1. MEMORANDUM
TO: Junior Associates (A-M)
FROM: Senior Partner Goering and Senior Associate Muir
RE: New Client
DATE: September 30, 2008
Yesterday we were retained by a new client to defend a possible lawsuit by Sarah
Palin. She apparently just learned that cartoonist Garry Trudeau has published a series of
Doonesbury comic strips that include her image in the form of a “Sarah Palin action doll.”
Our client is a Connecticut corporation, HeroBuilders.com. The
company recently began manufacturing and selling Sarah Palin look-
alike “action dolls” on its internet website. As you might imagine, given
the instant celebrity status Palin recently acquired as John McCain’s
vice-presidential running mate, the dolls are selling like hotcakes. In
fact, I just logged on to the company’s website and learned that the
company has received so many orders that prospective purchasers who
order after September 24 are being advised to expect a six-week delay.
(Check it out for yourself: http://www.herobuilders.com/08.htm). The
dolls sell for between $27.95 and $29.95 (depending upon the doll’s outfit and accessories),
so our client is making a tidy profit. Of course that’s very good news for our firm.
Although HeroBuilders.com also manufactures look-alike action figures of other
nationally known celebrities, our client and its competitors generally secure license
agreements to produce look-alikes of others. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the
Governor of California, recently settled a lawsuit against an Ohio company that
manufactured a “Terminator” bobble-head doll. As part of the settlement, the company
agreed to redesign the doll and donate the sales proceeds to one of Schwarzenegger’s
favorite charities. Unfortunately, our client neither sought nor obtained permission from
Palin to market the “action figure” dolls. Obviously the company was in a big hurry to
profit from her instantaneous celebrity status before the upcoming election, so it decided to
take its chances and skip negotiations with her for a license agreement. Thus
HeroBuilders.com was not surprised to learn that Palin is considering a lawsuit.
As you probably already know, many bloggers and newscasters have referred to
Palin pejoratively as the “Barbie doll of the GOP” since McCain surprised the country on
the eve of the Republican National Convention by naming her as his running mate. No
doubt she is particularly upset by the dolls and the comic-strip because she does not want to
be type-cast to the country as the Republican “beauty queen.” Not only does she want
HeroBuilders to stop producing the dolls, but she is also threatening to sue Trudeau for
damages for exploiting her image in the comic-strip series.

2. Professor Goering
LARW I and II, Section A3
It’s probably fair to assume that the publicity Trudeau’s comic strip is giving the
action-figure doll is making things worse for the McCain-Palin campaign. Our client has
no idea whether Trudeau plans to continue mocking her in the comic strip, but of course we
can’t control that. HeroBuilders.com wants us to find out whether Palin has a legal right to
put a stop to its doll marketing efforts before the presidential election on November 4.
Also, if the McCain-Palin ticket doesn’t win the presidential election, can Palin recover
damages from either HeroBuilders or Garry Trudeau, or both, for exploiting her image?
(By the way, did you know that Trudeau is married to Jane Pauly? I guess it’s a small
world in the broadcast news business. Like Pauly, Palin got her start as a television news
broadcaster.)
Please research the legal issues. Specifically, does Sarah Palin have a legal remedy
against HeroBuilders.com for using her name and three-dimensional likeness without her
permission to produce and market the Sarah Palin look-alike doll? Second, does Palin have
a legal remedy against Garry Trudeau for featuring the doll in his copyrighted comic strip?
In case you need to know, HeroBuilders.com is a Connecticut corporation, so Connecticut
law will apply to an action against HeroBuilders. Garry Trudeau lives and works in New
York City, so New York law will apply to any claim Palin may have against Trudeau.
Don’t overlook the possible application of federal law as a defense to either or both claims.
Please assume that Palin will file her complaint in federal district court in Connecticut.
I have a followup meeting with the CEO of HeroBuilders.com on Friday, October
24. Therefore, I will need a draft of your memo no later than Thursday, October 23, at 5:00
p.m., in order to have enough time to read it over and think about it before our next
conference. I have attached part of HeroBuilders.com’s internet advertisement, including a
photo of the Sarah Palin dolls, and a copy of the Doonesbury comic strip series for your
information. Thanks so much for your help. Oh yes -- you may enjoy the following video
spoof of the Sarah Palin action dolls, which I just found on the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCSonCYCN9Y&feature=dir
You may discuss the assignment with any of your first-year law school classmates
in this section. However, it is a violation of the Honor Code to show your written work to
anyone except me or Jared Muir, my senior associate. Please review the attached
guidelines regarding the Honor Code. If you have any questions about whether certain
conduct violates the Honor Code, you are expected to consult Jared or me for guidance.
Attachments:
• Herobuilders.com Website Advertisement for Sarah Palin Action Figures
• Doonesbury comic strip, September 21-27, 2008
• Honor Code Guidelines for Graded Memos and Briefs

3. Professor Goering
LARW I and II, Section A3
HeroBuilders.com
198 Goodhill road | Oxford, CT | 06478 | 203-888-0147 | sales@herobuilders.com
Home | Custom Pez | Political Action Figures | Custom Action Figures
| The Urban Crew Action Figures |
GET THE 12" SARAH PALIN ACTION FIGURE BELOW ORDER NOW BEFORE
THEY SELL OUT
YES, WE SHIP GLOBALLY.
DISCOUNT FOR THIS PRODUCT LINE
As of 9-18-08 Orders will not ship for 3 to 4 weeks.
All orders placed starting 9-24-08 will take 6 weeks to ship.
Want to be an Action Figure Too ????
Order your custom action figure today! Our Personalized Action Figures
Look, dress, and talk just like you !!!!!
Order your Christmas Gifts early! Get 10% off all orders placed before
November 1, 2008.
CLICK HERE AFTER YOU ORDER YOUR SARAH PALIN ACTION FIGURES
Sarah Palin Super Hero Action
Sarah Palin Action Figure $27.95 Sarah Palin School Girl $29.95
Figure $29.95

4. Professor Goering
LARW I and II, Section A3
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008

5. Professor Goering
LARW I and II, Section A3
Friday, September 26, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008

6. Professor Goering
LARW I and II, Section A3
Honor Code Guidelines for Graded Memos and Briefs
Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing I and II
Q: Who is allowed to see my memo or brief?
A: You may not show your memo or brief to anyone except me and Jared Muir,
my teaching assistant.
Please understand that this requirement is indeed as limited as it sounds. You may
not show your paper to your spouse, sweetheart, best friend, mother, significant
other, or anyone else, even "just to proofread" or "just to see what she thinks." This
applies even if you've "always had so-and-so proofread all my papers."
Q: With whom may I research and discuss my memo or brief problem?
A: You may research and discuss your memo and brief problems only with fellow
members of the A3 Section, Washburn Law School librarians, Jared Muir, or
me. Reading your memo or brief to another individual is not discussion and is not
allowed.
Please understand that this requirement is, again, as limited as it sounds. This
means you may not discuss your problem or your paper with students from other
classes or other LARW sections, with mentors, with tutors, with attorneys, with
other professors, with parents, with siblings, or with any of your friends who are not
Section A3 students.
Q: What should I do if I have a question on what is permissible and what is not?
A: Ask me in class, come see me, e-mail me, phone me, or drop a note in my
mailbox in Room 203. You must check with me before doing anything else.
Q: How long do these restrictions last for any particular assignment?
A: Until I announce in class that they are lifted.

7. Professor Goering
LARW I and II, Section A3
Q: What should I do if I know that somebody is violating these rules?
A: Under the Honor Code, you have a responsibility to come to me with names and
details, so that I can begin an investigation. I will vigorously pursue an
investigation of any violation for which I have evidence. However, please
understand that I can do nothing with rumor or innuendo.
Q: So, is cheating a common problem?
A: No, it is not. It is rare, in my experience both as a student and a professor. Most
students who are intelligent and disciplined enough to get into law school don’t
need any rules at all, because they abide by the simple rule that it is unfair to do
anything on a graded assignment that would give them an unfair advantage
over fellow law students. But cheating has happened before, and therefore I am
spelling out the rules to assure you that anyone who breaks these rules is either
too ignorant or too unethical to belong in the legal profession.
Q: Don't these restrictions defeat some educational benefits?
A: Yes, indeed, they do. In legal practice, it is beneficial to talk about a memo or
brief problem with anyone you think may be able to help, subject to your ethical
duty to keep your client communications confidential. But law school is not
"real life." Requiring you to write a memo and a brief entirely on your own is
intended to be of great benefit to you, but that is not the only purpose. The other
purpose of graded assignments is to test your ability to apply legal research,
analysis, and writing skills you learn through reading, exercises, and class
discussion.
So, in the weeks to come, please remember:
THIS IS A TEST.