From: edwardk@cup.portal.com (edward chungfan kwok)
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Re: legality of a name change
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 14:05:38 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <1992Sep11.032537.5760@ux1.cts.eiu.edu> <65661@cup.portal.com>

In article <10SEP92.19084732@vax.clarku.edu> lfinkelstein@vax.clarku.edu writes
:
>Some friends of mine, and I were wondering if it woukld be legal for someone 
>to change their first name to "Doctor", or if that constitutes some sort of 
>fraud.
>
>Anyone know?
>
>					Loren Finkelstein

Great bar exam question, folks:

Say, you are a sixth year associate at the prestigious firm of Sleese, Schmuck
and Shystre, and Cindy Smith came to you 6 months ago, told you that her 
parents had always wanted her to become a medical doctor, she found that most
of the nice men she dated wanted to marry doctors, and she had not been
able to get into any medical school here or abroad, but she would like to have
her name legally changed to "Doctor" Smith.  After ascertaining that you were
not assisting any criminal enterprise, i.e. she was going to pay with a check,
you filed the court papers and represented her before a judge, who granted her
her name changed.  Doctor then told you that, to celebrate her new life as
Doctor Smith, she had redecorated a room in her sprawling estate into a 
modern medical office with all the state-of-the-art periphernalia.  

As with all human relations, the fun has to end.  In a fee dispute over the 
cost of a two-martini lunch at the local Taco Bell on your bill, which she 
refused to pay, Doctor Smith told you that there was no way in hell
or anywhere that you would do any of her legal work in the future.

Two months later, Doctor visited a singles' bar and met John, who is kind of
a cisibel (a derogatory term which approximates the male equivalent of a "bimbo
"
, I am told).  Doctor said to John, "Hi, I am Doctor Smith, and I'd love to do
a complete physical on your body."  So John and Doctor wasted no time, 
left the bar and went straight to Doctor's afore-mentioned "office."  There,
Doctor took off John's clothes, performed a relatively (by local medical 
standard) competent examination and diagnosis on him, and declared him fit.
As it turned out, there were some contacts of a sexual nature between Doctor 
and John after the "complete physical" examination.

Another month passed.  John found out through exchanging notes with fellow
cisibel Jimmy that Doctor was no doctor.  John was furious and ashamed.
After days of emotional struggle, John came to you, told you that he would not
have done any of many things he had done with Doctor, had he not believed
Doctor's representation that she was a medical doctor.  He said he had always
wanted to marry a medical doctor, and consequently he did all these things
in the spirit of true love.  Now, he feels betrayed he said.  He also said he
wants you to do whatever you can to redress the anguish, pain and suffering
resulting from this incident.  With your six years of experience, your
surmised that John had suffered loss of dignity and severe emotional distress.
John also complained about a lower back pain due to some of the activities he
engaged with Doctor over this period of time.

You checked the Annotated Columbia Code of Professions and Business and found
a statute that prohibits the practice of medicine by any person not licensed
by the Columbia State Board of Human and Veterinarian Medicines.  You also
ascertained that civil damages, and in particular, punitive damages are 
authorized under the statute.  "This is the 'partnership' case!" you said
to yourself.  So pursuant to the requirements of Columbia's Professional 
Code of Ethics, which mirrors the ABA Model Rules, you entered into a contingen
t
fee agreement for legal services with John.

Analyze the rights and liabilities of all potential plaintiffs and defendants. 
What advice, if any, can you give John?

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-
It's amazing how the law can narrow your mind by broadening it! -- approximatel
y
John Housemans--.
Newsgroups: misc.legal