What the Client Decides in a Case Self-Quiz
Donny Defense
Lawyer believes his client. He is sure that the victim was already dead
when his client walked in on the murder scene. The prosecutor and Donny
had a discussion at the courtroom cafeteria. The prosecutor said he was
willing to reduce the charge to manslaughter if Donny’s client plead
guilty. Donny was angry because he knew the client was innocent. Donny
tells the prosecutor, “No way! We’ll see you in court!”
Any problem here?
|
Your client
insists on taking the witness stand in his defense, even though you believe
he will convince the jury that he is guilty. He’s a mean guy who
has no respect for authority. You’re sure he’ll blow it and
end up rotting in jail. Can you tell the judge your client is not going
to testify?
|
Say you’re
representing the plaintiff in a civil action regarding an environmental
hazard. The plaintiff is a woman of modest means, a single mother with
three kids to feed. You’re excited about the prospects of winning
a tremendous sum in damages for your client, and you know that a third
of her damage award would serve as a good down payment on that mansion
you’ve been eyeing. So you decide to go “all out” and
bring in the best of the best as advisers on the case – a Harvard
Medical School professor, a top-flight engineer from M.I.T., and the most
famous expert on groundwater who ever lived. Your client doesn’t
have the funds to pay for these experts, and she is unwilling to foot
the expense without 100% assurance that they will win the case for her.
You cannot provide her that type of assurance. Can you hire the experts
anyway, figuring your client will be so rich when she wins the case that
paying for the experts will be a “bag of shells?”
|
You really
don’t want to press for punitive damages in your trespassing suit
against your neighbors, the McCoys, but your lawyer thinks the jury will
be very generous with you. You think your relationship with the McCoys
would be irreparably harmed if you “socked it to them” for
trespassing over your property. You’re also concerned that the McCoys
have little children to feed, and you know they’re not the richest
folks on earth. Your lawyer says, “Are you nuts? They ran over your
beautiful orchids with their greasy tractor! You have to press for punitive
damages!” Is this a matter of strategy on which you must defer to
your lawyer?
|
Your client
is a proud and hardworking mother of two. She is going through a rough
divorce, but is strong and has many friends and family members to help
her get by. The client insists that she wants her husband out of her life
completely. She does not even want alimony checks from him, even though
she would probably be entitled to them. You have seen this many times
before, and know that sometime down the road your client will regret not
having a little extra cash to help with expenses. You now insist your
client accept alimony checks – she’s not thinking clearly,
you assume, because she’s so angry with her husband. Is this your
decision to make?
|
You finally
found the perfect personal injury plaintiff – a wrongful death suit
that you know you can win. You’ll probably be able to retire on
the percentage you take as a fee from the expected settlement. We’re
talking about the kind of damages figure that would get attention on CNN,
not to mention all of the lawyer periodicals in the state. Your client
does not feel the same as you do about prospective damages – he
just wants to demonstrate to the world that the opposition was at fault
for his brother’s death. You sit down with the opposition at the
negotiating table. They throw out a figure that makes you laugh. You think
it’s a damages figure that one could be awarded for a first-degree
burn – certainly not for a wrongful death. You tell the opposing
lawyers to go back to their client and have him give you something to
chew on. Were you acting ethically?
|
©2003 - 2024 National Paralegal College