Professional Responsibility Flashcards
Referral Arrangements
A lawyer generally must not share legal fees with a non lawyer. Further, a lawyer must not compensate or give anything of value to a person or organization for recommending or securing the lawyer’s employment of a client. (EXCEPTION: BAR APPROVED NONPROFIT SERVICE)
Contingency Fees
- A contingent fee is a fee that is dependent on the successful resolution of a client’s case and payable from the judgement proceeds.
- All contingent fee agreements MUST be in writing and state the method by which the fee is to be determined.
- Contingent fee agreements are prohibited in criminal and domestic relations cases (if the payment or amount is contingent upon the securing of a divorce or the amount of settlement).
Communication with Non-client Party
A lawyer is prohibited from discussing a matter with a person who the lawyer knows is represented by counsel, unless counsel consents.
When a person does not have counsel of his own, a lawyer representing a client in a matter may contact the person about the matter, but must not state or imply that he is disinterested.
When a lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the unrepresented person misunderstands the lawyer’s role in the matter, the lawyer must make reasonable efforts to correct the misunderstanding.
Can’t give advice to unrepresented person except to seek counsel.
PR: Duty of Confidentiality
A lawyer generally must not reveal ANY information about a client relating to the representation. The duty of confidentially attaches to information gained during initial consultations with a prospective client, even if a formal relationship is not ultimately formed.
Generally, a lawyer who has learned info from a prospective client must not use such information without consent from PC. (EXCEPTION: INFO GENERALLY KNOWN)
Conflicts of Interest
A lawyer who obtains confidential information during a client consultation must not later represent a client adverse to the prospective client in the same or substantially related matter if the information could be significantly harmful to the prospective client, unless both the prospective client and the current client consent.
