THE CASE OF THE DEMANDING MOTHER

Name ______________________________________________

Part A

When you get to work Monday morning at the law firm of Boyd, Dewey, Cheatham and Howe (a Licensed Professional Corporation), a new file is on your desk. It involves a Ms. Cecilia Mouton, who wishes to obtain child support through a determination of paternity for a seven month old baby, Fleur, whom she says is her natural daughter.

Ms. Mouton has met with one of your fellow attorneys and has told her that a certain Bubba Duvallier is the father of the little girl. The woman claims that Duvallier denies paternity and refuses to give her any money. Ms. Mouton wants the firm to represent her in a paternity action. Your colleague has noted the following answers to her question about the results of a blood group typing done at Woman=s Hospital.

Cecila Mouton blood type OO Rh factor positive

Fleur Mouton blood type AA Rh factor positive

Bubba Duvallier blood type AO Rh factor negative

On the file folder is a note from your colleague: ADo you want to help me with this case? Please clear with Mr. Boyd. I haven=t talked to him yet.@

You drop by Mr. Boyd=s magnificent panelled office with the Persian rugs and paintings by Joseph Meeker, and show him the file. He flips through the folder, stopping to examine the piece of paper containing the blood typing information. He then says, AIf this information is accurate, we don=t want this case. This woman is lying. Don=t waste my time.@ He then dismisses you with a wave of his manicured hand.

Puzzled, you study the piece of paper as you return to your lowly cubicle and try to figure out why Mr. Boyd is so sure Ms. Mouton is lying. Within two hours you have the answer and you also know why Mr. Boyd is known as the plaintiff=s lawyer who never loses.

Questions and issues:

Where can you find information on blood groups and blood group typing?

Part B

A few weeks after your encounter with Mr. Boyd, you have been transferred to the legal ethics section of BDCH (a Licensed Professional Corporation) and you are scanning the Morning Advocate and you see a notice that one of your closest law school friends, Joseph Francis Xavier AJoe Bleeding Heart@ Boudreaux, has filed a paternity suit on behalf of Ms. Mouton. Concerned about this case and Joe=s involvement in it, you wonder what, if anything, you should say anything about your knowledge of the case. You decide to research the problem to answer the question.

Questions and Issues:

What ethical issues, if any, does your prior knowledge of Ms. Mouton=s case raise for you?

What responsibilities, if any, do you have regarding Boudreaux=s representation of Ms. Mouton? Do you have a duty to report his involvement in the case to a disciplinary authority? If so, which one? If you have no such duty, are you free to call Joe and express any concerns you have?

Part C

You become interested in the question of establishing paternity in child support and child custody cases and wish to make a list of the various paternity tests in use and their reliability. You also develop an interest in genetic testing and counseling and want to Acome up to speed@ in the area.

Where can you find information on paternity testing and its reliability? What test(s) is(are) used in Louisiana? How could you find out how to interpret them?

Where can you find definitions of terms used in paternity testing?

Find some laboratories in the Baton Rouge or New Orleans area that do paternity testing.

What is mitochrondrial DNA and what does it have to do with genetic testing? (I.e. why would a court ever be interested in someone=s mitochrondrial DNA?)

Find a definition of the Human Genome Project and similar projects. Make up a bibliography of five reliable sources (NOT law review articles) discussing such projects and their legal and ethical implications.



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