Bar Essay Rules Flashcards
Duties owed to client: (clients love fierce counsel)
- Confidentiality
- Loyalty
- Financial responsibility
- Competence
- & other reasonable things
Duties owed to other entities: (courts feel differently)
- Candor
- Fairness
- Dignity / decorum
- & other reasonable things
Entities to whom a duty is owed:
- Court
- Adversaries
- Legal Profession
- Third Parties
- Public
Do FIRAC on essays:
- Fact trigger
- Issue
- Rule
- Analysis
- Conclusion
The lawyer has a duty of ________ to _________.
Duty of Loyalty
Rule
You have a duty of loyalty to your client. You have a conflict of interest if your representation is directly adverse to another client, or if there is a significant risk that your representation will be materially limited by your relationship to another current or former client, your personal interest, or a third person.
Conflicts of interest
rule statement for essay
A lawyser owes her client a duty of loyalty and must avoid conflicts of interest.
A lawyer must not represent a client when there is a significant risk that the representation will be materially limited by the lawyer’s personal interests or by the lawyer’s duties to another.
Undertaking representation despite a conflict of interest
rule statement
Under the ABA and CA rules
- reasonably believes that she can competently and diligently represent each affected client despite her conflict
- each affected client gives informed consent in writing.
In california, if a lawyer has a personal, professional, financial, or legal relationship with a party or witness….
… the lawyer must provide written disclosure to the client even if there is no significant risk that the relationship would materially limit the representation.
3rd party payor
rule statement
ABA
Cannot do it unless
- the client gives informed consent (in writing in CA)
- there is no interference with the lawyer’s independence of professional judgment or with the lawyer-client relationship
- information relating to the representation of a client remains confidential
Written/oral fee agreement
rule, CA
CA requires a written fee agreement if the fee will exceed $1,000.
Exceptions
- corporation
- states in writing that she doesn’t want one
- same legal services as before
- emergency
- writing is impractical
Competence
Rule statement
ABA- a lawyer must act competently, with the knowledge and skill to carry out the representation.
CA- lawyer is subject to discipline if she intentionally, recklessly, with gross negligence, or repeatedly fails to perform legal services with competence.
Reporting ethical violations by other lawyers
ABA- a lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation re honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness, must inform the appropriate professional authority.
CA- does not require laywers to report violations by other lawyers
May a lawyer provide financial assistance to a client?
rule
ABA- prohibits providing financial assistance in connection with litigation, EXCEPT
- may advance court costs and expenses, the repayment of which may be contingent on the outcome of the matter
- may pay costs for indigent clients
CA- may lend money for any purpose if Client gives written promise to repay the loan
Duty to inform client about financial agreements
ABA- a lawyer must keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter.
CA- a lawyer must obtain a client’s consent before agreeing to pay the client’s expenses to third persons from funds to be collected for the client.
Any contingent fee agreement must indicate…
- litigation and other expenses to be deducted from the recovery
- whether such expenses are to be deducted before or after the contingent fee is calculated
