For the past ten years, Carolyn has been employed by Jeffrey, a sole practitioner who has practiced in family law for over thirty years. Carolyn knows that Jeffrey sometimes takes on cases that are emotionally charged and hotly contested, and that Jeffrey has a reputation as an aggressive litigator. In one case, Jeffrey represents the wife of a former mayor of Akron. Last Friday, Jeffrey filed a motion on behalf of the wife to dispute the former mayor’s financial disclosure, which did not include the mayor’s sailboat and $500,000 investment portfolio. Jeffrey now asks Carolyn to call the judge’s assistant and ask about the hearing date for the motion. Carolyn knows that the judge will not set the hearing date until after a response to the motion has been filed, which is not due for another twelve days. She also knows that calling the judge’s assistant will only irritate court personnel and the judge. From the options listed below, what is Carolyn’s best response?
Explanation
Answer: D - Of the answer choices given, the best is to agree to make the call, but delay doing so until the response has been filed or Jeffrey again asks about the hearing date. How a paralegal responds to this situation will likely change depending on how long and/or how well he or she knows Jeffrey. Here, Carolyn is an experienced family law paralegal and has worked for Jeffrey for ten years. She has probably been in this situation before and recognizes the need to maintain professional working relationships with court personnel (both for herself and for Jeffrey). If Carolyn is confident that Jeffrey values her work as a paralegal, Carolyn probably has enough leeway to delay calling the court, and maintain professional relationships with both Jeffrey and the judge’s assistant. Answer D is a better choice that Answer C because Jeffrey is an aggressive litigator and the reminder may aggravate Jeffrey.
