From: Boss Partner
To: Assistant
Date: 01/18/YR01
Re: Smith v. Johnson
Thanks for your help last week. You really gave me a good sense of what that case was about and it got me thinking about what this case is going to entail. As you may have heard, we met with Jane Johnson by teleconference from Portland yesterday and my distinct impression is that she has no interest in settling any of these claims. So, I can see we really have our work cut out for us in this matter. Thankfully, Jane was able to afford our request for a $10,000 retainer and so we really need to get moving on this case.
To start with, I'm going to ask you to prepare kind of an initial analysis of the issues they were going to be dealing with in this case. For example, the issue of personal jurisdiction certainly seems like it may be important and of course issues such as whether James' actions constitute defamation and invasion of privacy. In addition, Jane also wants us, while we're working for her, to look at the issue of whether pissedconsumer.com has any action against her for any kind of intellectual property violation.
Please prepare a memorandum for me, discussing a brief synopsis of all the issues that might come up in our representation of Jane. I do not need you to analyze these issues in depth at this point or to try to make a determination as to whether Jane will be liable and to whom. All I am looking for at this point is that you determine what issues might be relevant to this case and, for each issue, let me know what the applicable rule is. In other words, what is the plaintiff going to have to show for each potential cause of action against Jane? As sources for these rules, you can use any applicable California or federal statute and/or case law. Of course, binding case law is best but nonbinding case law is certainly better than nothing.
Please discuss each issue separately and for each issue, just let me know what elements the plaintiff is going to have to prove and what defenses we may want to use on behalf of Jane. Again, at this point I do not expect you to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the case against Jane or her defenses. All I'm looking for is a little lesson on the applicable law that is relevant to our client.
Because I'm not looking for in-depth analysis or application to this case, I think that the entire memo could be done in three typed (single spaced, with paragraph breaks) pages or less.
Thanks!
B. Partner