"Chess' Attorney"
By wtchcool
(Disclaimer: I do not own "The Cape" and, unfortunately, I don't think the show's cancellation gives us a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress.)
Core Doctrine Exam
Fall 2011
Instructions:
You will have up to four hours to complete this exam. Please put your username-er, that is, your student ID number-at the top of your answer. Remember to apply the laws to the facts and, if you are missing any legally relevant facts, state what they are in your response. Organize your answers using IRAC: Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion.
The jurisdiction for this fact pattern is the fictitious state of Franklin. However, for the purposes of this examination, you are to apply the laws of the State of New York. (See appendix for potentially relevant statutes.)
Fact Pattern:
You are an associate at Lockhart & Gardner. Peter Fleming, at least, you think it's Peter Fleming, has walked into your law offices. The CEO of ARK Corporation then tells you the following story:
Sergeant Vince Faraday, husband of Dana Faraday and father of Trip, was a detective for the Palm City Police Department until one night ten months ago. That night, the blogger named Orwell sent Sergeant Faraday a tip that brought him to the train yards where he discovered, to his surprise, that ARK Corporation was hoarding illegal explosives. Naturally, Sergeant Faraday was dismayed as he had just decided to accept a job offer from ARK. (As you know, ARK Corporation took over the city's police force around this time.)
Here, your client pauses his tale and asks you to confirm that this is all confidential. Satisfied with your answer, Mr. Fleming proceeds to tell you that he is in fact the killer known as Chess. He framed Faraday, stapling Chess' mask to his head to make it look as if the detective was actually the villain. Then he sent his troops in to hunt Faraday down and… well, he thought Faraday died in an explosion.
You look up from your notes. Aside from the stunning revelation that Chess is sitting across from you, most of the story is familiar to you from the press. Fleming continues speaking.
It turns out that Sergeant Faraday did not die in the explosion after all, but merely used it to fake his death. As a matter of fact, Faraday became the masked vigilante known as the Cape, swearing to clear his name and stay in touch with his son.
While your mouth is hanging open, Fleming continues. It gets better. It turns out that his long-lost daughter, Jamie Fleming, is actually the blogger known as Orwell. At your prompting, he concedes that by "long-lost," he means that Jamie ran away from home before she turned eighteen.
Fleming asks you if you've seen the recent headlines about him and his recent nuptials. You nod and he tells you there's more to the story than what's appeared in the papers. He was thinking about investing in an experimental product when Faraday, as the Cape, interrupted a business meeting. In the ensuing scuffle, both were drenched with the product: a drug that causes the recipient to act on whatever attraction he feels for another. While under the influence of the drug, Fleming and Faraday ran off to Ochun City and said, "I do."
At this point, Peter produces a copy of the marriage license to show you their signatures. He also shows off the wedding band on his finger.
Fleming (or should you call him Chess?) now asks you to analyze the following questions for him:
1. Is there any way his marriage to Vince is legally binding?
2. Dana Faraday has threatened to file for divorce against Vince Faraday.
(a) Would she be successful, and if so, on what grounds?
(b) In a battle for custody over Trip Faraday, Vince's ten-year-old son, between him and Vince and Dana Faraday, who would win and why? (Assume that Jamie Fleming would testify that her father is not a fit parent. Assume further that Dana Faraday is a fit parent and has been doing a good job of raising Trip on her own since the night Vince disappeared.)
3. Should Fleming ever be charged for Chess' crimes, would he be able to plead the insanity defense on the grounds that he suffers from multiple personality disorder?
4. Fleming tells you that ARK Corporation is closely held. He owns 80% of the shares, and his daughter owns the other 20%.
(a) Can his daughter have a court force the corporation to dissolve? (Assume that Fleming has not acted in compliance with the Business Corporation Laws.)
(b) Can he insist on buying her out and if so, how would a court evaluate the worth of her shares?
5. Do you understand why he is hiring outside counsel, instead of going to ARK Corporation's legal department for advice?
6. When Vince had faked his death, he had not had a will at the time. Thus, his property was passed down through Franklin's laws of intestacy.
(a) How much of the estate did Dana receive and who were the other beneficiaries?
(b) Can Vince recover the property that Dana received?
7. If Vince actually died without a will today, how would his estate be distributed? (Assume for this question that Fleming would have nothing to do with the cause of Vince's death.)
8. Fleming tells you that Chess is a separate personality.
(a) Is there a conflict of interest that would keep you from representing both Fleming and Chess?
(b) Would conversations with Chess be protected from disclosure to Fleming under the duty of confidentiality?
9. Fleming tells you that at one point, he had had an assassin poison Vince. What charges could Vince press against him? What civil remedies might he have?
Finally, do you know any good mediators you could recommend to him and Vince? Or a good marriage counselor?
THE END
Author's Note: Why yes, yes I did throw in facts from "Blame It On The Perfume." How could I resist?
Looking for another "Cape" fic? Check out my latest fic, "THE WIZARD OF KOZ"!
This piece does not have a beta reader. So, quibble away.