” and tells her that “the firm has spent enough on this case.” This is not the first time Judy has been concerned that partners at the firm are not complying with their discovery and other obligations, and she has heard that the firm has a reputation in the legal community for unethical behavior in discovery.

Pressed for time, Judy prepares and serves discovery responses to the other side that say that plaintiff has searched and has no responsive documents. She knows that the applicable discovery rules require that she have a good faith basis for believing the statements contained there to be true. The other side brings a motion to compel, and Judy successfully convinces the judge (who is very unsophisticated in electronic discovery matters) that the motion should be denied, based on the same statements she made in the discovery responses. Later, in a conversation with the client, the client tells Judy that when Prentice asked her for documents a while ago, the client told Prentice she did not think she had any responsive documents, but that she was not sure. The client says that as far as she knows, no one conducted a search of her computer to determine whether any documents exist. However, the client also says that she does not think she now has any responsive documents in her possession since her hard drive crashed last week and she threw out her old computer.

Judy comes to you as outside counsel to the firm, tells you the situation and asks your advice.

Analyze the professional responsibility issues presented by this fact pattern under the Model Rules, and advise Judy as to what she should do now.

Essay Question Number Two (30 points) Recommended Time: One hour

Your answer to this question is worth a maximum of thirty (30) points. Recommended time to spend on this question: One hour.

You are approached by a potential new client, Frank, who wants to form a small corporation with his sister to offer dogwalking and related services. They have big plans to hire employees to do the actual dogwalking and other services that the business will offer, and eventually they hope to franchise the business across the state. You represent other dogwalking services in town, including the largest and most successful company, called Dogging It, and that is why Frank thought of you. Frank says he can’t pay you now, but you can have a share in the business. Frank tells you that his sister will be putting up most of the capital required, while Frank will be the chief executive officer, overseeing day to operations (and earning a salary.) He asks your opinion on how the company’s shares should be divided, and tells you he thinks he should get more shares than his sister since he is more involved in the company. You think that seems fair, so you draft the stock agreement and related documents to give Frank 60 percent of the shares, his sister 30 percent, and 10 percent of the total shares to yourself as compensation for the legal work you are doing. You also draft board election documents to put Frank, his sister and their mother on the board of directors. You send the set of draft documents to Frank with directions to send them to his sister, and Frank sends them back to you with all required signatures. You never actually have any direct communications with the sister. You forget to send a representation agreement.

After the company is up and running, Frank comes to you and asks you to draft a new employee contract. This contract is for someone named Snoop Dogg, who will be paid terms that seem much higher than what other similar employees are paid. You ask more questions, and Frank tells you that he does not want to get too detailed, but this employee has contacts with potential customers who will be paying in cash- “lots of cash.” He says he needs to get the contract in place quickly, because there is a “big job” tomorrow that he wants this employee to handle. You quickly pull the draft agreement together and send it to him. Frank emails you later that evening to ask you what the criminal penalties are for money laundering, and whether there are ways to prevent the authorities from discovering that drug money laundering is going on.

That same evening, the chief financial officer at Dogging It calls you to say that one of his employees, Snoop Dogg, may be embezzling from the company, and asks what he should do.

Analyze the professional responsibility issues in this fact pattern, including whether your activities have met the standards set forth in the Model Rules and/or the California rules, and what you should do from this point on.

Fact Pattern under Model Rules - Professional Responsibility - Exam, Exams of Law

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