Question

CASE HISTORY

Penelope and her husband, Peter, are enjoying their coffee while reading the Sunday paper on their deck overlooking the backyard and in-ground pool at their new home. They have been happily married for seven years, and everything in their life seems to be going well.

Penelope, who is thirty-three years old, is very successful in her career. Last year, she was promoted to a high-level managerial position in the accounting firm she works for she's one of the youngest people ever to attain such a position in the company's history. Peter is forty years old and has a Ph.D. in computer science from an Ivy League university. For years he worked in the defense industry. Although he was also quite successful, he was unhappy in his career. When Penelope received her promotion, she received a significant increase in base salary and became eligible for large annual bonuses. Because of the additional income Penelope now earns, Peter was able to give up his job in the private sector and pursue a dream he had for years: teaching in a local high school. Although his salary is less than one-third of what he made in the private sector, both he and Penelope are pleased with the new arrangement. Peter loves his job (which has decreased the stress level in the home), and he returns from work each afternoon by 5:00 PM (while he was working in the defense industry he often came home late at night). When he comes home, he begins dinner and cleans up the house. On Saturday mornings, instead of heading to the office like Penelope does, he runs errands picking up the dry cleaning, shopping for groceries, and whatever else needs to be done.

Peter's newfound freedom is also important for another reason: Peter and Penelope are trying to have a baby. Although Peter is unequivocally enthusiastic about parenting, Penelope has had reservations. She loves her career, and wants to advance in it as far as possible. Penelope knows that in order to do that she will have to maintain her current schedule of long hours in the office, entertaining clients in the evening and on weekends and being as productive as possible. Still, she is very interested in motherhood, and after she turned thirty she felt some compulsion to have a baby as soon as possible. To help resolve her conflicting feelings, Penelope began seeing a psychotherapist on a weekly basis. After six months of therapy, and with Peter's change in career (which will provide him with more time to be at home with the baby after Penelope returns to work from maternity leave), Penelope was emotionally ready to conceive. After nearly a year of trying to get pregnant, Penelope was frustrated. She and Peter began seeing fertility specialists for testing, diagnosis, and any treatment that they recommend.

After enjoying their Sunday afternoon on the deck and finishing the paper, Peter and Penelope decide to do some yard work. Peter goes to the storage shed to get the skimmer, vacuum, and water supplies. Penelope goes to the shed to get her pruning sheers and the new power blower-mulcher combination tool, the "Mulch Monster." The Mulch Monster is manufactured by Diamond Dragon Ltd., a German corporation that distributes its products through Tools R Us a national retail chain that just opened a store at the local mall. As Peter skims the pool, Penelope blows the leaves she has just trimmed into a tidy pile. She then removes the blower attachment to convert the tool into a mulcher so that she can mulch the leaves for Peter's organic garden. Peter suddenly hears Penelope scream in pain, yelling for help. He turns and sees her holding her bloody hand. Somehow, three of the fingers on her right hand came into contact with the blades in the mulcher.

Peter wraps Penelope's hand in kitchen towels and rushes her to the emergency department at a local hospital. On the way, Penelope tells Peter that she isn't sure she put the attachment on the tool correctly, and repeatedly asks him, "How could I be so stupid?" before going into shock. Peter tries to console and calm her as they pull into the hospital. After examining and stabilizing Penelope, the local hospital transfers her to a major teaching hospital in a nearby city. Despite the surgeons' efforts over the next few days, Penelope's fingers can't be saved. Two of them are amputated at the first knuckle and one is amputated at the second knuckle. The only good news from the doctors is that Penelope is pregnant.

Six weeks after the injury, Peter's sister, a corporate lawyer, advises Peter and Penelope to speak to a personal injury attorney and to investigate whether the tool was designed and/or manufactured with defects. Peter and Penelope are reluctant to do so. Penelope is somewhat depressed about her appearance, and is just now returning to work after physical therapy. She has had a difficult first trimester: she suffers from anxiety, and has lost weight and has difficulty sleeping.

Six months after the injury, things are a bit better. Penelope is feeling better and progressing well with the pregnancy. She is feeling back in the swing of things at work, but nervous about taking her maternity leave. Penelope is still bothered by her appearance; she fells that people (including her colleagues and clients) stare at her hand and are uncomfortable with her. Peter tries to maintain a positive attitude, and is very supportive of Penelope, but he is struggling with guilt about the accident (feeling that he should have been the one to operate the blower-mulcher) and his own discomfort with Penelope's hand. Unbeknownst to Penelope, he begins to see a psychologist once a week on the way home from school.

Peter and Penelope's beautiful baby, Parker, arrives two and-a-half months later. Parker is happy and healthy. Peter and Penelope enjoy this time despite the demands it places on them. But as Penelope prepares to return to work after three months of maternity leave, Parker has an episode of apnea. The doctors are unsure of the cause, but obviously concerned about SIDS. For the next six months, Parker has to wear a monitor that measures respirations. Neither Penelope nor Peter gets much sleep during this time because the monitor frequently sounds its alarm. Penelope and Peter both have difficulty maintaining their focus at work. For the first time in Penelope's career, she receives a negative performance review. She is told that although her job is not yet in jeopardy, she is unlikely to receive a large bonus this year.

Eventually, Parker's monitor is discontinued, but the doctors are still unable to give them a diagnosis. Parker remains healthy, and Peter and Penelope begin to enjoy parenthood. As things begin to calm down, they get into a new rhythm at home and at work. Penelope

ends the year on a positive note: although her bonus is not as large as the ones she's received in the past, she is satisfied. Peter is also doing well, and his principal asks him to consider taking on new responsibilities in his department.

To celebrate, Peter and Penelope have a small dinner party for the friends and family who have been supporting them emotionally through the recent turmoil in their lives. Peter's sister attends, and asks them if they have consulted an attorney. When she learns that they haven't, she again urges them to do so. While cleaning up after the party, Peter and Penelope begin discussing that option and agree that they should pursue it.

The next week, they consult an attorney with experience in products liability claims. The attorney is familiar with the Mulch Monster and begins investigating a claim on behalf of Penelope, Peter and Parker. Because the statute of limitations is about to run out, the attorney hastily files suit in court, naming Tools R Us and Diamond Dragon Ltd.

You have just started working as a paralegal in the law firm that represents Diamond Dragon. A partner on the case calls you to her office and hands you a thin file that includes the complaint, the answer filed by Diamond Dragon, and the removal papers that took the case from state court to federal district court. She also tells you that because of lay-offs in the firm, she is unsure whether she will be able to assign an associate to the case unless it is going to trial. After joking about how "cost-effective" you are, she casually mentions that the client has informed her that there were some "problems" with the product during manufacturing, that there have been other complaints about similar incidents, and that the company has started an internal investigation of the blade guard that was used in the product. Evidently, Diamond Dragon's engineers suspect that the plastic material used for the guards might be defective. Diamond Dragon is contemplating a suit against GreatGuards, the company that produced the guards.

The partner wants you to begin handling the case, so she asks you to pull together the documents necessary to comply with the automatic disclosure requirement and to begin drafting requests for production and interrogatories to be served on the plaintiffs. She mentions that the case "may need to settle" given the history, but wonders about the damages. You begin to ask more questions, but she is off to a bar association gala and then is leaving for an expert deposition on the West Coast that will take her out of the office for the next four days. Her last words are something to the effect of, "Welcome to the firm" and, as she gets her messages from the secretary, she casually suggests that "if you have time, write down a few deposition questions.

PLEASE HELP! With these 6 questions

Goal

Review a case and analyze it from both the plaintiff's and the defendant's perspective.

1. List the information you would gather and produce on behalf of your client, Diamond Dragon, for the automatic disclosure.
2. List the information you would expect the plaintiffs to gather and produce to you for the automatic disclosure.
3. List examples of the requests for production, or things you would seek through a request for production, from the plaintiffs.
4. List examples of the interrogatories, or the information you would seek through an interrogatory, from the plaintiffs.
5. List examples of the deposition questions you would ask the plaintiffs.
6. Describe whether an independent medical exam would be proper in this case and why, or why not.