Charmaine is a new paralegal in a large firm that specializes in criminal defense.
Charmaine is a new paralegal in a large firm that specializes in criminal defense. She is fastidious about her work and very eager to please her supervising attorney, John Chen, because her position offers the opportunity for promotion to larger and more important cases. Charmaine understands her role in the firm hierarchy and knows that as Chen’s legal assistant, she reports directly to him.
1. Charmaine’s first case in the new firm is to assist in the defense of a client accused of vehicular manslaughter. Her assignment is to research the weather conditions on the day the car accident took place. She accesses the National Weather Service records and notes the temperatures of the day in question. Unfortunately, her Internet connection is temporarily disrupted while she is still gathering data from the website, so she decides this is a good time to break for lunch. When Charmaine comes back from lunch, her Internet connection is restored, but she neglects to complete her research and thus fails to note the icy conditions that prevailed at the time of the accident. Unwittingly, Charmaine has breached the duty of competence. Which Model Rule describes this duty?
a. Rule 7.3
b. Rule 5.3
c. Rule 1.1
d. Rule 1.6
2. John Chen has asked Charmaine to meet with the client accused of vehicular manslaughter to prepare him as a witness in the upcoming trial. During the meeting, the client confesses to Charmaine that he is short on money and has had to resort to illegal means to secure funds for his defense. What should Charmaine do?
a. She should report the confession to Chen as soon as possible.
b. She should ignore the confession and act as if it never happened.
c. Legal ethics dictate that she should inform the police immediately.
d. She should not do anything, because communications between a client and the attorney’s paralegal may not be disclosed without the client’s consent.
3. Charmaine’s law firm has hired a new attorney who presents a conflict of interest within the firm, so Charmaine has been asked to set up an ethical wall around the new attorney. She plans to draft several memos on behalf of Chen to inform members of the firm about the special procedures that will be used. Which of the following is not a procedure for building an ethical wall?
a. Placing “OFF-LIMITS” labels on the files for the case
b. Developing a security procedure for signing out and tracking the case files in the case to prevent inadvertent disclosure of the files to the new attorney
c. Arranging for computer passwords to be issued to the team members so that access to the case in question is restricted to team members only
d. Arranging for the new attorney’s office to be on a different floor from the team
4. John Chen is taking on several new cases, and he has started asking Charmaine to take on additional responsibilities. Both NALA and the ABA have issued guidelines indicating what paralegals may and may not do. Which of the following duties can Charmaine carry out in her position as a paralegal?
a. Representing clients before government agencies
b. Attending will executions
c. Appearing at real estate closings
d. All of these choices
5. Charmaine is highly conscious of the legal limits of her paralegal status. She has studied what she may and may not do as a paralegal, and she communicates openly with Chen about her tasks. How might Chen recommend that Charmaine avoid problems with the unauthorized practice of law?
a. Charmaine should have Chen sign every document that has her name on it.
b. Charmaine should always introduce herself with her title and include her title when signing any documents.
c. Charmaine should trust Chen and stop worrying, because he is aware of the guidelines that define UPL.
d. All of these choices
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