Exam 3: Judgement

Jordan is a well-trained and highly experienced paralegal. After her employer retires, Jordan applies to and is hired by Jeb Derekson, a senior partner at Jones & Derekson. After more than a month with the firm, Jeb has only used Jordan for transcription of dictation and routine, but advanced, secretarial work. Given her training and experience, Jordan is very frustrated with Jeb and her new job. She politely spoke to Jeb about it one day, and Jeb responded by verbally reprimanding her. From the answer choices listed below, what is Jordan's best response?

Malik is a paralegal who works for Lily, a family law attorney in the state of Utopia. In the Dangerfield case, Malik's employer represents the husband in a divorce matter. One day early in the case, the husband calls Malik and asks him to have a subpoena issued to Statewide Cellular Telephone. The husband wants to use the subpoena to request copies of his wife's text messages because he believes they will help prove that his wife has been having an extramarital affair. Malik knows that, in Utopia, marital infidelity is not grounds for divorce and will not be considered in dividing the marital estate. From the following answer choices, which describes Malik's best approach?

A former client has been trying to get in touch with James Clarkson, an attorney at Clarkson & Jones. Shauna is a paralegal at Clarkson & Jones who regularly assists Clarkson with litigation cases. Shauna knows the former client, Dalia, because Shauna worked on Dalia's breach of contract case two years earlier. Dalia finally calls and asks to speak with Shauna. Dalia explains that she sold some land in a rural county of the state and now holds a mortgage given by the buyer. The buyer, however, has stopped making payments, and Dalia wants to foreclose on the mortgage. Dalia says that she thinks Clarkson is avoiding her calls because he does not want to take the case, and then Dalia asks Shauna if she would take the case. How should Shauna respond?

Shawn is a paralegal for a sole practitioner who practices in personal injury and workers' compensation. Because he must be out of office regularly, the sole practitioner wants to make Shawn a signatory on the firm's trust account. From the answer choices listed below, what is Shawn's best response?

A farmer owns farmland in a rural county. On a portion of the farmland, the farmer once ran a crop-dusting operation, including underground storage containers for pesticides and fuel, a hangar for the crop-dusting airplane, and a landing strip. The farmer decides to sell the portion of the farmland once used for the crop-dusting operation. A buyer is interested in purchasing the parcel and does all the necessary due diligence. Through this due diligence, the buyer learns that: (1) an employee-pilot was killed on the parcel when attempting to land a crop-dusting plane; (2) an underground fuel-storage tank once had a leak and contaminated the ground; (3) the crop-dusting business was once sued for use of a now-banned pesticide; and (4) the farmer grows corn on the farmland next to the leaky underground fuel-storage tank. Which of these four matters is most likely to discourage the buyer from purchasing the parcel?

Intestate is to heir as _________ is to _________.

Janice is a transactional paralegal working for Cynthia Alameda of Alameda & Associates. One of the firm's clients is Cory's Concrete Cutting Service, which is in the process of obtaining a business loan so it can expand its operations. The lender has approved the loan to Cory's, but is requiring that the loan be secured by a security interest in Cory's concrete cutting equipment. The president of Cory's, Cory Johnson, is working with Janice on finalizing the list of concrete cutting equipment when Mr. Johnson asks what the financing statement does. Janice explains both security interests and UCC Financing Statements, and how the collateral security agreement could allow the lender to take possession of the concrete cutting equipment if loan payments are not made on time. Later, as the meeting is about to break up, Mr. Johnson says, "Well, I'm sure glad I'm protected against having the lender take my concrete cutting equipment." From the options listed below, what is Janice's best approach to responding to Mr. Johnson's comment?

A jurat is to a notary block as a(n) _________ is to a(n) _________.

Joe is a paralegal who has worked for an estate planning attorney for seven years and has become acquainted with many of the attorney's clients, and in some cases, the client's family members. A wealthy, longtime client, Alice, met with the attorney to update her estate plan. After discussion, Alice and the attorney decided to prepare an entirely new estate plan. The new estate plan will disinherit Alice's grandchild, Courtney, because she is dating Peter, an unemployed gambling addict. The attorney asks Joe to prepare initial drafts of Alice's new estate plan. Joe knows Courtney because Alice once asked Courtney to assist on a title transfer matter. As he is preparing the draft, Joe receives a call from Courtney. Courtney explains that she spoke with Alice and that Alice has changed her mind about the disinheritance. Courtney claims that Alice instructed her to call Joe and change the estate plan so that Courtney receives the same as all other grandchildren. From the options listed below, what is Joe's best response?

An ordinance is to a statute as a(n) ________ is to a(n) _________.

Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Which of the following is NOT an out-of-court statement?

Peter Plaintiff was walking down the sidewalk next to Dagmar's Microbrewery. As he passed under an open window on the second floor of the brewery, Peter was hit by a falling barrel that caused serious injury to his head and arm. Peter filed a negligence action against Dagmar's Microbrewery. At trial, Dagmar's Microbrewery admits that the barrel was from the microbrewery and that Dagmar's Microbrewery owed a duty of care to others under negligence law. Peter also offers evidence of his injuries and medical expenses. Peter was unable to offer any other evidence. From the answer choices below, what additional evidence would be most helpful to completing Peter's negligence claim?

Assumption of risk is to a negligence claim as _________ is to _________.

A brown car ran a red light at the intersection of Oak Avenue and President's Way while proceeding south on Oak Drive. Joan was driving her Prius and headed east on President's Way. As she approached Oak Avenue, the light was green and she proceeded through the intersection, but a collision occurred between Joan's car and the brown car. Bob is the owner of the brown car, but Bob was not driving the brown car at the time of the collision. Kara is a paralegal and employed by an attorney who is considering filing a negligence suit on behalf of Joan. The attorney asks Kara to review the facts of Joan's case and determine whether any additional investigation of the facts is necessary. Should Kara report that additional investigation is needed?

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure state: (a) Motion for Summary Judgment or Partial Summary Judgment. A party may move for summary judgment, identifying each claim or defense - or the part of each claim or defense - on which summary judgment is sought. The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The federal district court in your state has local rules of practice that require a separate "statement of facts" that sets forth "each material fact on which the party relies in support of the motion." The local rules continue by saying that each fact in the separate statement must be stated "in a separately numbered paragraph and must refer to a specific admissible portion of the record where the fact finds support." From the options listed below, which describes the best approach to organizing internal cross-references in the motion for summary judgment and statement of facts?

Patti Paralegal works for an insurance defense attorney. Patti's employer is handling the defense of a case involving a homeowner who was sued after a neighbor's child drowned in the homeowner's backyard pool. The homeowner's backyard was fenced, but the gate at the side of the house was not latched, and the child entered through the unlatched gate to swim in the pool. As Patti's employer is drafting a motion, she asks Patti to find cases with facts similar to the fact of this case. Which of the following cases is most analogous to the insurance defense attorney's case?

During a trial, the examination of witness proceeds by direct examination, which is then followed by cross-examination. Generally, leading questions are not permitted during direct examination. However, an exception exists if one party calls the other party as a witness or calls a hostile witness. Which of the following scenarios fits the exception?

Kramer & Costanza is a law firm that handles real estate litigation cases in New York. Bill is a paralegal at the firm who is assigned to work with Mr. Seinfeld on the Grant case. In that case, the plaintiff claims he is rightful owner of real estate that the previous owner sold to both the plaintiff and to Mr. Grant. Mr. Seinfeld has drafted a motion for summary judgment and has asked Bill to collect and organize copies of the documents referenced in the motion. Bill then reviews the motion and sees that he will need to retrieve a copy of the deed to Mr. Grant from the document production. The document production includes three versions of the deed. From the following list, which version is the best version to use as an exhibit?

A surgeon performed abdominal surgery on a patient. After the operation, the patient had abdominal pain for months. An x-ray then revealed that a sponge had been left in the patient's abdomen. The patient then sued the surgeon for negligence. The surgeon admitted that he owed a duty of care to the patient. From the following answer choices, what additional fact would be most helpful in completing the patient's claim?

A devise is to a bequest as a(n) _________ is to a(n) _________.