Deck 3: Confidentiality

Question 1

Paralegal James is doing the final packing away of the files and creating an index for them as he puts the final touches on closing the latest probate case. It was an especially interesting case because the heir to whom the testator left 99% of his worldly possession died shortly after the testator. That resulted in allof Testator's worth being passed to Heir's son. Anyway, it was an interesting case. Now that the case is closed and Heir (the client) is dead, James is looking forward to writing an article about the case. As Heir was particularly flamboyant, James is thinking: Best Seller! As James' friend, you

A) should tell him that he can write about the case if he has permission from the client or the client's heirs to release confidential information he gained while working on the case.
B) should tell him that he can't write about the case even though it is closed and even though the original client is dead.
C) should tell him that he can write about the case now that the case is closed.
D) should tell him that he can write about the case now that the client is dead.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Paralegal Johnston is flying out of town to attend a deposition on the Big Container case. He's taking his laptop with him along with several CDs that contain the firm's files on the case. Which of the following is true?

A) Johnston should not review the files on his laptop while on the plane if passengers near him can see the files.
B) Johnston should not take the files out of the office because the danger that he could lose them or they could be stolen is too great.
C) Johnson is fine reviewing the files on his laptop so long as he checks the passengers in the seats around him to be sure none of them are associated with the case.
D) Johnston is fine reviewing the files on his laptop because no one around him will care about the case.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Lead File Clerk Fidora spends many hours in a large room filed with closed case files. She's very good at her job so she has hours of extra time on her hands when she must be in the file room, but has nothing to do. One day, while reading one of the criminal defense case files, Fidora got the idea that she could write one of those popular mystery-law novels. She begins her research in the case file and begins a preliminary draft of the novel. Fidora should

A) get permission from the clients involved in that case because it is probable that Fidora will divulge confidential information in her book.
B) not worry about any of these issues because she is going to change the names of the people and the locations of the action, anyway.
C) get permission from her law firm to use the case file because it is possible that Fidora will divulge confidential information in her book.
D) talk to someone at the district attorney's office to get their permission to tell their side of the case.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Paralegal Beverly was sitting with Client Morrie, reading through Morrie's interrogatory answers from last year in preparation for Morrie's upcoming deposition. After reading one particular interrogatory response, Morrie declared: "OMG, Beverly! I can't believe we wrote that answer! That's completely wrong!" and then, mumbling to himself, Morrie said, "or maybe that was the lie I decided would be better than telling the truth. Hmmm." When Beverly asks you what you make of that conversation with Morrie, you

A) tell her that it is not protected by any privilege because it is potentially a confession to a crime.
B) tell her that Morrie's words are completely covered by the attorney/client privilege so she will never have to repeat it to anyone outside of the office, but she should report the potential perjury to a supervising attorney.
C) tell her that it is not a protected communication because she is not an attorney.
D) tell her that it is protected confidential information so she cannot be called upon to testify about it.

Question 5

Paralegal Samson has just completed the legal case of his life being part of the team that represented Mrs. Incredibly Rich in her divorce from Mr. Incredibly Rich. Now that the case is closed, Samson is looking forward to telling his wife all about it. Samson

A) can tell his wife about the parts of the case that are likely to not come up again if the parties end up back in court.
B) can tell his wife all about the case because, now that the case has closed, his duty of confidentiality has ended.
C) must keep his client's confidences forever so he can never tell his wife about the case.
D) can tell his wife about the case after the time for an appeal has passed.

Question 6

Polly Paralegal is retiring from her prestigious position with the Cochran Law Firm. During her time as a paralegal, Polly worked on some extraordinary cases including the defense of O.J. Simpson. Polly's thinking about writing a novel about her experience on that case. Before writing such a book, Polly should

A) not worry about any of these issues because several books have already been written on this case.
B) get permission from her law firm because it is possible that Polly will divulge confidential information in her book.
C) get permission from the district attorney's office because she will probably say some unkind (but true) things regarding the competence of the prosecution of this case.
D) get permission from the client because it is probable that Polly will divulge confidential information in her book.

Question 7

Paralegal Mateo spent the day at the local law school doing research for the antitrust litigation his lawfirm just took on. His preliminary memorandum is

A) protected work product
B) unprotected because the law library is open to the public.
C) protected attorney/client privilege
D) unprotected, but confidential information

Question 8

During an interview with Client Xavier, Paralegal Joshua learns that Xavier played on the Olympic team for Spain in 1992 when that team won the silver. Joshua, an avid soccer fan, can't wait to call his dad to share this information. Joshua

A) has only divulged client confidential information if Xavier explicitly asked Joshua to not tell anyone.
B) has not done anything wrong because no one could be embarrassed by that story.
C) has divulged client confidential information.
D) may have divulged client confidential information if the information has anything to do with the representation of Xavier by Joshua's law firm.

Question 9

Client Morrie confessed to Paralegal Beverly that he lied on an answer to interrogatories. Beverly reported the lie to her supervising attorney and wrote a memorandum to the file about it, as well. When Morrie later sues Beverly's law firm for malpractice, the firm

A) cannot use the information that Morrie lied in the malpractice case because it is attorney/client privileged information.
B) can use the information only if it is relevant to the defense of the malpractice claim.
C) cannot use the information that Morrie lied against him because it is confidential.
D) can use the information without regard to its confidential nature because the malpractice action makes Morrie adverse to the law firm.

Question 10

While sitting in a conference room with Client Accused, Paralegal Sofia asks, "Why did you kill your wife?" Accused responds, "Don't tell anyone but I just couldn't take her nagging one more day." When Sofia is called to the witness stand by the prosecution in Accused case, she

A) will have to testify about the conversation because Accused made an explicit confession.
B) will not have to testify as to the confession because it is covered by the work product privilege.
C) will not have to testigy as to the confession because it is covered by the duty of confidentiality.
D) will not have to testify as to the confession because it is covered by the attorney/client privilege.

Question 11

While researching background information on a client, Paralegal Hudson discovers that the client was once investigated by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for improperly large contributions to Congressman X's political campaign committee. As Hudson's roommate is a big fan of Congressman X, Hudson texts his roommate: "U'l neva ges wht i fnd out bout Congr. X! "

A) has violated his duty of confidentiality by insinuating that he knows something improper about the Congressman.
B) has not yet violated his duty of confidentiality to his client but will if he tells his roommate about what he found out during the background check.
C) cannot violate his duty of confidentiality with this information because the information he found is public record anyway.
D) has not violated his duty of confidentiality because no one could understand the text message anyway.