Business Law Question

1. Two duties conflict in the situation where an attorney acquires confidential information about a client while representing that client, discovers that this information is important for the affairs of a second client, and thus has a dilemma.  What are these two duties? How does agency law resolve the conflict?

2. Maria Millan opened two brokerage accounts at Dean Witter Reynolds. The broker for both accounts was her son Miguel, an employee of Dean Witter. Over the next three years, Miguel systematically looted his mother’s account, ultimately stealing from her more than $287,000. He stole checks from his mother’s bathroom drawer, wrote checks on his mother’s account, deposited his mother’s checks into his account, forged his mother’s signature on numerous occasions, stole statements from her mailbox, created and sent bogus statements to his mother, and opened a post office box so he could receive his mother’s actual statements. Dean Witter did not verify Millan’s signature, as policy required. A Dean Witter supervisor also did not verify a $35,000 check, which was against Dean Witter’s written policy. Millan sues her son and Dean Witter for unauthorized transactions, negligence, and gross negligence. Under a theory of direct liability, who is a jury likely to find for? Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, is Dean Witter vicariously liable for the actions of Miguel?

3. Babs, Mindy, and Eric decide to leave a large accounting firm and start their own accounting business. What form of business should they elect?