Hypothetical:
The senior attorney on the second floor of the office building had been a big help in advising attorney Owen Mason, based on his years of experience as a lawyer. He rarely tried any cases, at least not in the past 10 years. He approached Mason to personally request his paralegal’s help with a case that had been filed in federal court. He had just received a discovery request involving Product Guild Limited (PGL), one of his biggest international clients. PGL was a paperless organization that stored everything electronically. There was a request for all the e-mails from the client for the past two years, all corporate correspondence, and a time deadline imposed by the rules of court. The senior attorney asked Mason if you could work for him as a part-time, independent paralegal to prepare a plan for handling this request. Mason agreed and asked you to begin working on a plan.
Discussion:
- What types of software would be useful in facilitating the electronic discovery effort described in the scenario above? How could each be used and for what purpose?
- How can the legal team protect their client’s confidential and privileged information when processing documents for delivery to the opposing legal team?
- What are the differences (if any) in who you can and cannot discuss the case with when you are working as a freelance paralegal rather than as a full-time employee? For example, can you discuss the case with your sister who works in the same office but has not been asked by the outside attorney to work on the case?
