Assignment 8.1 pg. 220

Consider the following situation and explain whether there appears to be an ethical issue for the legal professional involved.

Sharon and Richard decide to divorce after 39 years of marriage. There is no animosity; they just want very different lifestyles in their retirement years. To save money, they decide to let one attorney handle the divorce. Each meets individually with the attorney and states what he or she wants in terms of the two properties they own and the contents of their home. Sharon indicates that that she would like to make it easy and just take the vacation property and its contents. She says Richard can have the primary residence and contents. Sharon thinks this is fair because they paid $60,000 for the vacation residence 3 years ago and spent another $18,000 on furnishings. Their primary residence was refinanced and appraised a few years ago at $80,000, but the furnishings are much older, so she considers it fair. The attorney knows that houses sold in the area have recently increased in value as much as 50 percent because of the completion of a section of new interstate that makes the area perfect for commuters a to nearby city. The attorney knows that Richard is aware of this, because Richard told the attorney that he had secretly obtained an appraisal showing that the house is now valued in a range of $120,000 to $150,000.

Assignment 8.2 pg. 205

In the following situations, explain what the responsibility of the attorney should be:

1.A paralegal newly graduated from a local college is hired. At the end of the first week employment, her supervising attorney takes her out to lunch to discuss progress at the firm. During lunch, the attorney expresses how impressed he is with the paralegal's job performance thus far. The paralegal is so pleased with the evaluation that she takes it upon herself, the following week, to prepare and file several petitions with the court while the attorney is on vacation. The attorney only becomes aware of this when he has returned two weeks later and receives responses to some of the petitions from opposing counsel.

2.Kim is an attorney who is dining at a local caf with a friend. During lunch, Kim overhears two women at the next table discussing in detail some rather surprising evidence recently discovered that is "going to turn the Smithers case upside down" and result in a huge fee for the firm. Kim does not know the women but gathers from the conversation that they are employed by a local law firm.

3.Consider situation 2. Add the fact that the following day Kim arrives at another law firm for a deposition and sees the two women she overheard at the restaurant. Kim is not involved in any way with the Smithers case.

4.Consider situation 2. Add the fact that the following day Kim arrives at another law firm for a deposition and sees the two women she overheard at the restaurant. Kim is not involved in any way with the Smithers case, but her law partner is opposing counsel in the case to the firm where the women work.