Part I:

This week you are working on your trial court briefs. In this

Discussion Forum, please share with each other (and with me) what you

are learning from writing this brief, what problems you are running in

to, and what solutions to those problems you have found. You may also

ask me questions about the assignment in this discussion. This way,

everyone benefits from the questions and answers. My intent is to have

you share information about the process of writing a brief of this sort –

how beneficial this is depends in large part on each of you, and how

much you participate.

Part II: Client confidentiality is a cornerstone of the legal

profession. Of course, the confidentiality requirement has implications

for supervising attorneys and also for non-lawyer employees, to include

paralegals, in a law firm. Review the American Bar Association (ABA)

Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) and answer these questions.

The link you need to get started is below.

Specifically, you will need to look at MRPCs 1.6, 5.1, and 5.3 for these

questions. You may also, of course, do outside research as you develop

your answers.

a. What are a supervising attorney’s responsibilities with regard to

confidentiality? What do your state’s rules have to say on the subject?

b. What steps do you think a supervising attorney in a firm might take

to ensure employees / supervised lawyers and paralegals understand and

properly abide by the rules? Be specific.

c. The U.S. Attorney contacts Mr. Plentibux, senior partner in a law

firm, and tells him that a paralegal in the firm will be called to

testify at a criminal trial against one of the firm’s clients. Although

the U.S. Attorney does not know it, this paralegal has been working on a

civil matter involving this client. Does this implicate the

confidentiality rules? Does the U.S. Attorney have the authority to

order this paralegal to testify? If not, who does? What would be the

limits of the paralegal’s testimony, if she is ordered to testify? What

do you think would be the limits of the testimony?

Remember

to respond to at least two of your classmates’ submissions and to give

credit to your sources using Bluebook format! Additionally, your

primary submission to this forum must be AT LEAST 500 words in length