Welcome to Monday! This must be the nicest January ever.
Friday’s questions are here. Today’ s answers follow the Honor Roll.
I’m ecstatic to report that while there might not be many of us, there’s a committed contingent of us who don’t share what we intend to order with fellow diners & who order last.
Honor Roll
- Karen Allen, Esq.
- Devon Ayers, Paralegal, Housing Discrimination Law Project, Vermont Legal Aid
- Penny Benelli, Dakin & Benelli
- Alberto Bernabe, Professor, John Marshall Law School
- Rich Cassidy, Esq.
- Beth DeBernardi, Administrative Law Judge, Vermont Dept. of Labor
- Laura Gorsky, Law Office of David Sunshine
- Robert Grundstein, Esq.
- Gregg Harris, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Building & Services
- Keith Kasper, McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper & Burchard
- Elizabeth Kruska, Esq.
- Kevin Lumpkin, Sheehey, Furlong & Behm
- Lon McClintock, McClintock Law Offices
- Hal Miller, First American
- Herb Ogden, Esq.
- Jim Runcie, Ouimette & Runcie
- Jay Spitzen, Esq.
- Robyn Sweet, CORE Registered Paralegal, Cleary Shahi & Aicher
Answers
Question 1
How about a 50/50 to start?
There’s a rule that “a lawyer shall not engage in undignified or discourteous conduct which is degrading or disruptive to a tribunal.”
Does the rule apply to depositions? Yes or no.
YES. See, V.R.Pr.C. 3.5, Comment [5]
Question 2
By rule, when must a lawyer provide a client or third person with a full accounting of funds or property that the lawyer held for the client or third person?
- A. upon request by the client or third person
- B. upon the termination of the representation
- C. monthly
- D. regularly
V.R.Pr.C. 1.15(d) states that a lawyer “upon request of a client or third person, shall promptly render a full accounting of such property.” I’d put to you (Rake) that Rule 1.16(d) suggests that an accounting should be provided upon on the termination of the representation as well.
Question 3
True or false.
In an ex parte proceeding, a lawyer does not have a duty to inform the tribunal of material facts that are adverse to a client’s position.
FALSE. V.R.Pr.C. 3.3(d).
Question 4
Lawyer works at Firm. In addition, Lawyer often provides short-term legal services under the auspices of programs sponsored by nonprofits and a local court. When providing such services, neither Lawyer nor clients have an expectation of continuing representation.
As such, while providing the short-term legal services,
- A. Lawyer’s duty of competence is relaxed.
- B. The trust accounting rules do not apply.
- C. Client’s statements to Lawyer are not confidential.
- D. The conflicts rules are relaxed. V.R.Pr.C. 6.5
Question 5
When you believe in things that you don’t understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain’t the way.
Johanan Vigoda was a lawyer. In 1971, Vigoda helped a client who was a musician to negotiate a contract with a record company. Per the terms of the contract, the musician had to pay 6% in royalties to Vigoda indefinitely & forever, including to Vigoda’s heirs after Vigoda’s death.
Vigoda died in 2011. In 2013, the musician learned that the record company was still making royalty payments to Vigoda’s widow. The musician ordered the payments to stop. The musician sued, seeking an order that he was not required to continue to pay royalties beyond Vigoda’s death. The musician claimed that Vigoda had duped him into signing the contract, never telling him that it called for “forever” royalty payments.
Vigoda’s widow counter-claimed. She claimed that Vigoda’s regular practice was to read the terms of any proposal, agreement, or contract to the musician. Thus, she alleged that the musician had agreed to and signed the contract after Vigoda read it to him. She sought more than $7 million in royalty payments that had not been made between 2013 & 2015. Last summer, the musician and Vigoda’s widow settled the dispute.
Name the musician. (the writing should be on the wall.)
Stevie Wonder.