Hilary Case

Hilary Case

Professor Richard Landoll

LEG 107 Introduction to Paralegal Studies

Strayer University

February 26, 2015

M e m o r a n d u m

TO:                    John Morris

FROM:             Jamie Mahan

RE:                    Davis Hilary Case – Successful Recovery

DATE:               February 27, 2015

Issue:                 Our client, Bobby Jones, is being sued by Davis Hilary, due to an incident that happened on the school bus on April 2, 2011.  Our client is being accused of holding down Davis Hilary and threatening him holding a knife in his hand.  This memorandum addresses the issue of whether or not Bobby Jones is guilty of threatening Davis Hilary with a knife for no reason?

Brief Answer:   Bobby Jones did hold down Davis Hilary, and threatened him, but there was never a knife found at the scene.

Facts:                 On the day of April 3, 2011 at 3:20 p.m., Davis Hilary was unable to exit the school bus at his usual stop because Bobby Jones became violent and held Davis Hilary down.  Bobby Jones is accused of holding Davis Hilary down on the school bus and threatening him with a knife in his hand.  When the school nurse had conducted a search of Bobby Jones after the incident on the school bus no knife was ever found.  There was no knife found on the school bus.

Discussion:        The incident that occurred on the school bus might have been something that has been provoked by Davis Hilary.  Davis Hilary could have been teasing Bobby Jones and the incident on the school bus is the end result.

Steps to Prepare Hilary Case

The steps that a paralegal needs to do to prepare the Hilary case to go to trial are:

1. Create a plan:  The items that need to be in your plan are:

• Task List:  The task list shows a timeline of the tasks that have a specific deadline.  This should show the details such as the description of each task, and the person who is responsible to get the task done.
• Focus on essentials:  It is important to eliminate the stuff you won’t have time for.  Make sure you bring everything to the attorney’s attention.

1. Take command of the paperwork:  Your ability to control the flow of all the paperwork is an important step when it comes to the success of your case.  Mark, record, and organize any documents for your case that makes sense to you and the attorneys that has to access them during the trial.
2. Know your judge:  Before there is any court appearance, try to learn everything you can about the judge that is hearing your case.  Each judge is different and has different preferences and predispositions.
3. Serve as the sounding board:  Offer your assistance to help the lead attorney by listening and helping with any insight you might add to the case.  Listen to the presentation and go over the arguments critically.  Express any ideas you might have with the best interest for the client and the case.
4. Perfect your visual aids:  Make sure your visual aids are designed for the listeners and the theory of the case in mind.  Make the decision that will have the maximum impact on the case.
5. Help prepare the courtroom presentations:  It is a paralegals job to make sure every prepared presentation are concise, logical and will have an impact.
6. Don’t overlook the details:  Make sure you visit the courtroom before the trial begins.  Look at the details that will give your team the best advantage.  Try to eliminate any doubts you have about the case (Dempsey, 2003).

Issues That Paralegals Seek Help For

The first issue that would cause a paralegal to reach out to the supervising attorney for help is when they are creating the plan.  It is important to find out what the supervising attorney exactly wants you to accomplish from the start of the lawsuit to the end of the lawsuit.  The second issue that would cause a paralegal to reach out to the supervising attorney for help is during review of the defendant’s answer to discovery.  If the responses do not fully answer the questions in enough detail then you need to talk to the supervising attorney to file for a motion to get specific information to the questions that were not answered with enough information.  If a letter of adversary is enough then the attorney could file a motion for that (Ana, 2009).