Professional Responsibility Flashcards
Master professional responsibility for the California bar.
Duties - general categories
Mnemonic: Clients love fierce counsel; courts feel differently
Duties to client - Confidentiality - Loyalty - Financial responsibility - Competence Duties to others - Candor - Fairness - Dignity and decorum
Duties - to client - confidentiality - in general
Rule: Lawyers may not reveal anything related to representation of client w/o consent
- Duty can attach before lawyer-client relationship formed or even if none formed
- W/o relationship, party seeking to disqualify has burden of proving confidences imparted
- Duty continues past end of relationship
Duties - to client - confidentiality - exceptions
- Consent: express & implied to carry out rep
- Defense & nonpayment
- Prevent harm
- Death or substantial bodily harm (CA distinction)
- ABA ONLY: fraud or crimes causing financial injury - Compelled (CA distinction)
Duties - to client - confidentiality - exceptions - defense & nonpayment
May reveal information necessary to establish claim or defense if client:
(i) sues lawyer for malpractice
(ii) brings disciplinary actions against lawyer
(iii) refuses to pay lawyer
Duties - to client - confidentiality - exceptions - death or substantial bodily harm
May reveal information if reasonably believe it will prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm
- CA: if reasonable, must (i) make good-faith effort to persuade client not to commit act; (ii) inform client of decision to reveal confidences
Duties - to client - confidentiality - exceptions - fraud or crimes causing financial injury
ABA ONLY!
May reveal information if client used or is using lawyer’s services to commit crime, and the disclosure would prevent or mitigate substantial financial loss
Duties - to client - confidentiality - exceptions - compelled
May reveal information if compelled by law or court order
- ABA: also may reveal if compelled by legal ethics rule, or to obtain legal ethics advice
Duties - to client - confidentiality - attorney-client privilege
Evidentiary privilege that allows client to refuse to testify and prevent lawyer from testifying about confidential communications between them or their agents (applies only to communications, not all information!)
- ABA: continues past death
- CA: ends when estate settled & rep discharged
Duties - to client - confidentiality - attorney-client privilege - exceptions
- Client seeks advice to enable future fraud/crime
- Suit between attorney and client
- Suit between joint clients
- Competency or intention of client who has attempted to dispose of property by will or inter vivos transfer is at issue
- CA ONLY: necessary to prevent criminal act lawyer reasonably believes is likely to result in substantial bodily injury or death of a person
Duties - to client - loyalty - in general
- Lawyers have a duty of loyalty to their clients and thus must avoid concurrent conflicts of interest
- CA: duty to avoid actual AND potential conflicts - A concurrent conflict exists if:
- One client will be directly adverse to another
- Significant risk that representation of client will be materially limited by interest of another client, lawyer, or a third party
Duties - to client - loyalty - consent to conflict
Lawyer may undertake representation despite conflict if:
- Lawyer believes can competently and diligently represent both clients
- ABA: belief must be reasonable - Client informed
- Client consents, confirmed in writing
- CA: if conflict personal to lawyer, written disclosure sufficient; no need for client consent
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between or among clients
- Representing clients on opposite sides of the same matter (never allowed)
- Opposing a current client in another matter (consent needed)
- Representing two clients with inconsistent positions (consent may be needed)
- Representing client in aggregate settlement (written consent needed for settlement)
- Representing multiple clients in the same matter or acting as an intermediary (consent needed)
- Representing new clients in matters related to former clients (consent needed)
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client
- Receiving gifts to lawyer or lawyer’s family
- Limiting and settling liability
- Entering into publication rights contracts
- Extending loans and advances to client
- Entering into business transactions with or acquiring interests adverse to client
- Acquiring proprietary interest in action
- Serving as counsel and witness
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - receiving gifts
Lawyer must not solicit (ABA) or induce (CA) a substantial gift from a client
- ABA: lawyer also may not draft a legal instrument for a client who is not close relative if it provides a substantial gift to lawyer or lawyer’s relative
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - limiting liability
Cannot limit client’s right to report lawyer for ethical or professional violations and cannot prospectively limit malpractice liability
- ABA: can limit prospective malpractice liability if client independently represented
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - settling liability
Cannot settle malpractice claim w/ unrepresented client w/o advising client in writing to seek independent representation and giving opportunity to do so
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - entering into publication rights contracts
- ABA: Cannot enter into publication rights contracts before representation has ended.
- CA: Case law discourages contracts before end of proceedings, but tolerates them if judge is satisfied client clearly understands and consents
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - extending loans and advances to client
- ABA: forbids financial assistance, except litigation expenses for indigent client, and advance of litigation expenses in contingent-fee case
- CA: forbids promising to pay a prospective client’s debts, but allows loans to a client in all matters for any purpose w/ written loan agreement
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - entering into business transactions with or acquiring interests adverse to client
Mnemonic: First discuss over coffee!
Lawyer may enter into business w/ client or obtain adverse interest if:
- Terms are FAIR to the client,
- DISCLOSED in understandable writing,
- Client has OPPORTUNITY to consult an outside lawyer, and
- Client provides written CONSENT
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - between lawyer and client - serving as counsel and witness
- ABA: prohibited unless: (i) lawyer’s testimony is uncontested or (ii) regarding nature and value of services rendered or (iii) lawyer’s distinctive value to case means w/drawal would impose substantial hardship on client
- If testimony might prejudice client, consent required, and conflict is imputed
- CA: testimony permitted in all bench trials and in jury trials with client’s consent
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - due to third-party interference
- Someone other than client pays (consent required)
- Liability insurer involved (particular problems and special rules)
- Corporate clients (particular problems)
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - due to third-party interference - someone other than client pays
Payment for services from a third party is permitted only with informed client consent
- CA: consent must be in writing
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - due to third-party interference - liability insurer involved
- Whether insurer is client varies by state; CA says it is joint client w/ insured (but no conflict if insurer is joint client in one case and joint opponent in another)
- Potential conflicts:
1. Is event covered?
2. Does insurer try to control settlement / should settlement w/in policy limit be accepted?
3. Does insurer unreasonably limit costs?
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - due to lawyer’s personal life
- Engaging in a sexual relationship with a client
- Opposing a party represented by counsel with whom lawyer has relationship
NOTE: These are not imputed!
Duties - to client - loyalty - specific conflicts - due to lawyer’s personal life - engaging in a sexual relationship with a client
- ABA: sexual relationship prohibited unless it predated attorney-client relationship and does not interfere with representation
- CA: relationship permitted but attorney may not demand sexual relations as a condition of representation, enter into relations by coercion or undue influence, or represent a client incompetently because of relationship
Duties - to client - loyalty - imputed conflicts
- Any group of lawyers that work together closely or share responsibilities share each others’ conflicts (other than personal conflicts)
- CA: disqualifies, but does not discipline, a lawyer for imputed conflicts - Affected clients can consent
- Special rules apply for conflicts based on lawyer’s association with prior firm or gov
Duties - to client - loyalty - imputed conflicts - based on lawyer’s association with prior firm
- Lawyer from prior firm has conflict if representing new clients in matters related to former clients
- Firm can avoid imputed conflict if:
1. Disqualified lawyer screened
2. Receives no part of fee
3. Affected former client gets notice
4. Former client gets periodic certifications on request
Duties - to client - loyalty - imputed conflicts - based on lawyer’s former government work
- Former gov lawyer has conflict only if worked “personally and substantially” on “matter”
- Firm can avoid imputed conflict if:
1. Disqualified lawyer screened
2. Receives no part of fee
3. Government gets notice - CA: explicitly disqualifies prosecutor on case from later working for defense