Monday Morning Honors #254

Happy Monday!

Friday’s questions are here.  The answers follow today’s Honor Roll.

ps: heeding superstition Friday’s intro worked.  I ran a marathon in Maine yesterday and qualified for the 2023 Boston Marathon.

Honor Roll

• Karen Allen
• Alberto Bernabe, Professor, UIC School of Law
• Andrew Delaney, Martin Delaney & Ricci Law Group
• Benjamin Gould, Paul Frank + Collins
• Robert Grundstein
• Glenn Jarrett, Jarrett & Luitjens
• Keith Kasper, McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Burchard
• Kevin Lumpkin, Sheehey Furlong & Behm
• Jack McCullough, Project Director, Mental Health Law Project, Vermont Legal Aid
• Hal Miller, Hawaii Agency Underwriting Counsel, First American Title
• Herb Ogden
• Keith Roberts, Darby Kolter Roberts
• Jonathan Teller-Elsberg, Sheehey Furlong & Behm
• The Honorable John Valente, Vermont Superior Judge
• Jason Warfield, J.D.
• Thomas Wilkinson, Jr., Cozen & O’Connor

Answers

Question 1

 I often mention the 7 Cs of Legal Ethics. In my opinion, conceptualizing the 7 Cs is easier than trying to memorize the specific rules and as likely to lead to the most important C, compliance.

Which of the 7 Cs includes the following?

• Situations in which an act that is otherwise prohibited is mandatory.
• Situations in which an act this is otherwise prohibited is permissive.
• Among the situations in which an act is permissive, the so-called “self-defense” exception.

Confidentiality.  Paragraph (a) sets out the prohibition against disclosing information relating to the representation of a client.  Paragraphs (b) and (c) outline the exceptions.   Rule 1.6 – Confidentiality of Information

Question 2

 There’s a rule that includes the following language:

• “A lawyer shall not enter into a business transaction with a client or knowingly acquire an ownership, possessory, security or other pecuniary interest adverse to a client . . .”

True or false?   The only exception to the rule is when entering into a fee agreement with the client.

FALSE.  V.R.Pr.C. 1.8(a) sets out the requirements that must be met for a lawyer to enter into a business transaction with a client. It is not limited to fee agreements.  See, Rule 1.8 – Conflict of Interest – Current Clients – Specific Rules

Question 3

 At a CLE, I said “the rule states that a ‘lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible, maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client.’ ”  I was discussing the rule that applies when:

• A.  a client files a motion to discharge their lawyer.
• B.  a client’s capacity to make adequately considered decisions in connection with the representation is diminished.  Rule 1.14 – Client with Diminished Capacity
• C.  a client fails to substantially comply with the terms of a fee agreement.
• D.  a lawyer learns that the client has used the lawyer’s services to commit a crime or fraud that is not likely to cause significant bodily or financial injury to another.

Question 4

 In honor of Pam L:

Most of the Rules of Professional Conduct apply to all lawyers.  There’s one, however, that applies only to a lawyer in a specific practice area. The rule includes a requirement that is similar to the constitutional mandate announced by the United States Supreme Court in Brady v. Maryland.  The rule applies to:

• A.  a lawyer who represents a criminal defendant who has not attained the age of majority.
• B.  a prosecutor in a criminal case.  Rule 3.8 – Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor
• C.  a lawyer who is admitted to practice in a U.S. state and a foreign country.
• D.  a lawyer who represents a publicly held corporation whose primary purpose is to engage in interstate commerce.

Question 5

 Larry Zerner is an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles.  He uses Twitter to update movie fans on a long-running copyright dispute.  The dispute is between the producer and screenwriter of a movie that was released in 1980.  Since then, Paramount has released 11 more films in the franchise.

Zerner’s interest in the dispute stems from more than working as a lawyer.  In 1982, Zerner appeared in one of the sequels.  In cabins at Crystal Lake, Zerner’s character and the character’s friends were attacked by the franchise’s main character. Zerner’s character’s death allowed the main character to acquire an item that Zerner’s character had used to scare his friends in a prank.  The item has since become iconic in movie lore and pop culture.

Last fall, an appeals court upheld a trial court’s decision to award the screenwriter a copyright for the original script and the characters associated with the original film.  That hasn’t ended the dispute.  The producer contends that the copyright does not include content from the sequels, including the adult version of the franchise’s main character and the iconic item that the main character acquired after dispatching the character played by Attorney Zerner.

Name the movie franchise.                         FRIDAY THE 13th

Bonus: name the iconic item.                     Jason’s hockey mask

CNN has the story of the legal battle here.