Scenario

You landed the job of your life as a paralegal at a law firm that handles business organizations' law in your home state. The law firm has decided to represent Lucy Ricardo with all her business organization's legal needs, and you are tasked with reviewing new client cases. Your supervising attorney has requested that you work on Lucy's file to ensure all of the paperwork is organized and to research and draft any documents as necessary. Lucy Ricardo & Ethel Mertz owned and managed a lemonade stand business selling freshly squeezed lemonade in front of Lucy's house. Their sales grew so quickly that they eventually leased a retail space in their local mall food court and named their lemonade business Ricardo & Mertz Lemonade Squeezy Stand (RM). Your supervising attorney asked you to review the legal issues involving Lucy Ricardo & her business needs as it relates to the information below and report your findings to the team:

• Lucy and Ethel contributed equally $500 towards the capital of the business.
• Lucy and Ethel did not have anything that was written formally declaring that they were general partners. Lucy wanted to seek advice about what paperwork would need to be filed with any federal, state, or local agencies about the partnership.
• Lucy and Ethel carried on their lemonade business as co-owners who shared the profits and losses.
• Lucy and Ethel took out a loan from the bank to cover expenses.
• Ethel liked spending time with Lucy and did not intend for them to be in a partnership. Ricky Ricardo saw how well the business was doing and asked Lucy to go into the lemonade stand business with him.
• Lucy and Ricky secretly opened a lemonade stand in the same mall. Lucy used the lemons from her business with Ethel without Ethel's knowledge for her business with Ricky. They named their business Ricardo & Ricardo Lemonade Fresh Squeeze Stand (RR) to compete with Ethel and Lucy's business as a limited liability partnership (LLP). They have a limited partnership agreement that is silent regarding multiple issues.
• Lucy only worked one day a week at the lemonade stand with Ethel (RM) and worked six days a week at the lemonade stand with her husband Ricky (RR).
• Ethel became upset with Lucy and intentionally lit the business's commercial lemon juice extractor machine on fire, destroying the machine and causing smoke damage to the interior of the food court. As a result, all lemonade would now have to be squeezed by hand, decreasing daily sales.
• The mall's senior manager sued Lucy, Ethel, and RM for the damages caused by the fire.
• Ethel did not properly account for any profits on the days that Lucy did not work at the RM Lemonade Stand and secretly put any profit acquired on those days into her personal checking account.

Directions

This Portfolio Project will consist of four major components focusing on analyzing business client scenarios that involve resolving liability issues and drafting basic documents related to business organizations' laws. This project aims to develop higher-order thinking skills to build your analysis of facts and legal issues in scenarios and to apply the laws and statutes in your home state. You will use Lexis+ for your research to draft a legal memorandum and partnership dissolution agreement.

Requirements and Formatting

Your Portfolio Project must includethe following:

• Use the Word Memo template provided.
• TNR 12-point font and 1-inch margins.
• Utilize Bluebook Citations when citing sources.
• Review mechanics for errors related to readability, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. Deliverable Descriptions

Week 3: Intra-Office Memorandum (Breach of Fiduciary Duty)

• Due by the end of Week3 at 11:59 pm, ET.

Scenario: Your supervising attorney emails you and asks that you draft an intra-office memorandum to review the legal issues regarding Lucy Ricardo's business issues. You want to ensure that your memorandum is well organized, and you want to develop your analysis of the facts in the above scenario using cases and statutes in your home state. The law office wants you to evaluate and research the issues related to Lucy Ricardo's business in order to help make crucial decisions regarding various aspects of her business.

Email Message

Sent: January 1, 9:00 AM

From: Supervising Attorney &..y@businesslaw.com

To: Research Paralegal &..l@businesslaw.com

Subject: Lucy Ricardo's business needs

Dear Research Paralegal,

Lucy has notified the firm that her partner Ethel claims that Lucy breached her fiduciary duty as a business partner. The supervising attorney would like you to review the facts in Lucy's case, analyze any claims, and determine any defenses.

Draft an intra-office memo to the supervising attorney regarding the fiduciary obligations of partners.

1. Define a fiduciary duty in a general partnership based on your state law. Ensure to use Bluebook Citations.
2. Identify the elements that Ethel would need to succeed in a breach of fiduciary duty case in your state.
3. Review the facts and determine the strengths and weaknesses as to whether Ethel can prevail against Lucy for a breach of fiduciary duty claim for any of the following acts:
   1. Duty of Loyalty
   2. Taking business opportunities away from the Partnership
   3. Disclosure
   4. Competing with the Partnership
   5. Using partnership property for personal gain
4. Determine if Lucy can claim any defenses to a breach of fiduciary claim.
5. Provide the damages allowed under the relevant state statute for a breach of fiduciary duty. Justify your response with one case in your home state.
6. Research the statutes in your state that govern general partnerships, analyze the potential outcomes, and determine whether Ethel can successfully claim a breach of fiduciary duty against Lucy. Justify your response by using primary sources of law (cases and statutes). The law firm will use your research in preparation for representing Lucy's case.
7. Identify any next steps you may recommend for the law firm to proceed regarding any possible litigation against Lucy.

Best regards,

Supervising Attorney, Esq.

Use the template that has been provided to draft an intra-office memorandum responding to the email from your Supervising attorney. Review Lucy's fact scenario and identify the legal problems presented. You will use legal research and analysis as well as effective writing skills. Your intra-office memorandum should include the following:

• Seven Hundred and Fifty Words in length
• Your memo should include an introduction and conclusion.
• For each problem and discuss the issues and goals.
• Research the substantive law for each probe key facts that are relevant to her legal business issues.
• Use Bluebook citations for the laws in Indiana that relate to business organizations' laws.