Carl arrives at Dewey, Dewey, and Howe. He is told he will be working with Attorney Howe. Carl meets with Attorney Howe, and they discuss a number of matters, including the flat fees Howe charges for uncontested divorces, simple wills, and deed preparation. Howe gives Carl an interview sheet to use for taking initial information in a divorce case and explains that Carl may use Attorney Howe's office when he needs to meet with a client. Then Howe tells Carl that he's going to get a cup of coffee and will be back in a little while.

Carl is sitting in Attorney Howe's office looking over the divorce interview sheet. Carl notices stacks of papers, correspondence, and documents spread out across Attorney Howe's desk. Wow, Carl thinks, he's really busy. There should be plenty of work for me.

Carl overhears activity in the reception area. Curious, he gets up and walks to the door. A woman and man are standing in front of the receptionist's desk.

"Is an attorney available? I need an uncontested divorce," the woman says. Before the receptionist can answer, Carl announces, "I can see you! Come on in!"

Carl motions the man and woman into Attorney Howe's office.

"My name is Carl Jackson," says Carl. He shakes hands with the woman.

"I'm Jane Smith and this is my boyfriend, Zeke," says Jane.

"Please sit down," says Carl. He takes a seat behind Attorney Howe's desk.

Carl begins taking information from Jane. Jane says that she and her husband have agreed on all of the terms of the divorce.

"What do you do for a living, Jane?" Carl asks.

"Well, I'm unemployed," says Jane.

"How do you live?" asks Carl.

"Well, I get disability and I have a little business on the side, but the government doesn't know about it. It's all cash and I don't pay taxes on it, so I keep on getting my disability check."

"What does your husband do for a living?" Carl asks.

"Oh, he's an executive with a big company," answers Jane.

Hmmm, Carl thinks. I bet he could afford to pay her alimony.

"Have you asked your husband for alimony? You might be entitled to it, you know," Carl says.

"Really?" says Jane. "Should I talk to him about it?"

"I would if I were you," says Carl.

"Can I use your phone?" interrupts Zeke.

"Certainly," says Carl. "Just come around here."

Carl gets up and lets Zeke sit behind Attorney Howe's desk. Zeke has to push some of the open files on the desk out of the way to make room for Howe's legal pad, which Zeke uses to make notes during his phone conversation.

In the meantime, Carl finishes obtaining information from Jane. Then she says, "How much will this cost me?"

Carl quotes Howe's standard fixed fee for uncontested divorces. Jane says, "Another lawyer quoted me a lower price. Maybe I should go there."

Carl thinks, we don't want to lose this business. Carl says, "Well, that's our regular price, but I'll tell you what. We'll do it for the price that was quoted to you by the other lawyer."

"Okay, it's a deal," says Jane.

Jane and Zeke get up to leave. Carl walks them through the reception area where other clients are waiting.

"Don't forget about that alimony," says Carl loudly as they walk past the receptionist. "Your husband should be paying you plenty."

Attorney Howe returns with his cup of coffee and Carl excitedly tells him they have a new case.

 

Tuesday

Jane speaks with her husband about alimony on Monday night. He is so angry that on Tuesday he files for divorce. He has Jane served with a divorce petition and a set of interrogatories (discovery requests). Jane makes an appointment to meet with Attorney Howe. When Jane arrives for her appointment, Attorney Howe calls Carl into his office.

"Carl," he says, "I need you to work with Jane on these interrogatory answers. Then, I want you to prepare some interrogatories for her husband to answer." Attorney Howe leaves.

"Okay," says Carl. "Let's see. The first question is, 'Please state all sources of income for you during the past six months.'"

"Well," says Jane, "There's the disability payment."

"Okay, anything else?" asks Carl.

"Well, I make some money on the side, but my husband doesn't know about it and there's no checks or records to prove it," says Jane.

"Well, the lower your income, the more maintenance you're entitled to, so I guess we won't worry about that little business income," says Carl.

"And my boyfriend Zeke has been paying all of my bills, but we had a fight last night and he's moved out," says Jane.

"So he won't be supporting you in the future? Then I guess all we have is disability income," says Carl.

The phone rings. Carl picks it up.

"Yes, this is Attorney Howe's office. No, he's not here, but I can take a message. Yes. You've been charged with possession of marijuana? And you had how much on you? Two ounces? What's your phone number? And your address? Your name? Let me repeat that back to you."

Jane waits patiently for Carl to finish the conversation.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Brown. I'll have Attorney Howe phone you when he returns and he will let you know if he can take your case." Carl hangs up.

"Sorry about the interruption," says Carl.

"That's all right," says Jane.

"The next question says 'Describe the whereabouts of the big-screen TV.'"

"Oh, yeah," says Jane, "he got real mad when I took that out of the house. I still have it. Actually, I gave it to Zeke, but since we've broken up, I'll be darned if I'll let him take it."

"Okay," says Carl, "The next question states, 'How much alimony do you think you're entitled to?'"

"Well," says Jane, "how much can I get? I want as much as possible."

"Attorney Howe says you're entitled to no more than your monthly expenses," says Carl. "What are your total monthly living expenses?"

She tells him. Then she says, "Don't judges usually compromise between the claims of parties? Why don't we ask for double my monthly expenses? Then I'll be more likely to get a lot, even if I don't get what I ask for."

"Okay," says Carl, writing down that amount.

They finish answering the interrogatories and then turn their attention to drafting interrogatory questions for the husband to answer.

"These are standard questions we use in all divorces," says Carl, showing them to Jane. "Are there any other questions you think we should ask?"

"Yes," says Jane. "Ask about the prostitute."

"What!" says Carl.

"He was at a convention for his company when some of the boys phoned up an escort service for, you know, 'company'. My husband wasn't part of it, and the charges against him were eventually dismissed because he was innocent. But he was terribly embarrassed. If anybody at church found out, he would lose his position as deacon."

"That sounds like a good question to me," says Carl. He makes a note.

They finish their meeting, and Jane agrees to meet with Carl tomorrow to sign the interrogatories. Carl, who is a notary, will notarize her signature. Carl looks at the clock and sees his meeting with Jane took one hour and 20 minutes. He writes on his time sheet "two hours."

Explain what ethical violations Carl and/or Attorney Howe made and cite the ABA Model Rule(s) and NFPA Ethical Consideration(s) that apply for Tuesday's events.

Wednesday

Carl prepares Jane's motion for alimony. Carl has never prepared a motion before, so he isn't sure what's required. He fails to include a certification of service that's required by procedural rules. He takes it to Attorney Howe for review, but Howe is rushing out the door. He says, "I don't have time to look at it. Surely you can prepare a simple motion!"

Howe leaves and Carl goes back to his office. The deadline for filing the motion is noon, so Carl decides he had better get it filed. He is on his way to the courthouse when his cell phone rings. It's Zeke.

"Hey, man, this is Zeke. Remember me?"

Carl assures him that he does.

"What can I do for you?"

"I want my big screen TV back from Jane! That's what you can do."

"Well, Zeke, you may have to sue her. And she's involved in a divorce and her husband's going to be claiming that TV. She's already told me that she's not going to give it back to you. She really didn't have the legal right to give it to you in the first place."

"Well, can you help me? Tell her I won't sue her to reimburse me for all the bills I paid if she'll let me have the TV."

"Sure, Zeke, I'll tell her that sounds like a fair deal."

By now, Carl is at the courthouse. He files the motion and is walking back when he happens upon the scene of an accident. He approaches a group of people standing on the sidewalk. They're crying as they watch paramedics load a stretcher into an ambulance.

"What happened?" asks Carl.

"My husband was just run over!" a weeping woman cries.

"I'm so sorry," says Carl. "Do you have an attorney?"

"No," says the woman. "My name is Sally Brown. Are you an attorney?"

"No," says Carl, "but I know a good one. Here," he says, handing her one of Attorney Howe's cards.

"This guy always wins a big settlement," says Carl.

Carl returns to his office.

"Jane came by to sign those interrogatories," says the receptionist. "You weren't here, so I told her to go ahead and sign."

"Okay," says Carl. He recognizes Jane's signature on the document and notarizes it.

Explain what ethical violations Carl and/or Attorney Howe made and cite the ABA Model Rule(s) and NFPA Ethical Consideration(s) that apply for Wednesday's events.

Thursday

Jane phones Carl.

"Did Zeke phone you?" she asks.

"Oh yeah," says Carl and describes the conversation, including Zeke's offer.

"No way," says Jane. "He can't prove I gave it to him. I never told anyone, so it's his word against mine."

"Sounds good to me," says Carl. "If he calls back, I'll have Mr. Howe tell him to take a hike."

"By the way," says Jane, "I met someone at a cocktail lounge last night and I think we're going to get married. He's rich! However, he wants an antenuptial agreement. Can you do that?"

"I'll ask Mr. Howe," says Carl, "but I think so. Have your husband-to-be give us a call."

The phone rings again. It's Sally Brown from the accident scene. She and her sister, who also witnessed the incident, want to meet with Attorney Howe. Carl checks with Attorney Howe and schedules them to come in one hour.

Carl also mentions the antenuptial contract to Howe, and Howe gives Carl a form and tells him to meet with the client. Then Howe leaves for the day. Carl phones Jane and she makes an appointment for her husband-to-be to meet with Attorney Howe on Friday morning.

Sally Brown arrives with her sister. Carl ushers them both into the office.

"Whatever you say here is confidential," says Carl. "So, what happened?"

"Well, we were looking at the Christmas decorations at Elmont's Department Store, and my husband said he wanted to go on ahead and wait for us. Then, the next thing we knew there was a horn blowing, brakes screeching, and a thud! We turned around and there he was, lying in the street, bleeding!"

Sally begins crying and Carl gives her a tissue.

"So, did either of you see the accident?" Carl asks.

"Well, not really," says the sister. "We were looking at the Christmas decorations."

"If you didn't see the accident," says Carl, "we may not be able to win the case. Somebody needs to be able to say that they saw the accident and that your husband didn't just step out in front of the car. It's better if the car got him while he was on the sidewalk. Are you sure you didn't see anything at all?"

"Well," says Sally. "Maybe we did. You know, we were looking at the decorations, but we might have looked around to say goodbye. We might've seen him then."

"Good," says Carl, writing this down. "Now is it 'might have,' or can you be more certain—did you see the accident?"

"Yes," says Sally, looking at her sister. "I think we did see it. I mean, what else could have happened?"

Carl takes further information. Sally stands up to leave.

"So, will you take the case?"

"I'll have to ask Mr. Howe, but I expect that he will."

"What will he charge?"

This isn't something Carl has discussed with Howe, but Carl knows that personal injury attorneys generally charge a percentage of the recovery.

"It's customary to charge one-third of the recovery."

"Okay, that will be fine," says Sally. She and her sister leave.

 

Friday

"How would you like to come to court with me when I argue Jane's motion for alimony this morning?" Attorney Howe asks Carl.

"Great!" says Carl.

The phone rings. Attorney Howe talks for a while. Then he puts his hand over the receiver and whispers to Carl, "This call will take a while. You go on. Take the file with you and meet Jane outside the courtroom. I'll be there shortly."

Carl meets Jane and they enter the courtroom and sit down. At 9:00 A.M., Attorney Howe hasn't arrived. The judge enters the courtroom and everyone stands.

The judge begins to call cases. Carl wonders what he should do. He watches the attorneys and sees that as each case is called, the attorney either announces that the matter is uncontested, in which case the judge signs the order presented by the attorney, or says "To be heard," in which case the judge just nods and calls the next case. Carl also notices some very young attorneys who stand up and identify themselves as "so-and-so for Attorney Jones" or "so-and-so for Attorney Smith." Clearly, they're appearing on behalf of a senior attorney.

Hmmm, thinks Carl. Since our matter is contested, Attorney Howe would simply say, "To be heard."

Finally, the judge calls Jane's case. Attorney Howe hasn't arrived. Carl stands up.

"Carl Jackson for Attorney Howe. That's to be heard."

The judge nods and Carl sits down. In a few moments, Attorney Howe arrives.

After the hearing on Jane's motion for alimony, Carl returns to the office with Jane. Attorney Howe stays to argue motions in other cases. Jane's husband-to-be, Raymond, is waiting in the reception room.

"Hi sweetheart!" says Jane. They kiss.

Carl introduces himself to Raymond. Jane follows the two men into Attorney Howe's office.

"Do you mind if I sit in?" Jane asks. Raymond says it's okay.

Carl asks Raymond about the size of his estate and what sort of agreement he wants to make. Jane interrupts.

"He's going to give it all to me," she says. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

"I don't know . . ." says Raymond. "What about my children from my first marriage?"

"Now sweetheart, we talked about it," says Jane. "Besides, I promise I'll give them everything after you die."

"I know. I guess that's okay. What do you think?" Raymond asks Carl.

"Sounds okay to me," says Carl. Carl doesn't really know much about antenuptial contracts or whether other documents could be drafted which would make sure that Raymond's children ended up with his estate.

"That takes care of that," says Jane. She stands up and takes Raymond's arm. "Thank you for your time, Carl. You've been very helpful."

Raymond and Jane leave arm-in-arm as Attorney Howe returns from court. Carl meets him in front of the secretary's desk and asks if he can have his paycheck for the week.

"What's the balance in our account?" Attorney Howe asks the secretary. She tells him.

"Hmmm," says Attorney Howe. "Carl, we're a little short this week. I'll have to write you a check out of the client trust account. I can replace it next week when I get that big settlement check. Just don't mention it to anyone."

Attorney Howe writes the check and hands it to Carl.

"Thanks!" says Carl. "It's been a great first week!"