Mary works for an attorney who handles many probate cases, including will contests. Mary’s employer represents the sister in a will contest between a brother and a sister who are the only beneficiaries of their mother’s estate (their father had passed a few years earlier). After the brother and sister agreed to mediate the dispute, a retired judge acted as the mediator and a settlement was reached. One week when Mary’s employer is out of town, she takes a call from the brother’s attorney, who is known to be aggressive and rude. The brother’s attorney claims the sister is not cooperating in the agreed-upon division of property, and before Mary could object, the brother’s attorney connects the mediator in a three-way conference call. Mary advises the mediator that her employer is out of town and cannot be reached. Mary also tells him that she is not an attorney. From the options listed below, what is Mary’s best response?
Explanation
Answer: B - Calmly listen to the complaint of the brother’s attorney and the mediator’s comments and offer to relay that information to her employer as soon as possible. Obviously, Mary was in a difficult situation. However, paralegals and other law firm employees often play roles as intermediaries between their employer and clients, opposing counsel, court personnel, witnesses, and others. Since Mary told the brother’s attorney and the mediator that her employer is out of town and that she is not an attorney, Mary could gather information from the other attorney and the mediator and get it to her employer as soon as possible.
