practice 1 Flashcards
lawyer always sent settlement offers to both the opposing counsel and defendant, in writing and same term ok?
no; once a lawyer knows that an opposing party has counsel, it is no longer appropriate for the lawyer to communicate with the opposing party directly unless opposing counsel consents or a court order or law authorizes it
2 D.s, represented by different lawyers and one charged with murder the one charged with aiding flee; 4 of them have a conference pursuant to a joint defense agreement, at which the murderer confess; the lawyer for the aiding used that confession to benefit his client
protected from disclosure under the common interest doctrine; the statement was made for the purpose of communicating with a privileged person during a joint defense meeting
lawyer worked for EPA agency against a D., then he opens his own practice and local group asked him to sue the same D., facts and allegations are very similar
no, unless get EPA consent; lawyer cannot represent a client in a case in which she substantially participated as a government employee unless the government agency gives its written informed consent; no exception is he was on “the same side” or not
new associate failed to research an important case because managing attorney wants to cut the cost of research tools, so the client wants to sue the firm, is the associate along subject to discipline
not alone, because managing attorney also has a duty tot he client to make reasonable efforts to see that the associate was able to the follow the rules and supervise his performance
lawyers need to assess their own competence and to either remedy any issues that interfere with their representation or decline the representation; the associate here didn’t have the resource and didn’t take alternate actions
agreement to pay expert witness 5k if they prevail and no fee is lose; pay for traveling and appearing at trial?
lawyer cannot give inducement/ contingency fee to a witness but can reimburse witness’ expenses including reasonable cost associate with traveling and appearing at trial
lawyer always give instructions and supervise the paralegal, but the paralegal misread the instruction and file in another state resulting in dismissal in the proper state, lawyer?
lawyer is not subject to discipline because he didn’t fail to supervise; but he may be subject to liability for malpractice
prosecutor knew it would be hard to even get conviction on manslaughter, but when he visit the jail without defense counsel knowing, he threaten the D. that he will go for murder with death penalty
extortion of plea?
no ok because he visited the D. in jail; lawyer cannot discuss the subject with a person the lawyer knows to be represented without first obtaining the other lawyer’s consent or court order; the improper threatening is not the issue here, the attempt here is not extortion
associate worked at a law firm that was disqualified for a client because conflict of interest, he had nothing to do with the imputation and moved to another firm and the new firm takes on the client, ok?
no because the prior disqualification only applies to attorneys who continue to work at that firm; or because imputed conflict of interest no longer applies to the associate
later
the conflict of interest inputed the whole old firm, whether the new firm is disqualified depends on whether the associate has disqualifying knowledge about the case
former is wrong because the associate is presumed to have disqualifying knowledge about the case unless he carries his burden of proving he knew nothing
judge accept a special loan only available to professionals like lawyers and judges, and the loan company appeared in his court and may appear again, is it ok
ok; judge can take advantage of financial oppotunities in the institution’s regular course of business on the same terms general available to ppl who are not judges
two co-owners got one lawyer to represent and decide to have him as arbitrator in the event of dispute
is ok if lawyer reasonably believes he can provide competent and diligent representation to both, and if he obtains their informed consent confirmed in writing
this is true even if clients take initially conflicting positions with respect to their business
lawyer discovered client used fraudulent info which would financially harm the other party for a contract but client refuse to correct, he disclose to the other party
ok because disclosure was necessary to mitigate injury to there other party’s financial interests which resulted from the client’s use of the lawyer’s services to commit fraud
client tells story about misconduct of precious lawyer but ask the lawyer not to disclose it, the lawyer doesnt
ok because privilege; lawyer has a duty to report misconduct by another lawyer unless his knowledge of the misconduct is based on privileged info
president pays for law suit against his director, and asks the lawyer to keep him informed, the lawyer tells him about the incriminating info he got from the director
not ok because director is the client; the payor shouldn’t influence or direct the lawyer’s professional judgment, client’s info is subject to normal confidentiality and is not to be share with the payor
co-conspirator has trade info for a plea agreement, client offer to ask someone to “find” the co-conspirator and lawyer declined, but he didn’t withdraw
what if client demands
lawyer need not decline or withdraw when client suggest an illegal or unethical course or conduct
but have to withdraw if client “demand” illegal or unethical course or conduct
lawyer represent client 1, and client 2 ask the lawyer to represent a case against client 1 where lawyer learned confidential info from client 1 in previous case would hurt client 1, is that ok
is ok to take client 2 only if both clients give written informed consent
lawyer who has formerly represent a client shall not later use info relating to that representation to the former client’s disadvantage
is that ok to consider the fee that lawyer charged another client for the writing a similar letter when set the fee
no, she must determine a reasonable fee for each client and for each service performed for a particular client
lawyer summarized llc syndication in simple terms and shows another ask her to participate in this non-lawyer llc, he explain and she signs the syndication documents and invested
not ok because the lawyer said the right things but did not confirm the arrangement in writing, and he didn’t get the client’s informed consent in writing
(a) A lawyer shall not enter into a business transaction with a client or knowingly acquire an ownership, possessory, security or other pecuniary interest adverse to a client unless:
(1) the transaction and terms on which the lawyer acquires the interest are fair and reasonable to the client and are fully disclosed and transmitted in writing in a manner that can be reasonably understood by the client;
(2) the client is advised in writing of the desirability of seeking and is given a reasonable opportunity to seek the advice of independent legal counsel on the transaction; and
(3) the client gives informed consent, in a writing signed by the client, to the essential terms of the transaction and the lawyer’s role in the transaction, including whether the lawyer is representing the client in the transaction.
lawyer tells a former employee of his client not to speak with opposing counsel about the info he knew
not ok because
1, lawyer may not ask witnesses to refrain from speaking with opposing counsel, or
2, the witness is no longer worked for the lawyer’s client
2
lawyer can ask someone regain from giving info to opposing counsel only if that person is a relative, employee or agent of the client and lawyer reasonably believes refrain would not adversely affect that person’s interest
2 lawyers works for a client for case 1 about product defect and gained damaging info against the client, 1 moved to new firm and takes the client; old firm start to represent class of ppl who allege product defect against the client
firm may not represent P. in a matter substantially related to one in which it represented the D. if any lawyer currently at the firm knows confidential info of the D. that could be used against it
client with RP problem, lawyer ask for a lien on the RP for legal fee
ok; lawyer may acquire a lien authorized by law to secure the lawyer’s fee
student tells professor about his misconduct and didn’t include in bar app, professor decide not to represent him and later report him to the bar
not ok because the student was a prospective client even though professor decided not to represent him
lawyer cannot use or reveal info she received when talking with a prospective client even if later he decides not to represent
lawyer heard rumors about judge taking bribe and tell the press about it, later it turn out that judge did take bribe
lawyer shall not make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge
lawyer committed malpractice, he advised the client in writing of the desirability of obtaining independent counsel and was given an opportunity to do so, but client didn’t hire independent counsel, then they settle and lawyer told noone else
in settling a malpractice claim that has already arisen as opposed to an agreement to limit malpractice liability, it is enough for the client to be advised in writing of the desirability of obtaining independent counsel and was given an opportunity to do so
whether client actually hired independent counsel doesnt matter
prosecutor knew defense counsel has non-privileged evidence of the D.’s crimes, even though he could feasibly obtain the same evidence elsewhere he still got a subpoena
prosecutor may subpoena evidence from criminal defense lawyers only if they reasonably believe that the info is not privileged, that it is essential to the successful completion of an ongoing investigation or prosecution, and that there is no other feasible alternative to obtain that info
