Exam 2: Unauthorized Practice of Law

Paula Paralegal's mother called her with the following statement: "I'm considering writing a holographic will." Paula responded: "Mom, don't do that. Holographic wills are often disregarded by the courts due to technical errors." Paula's response:

Jacob has been a paralegal for over 10 years and is now in his third year of law school. As part of his law school training, Jacob is participating in the schools Law Student Defense project where certain law students represent indigent criminal defendants in court. When he is in court, Jacob

Emily works as a tax accountant. Yesterday she gave her client (Mr. Johnston) some bad legal advice when she told him that he can move his money to an off-shore bank and renounce his American citizenship in order to protect his money from U.S. taxes. As a result of this advice, Emily

Andrew Paralegal works for Madeline Attorney, a very busy woman. Sometimes when Andrew needs to have his work supervised, Madeline is too busy. Andrew is pretty self-sufficient, so he just deals with it, covering up for the fact that Madeline does not review his work. Andrew

Attorney Ava has a small law office in the State of Mesero that represents over 400 little corporations. They have very few legal problems, but the corporate structure requires upkeep - things like annual meetings of shareholders and changes of by laws to conform to changing law. This year Mesero changed its law to require the shareholders of small corporations to meet twice each year instead of once. Ava hires a freelance paralegal (Madison) to contact all of Ava's clients and walk them through the process of updating their by laws, giving notice of the meeting, taking meeting minutes, and getting all of the correct signatures on all of the documents. Ava is concerned about Madison committing UPL by speaking on the phone with clients and answering their questions. What should Ava and Madison do?

Sandy Glastor (Paralegal) has joined his family for Thanksgiving. Sandy's grandfather asks a general question (to everyone sitting at the table) about writing a holographic will on letterhead stationery. (Does the printed part of the stationery invalidate the will because the will is not written entirely in the testator's handwriting.) Sandy takes Grandfather's question as a hypothetical and responds to it along with everyone else at the table throwing in their opinions. Later that night, Grandfather rewrites his holographic will on a blank piece of paper based on Sandy's reply to the question. Which of the following is true?

Ethan Lawyer is in a hurry today (just like every day.) As he is running out the door to a hearing, he says to Isabella Paralegal "Call Ms. Client and tell her that she should not pay the tax penalty because IRS Code 502 says she doesn't have to." Later that day, Isabella calls Ms. Client and says "Ms. Client? This is Isabella at Ethan Lawyer's office. I'm calling to say that you should not pay the tax penalty. IRS Code 502 says that you don't have to." Isabella

Christopher is the owner of Christopher's Typing and Legal Services. His company is a corporation. The company was served with a notice that it is not in compliance with city ordinances regarding signage on the building. Unfortunately, Christopher forgot about the notice and now it has become a misdemeanor citation. Christopher

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

Ethan Lawyer is in a hurry today (just like every day.) As he is running out the door to a hearing, he says to Isabella Paralegal "Call Ms. Client and tell her that she should not pay the tax penalty because IRS Code 502 says she doesn't have to." Later that day, Isabella calls Ms. Client and says "Ms. Client? This is Isabella at Ethan Lawyer's office. I'm calling to say that you should not pay the tax penalty. IRS Code 502 says that you don't have to." Isabella

You live in the State of Mesaro. According to Mesaro state law, lay people may represent claimants before the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board. This Board hears appeals from people who have been denied workers' compensation after being injured on the job. Johanna leased space in an office building and put a sign on the door "Johanna Ritter -- Workers' Compensation Appeals Representative." This sign is

Waldo Majong has a legal problem that is very technical and deals with stem cell research. After searching for many years for a lawyer who is well-versed in this area, Waldo decided that he really needs a doctor to represent him because none of the lawyers can get through the technical medical part of the legal issue. The doctor he hired has been to law school, but did not take the bar exam. Waldo is satisfied with the doctor's ability to argue the law. If Doctor represents Waldo

Grif Griffin is a paralegal. His cousin, Snap Griffin, got a speeding ticket for which a court appearance is mandatory. Snap is afraid that he will be sent to jail for other outstanding speeding violations and fines if he appears in jail. Snap has Grif make his appearance for him. Grif:

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?

Client G is sitting in the lobby of the law firm of Gribbens & Blotts. She turns to the receptionist and says "I'm going to court with Mr. Gribbens tomorrow. Do you think these high heels are appropriate?" The receptionist looks at G's shoes and replies "I think they are perfectly fine." As the receptionist committed UPL?

Christopher is the owner of Christopher's Typing and Legal Services. Sophia goes to Christopher and says "I have to file bankruptcy because my house went into foreclosure. Where should I start?" Christopher takes Sophia to a wall filled with clear boxes of forms and says "Pick the form that you want to use." When Sophia starts to pull the Chapter 11 form out of the box, Christopher shakes his head very slightly. Sophia puts the form back. Then she reaches for the Chapter 7 form and glances sideways at Christopher. He smiles. Christopher

Claudio wants to apply to change his student Visa to a work permit Visa. He goes to the ABC Legal Clinic but there are no lawyers there - only paralegals. Claudio is okay with that because he can fill out the form without help. However, when he gets to the blank that says "Middle Name" he doesn't know what to do. Claudio doesn't have a middle name. When he asks a paralegal at the ABC Legal Clinic what to do with this blank, the paralegal

The law of the unauthorized practice of law says that it is UPL to "create legal documents for others." Given this rule, why is it that paralegals are routinely used to create legal documents in law firms?

Christopher is the owner of Christopher's Typing and Legal Services. Sophia goes to Christopher and says "I have to file bankruptcy because my house went into foreclosure. Where should I start?" Christopher replies "If you pick out the form and fill it out, I will type it for you for $25.00. You don't have to have it typed. You can just buy the form for $5.00, fill it out in pen and file it yourself." Christopher

Abigail Attorney is a sole practitioner. When she hires her first paralegal, she wants her law firm to reflect that 100% growth. She changes the name of the firm to Abigail Attorney & Associates and gets her paralegal business cards that designate the paralegal as "associate." Which of the following statements is true?