Acing Professional Responsibility
Author:
Abramson, Leslie W.
Edition:
3rd
Copyright Date:
2017
15 chapters
have results for acing professional
Conclusion: General Examination Tips 2 results
- Now that you have the full set of checklists for each of the topics that you will be covering on your examination, there are some bits of advice to help you ace your Professional Responsibility examination or the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE):
- Don’t waste time talking with other classmates about the exam. You’ll just create more anxiety for yourself. Focus on the next exam; or, if Professional Responsibility is your last exam, celebrate being done!
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Acing 2 results
Title Page 3 results
Copyright Page 2 results
Chapter 10. Advertising and Solicitation 12 results (showing 5 best matches)
- You may enter into reciprocal referral agreements with another lawyer or nonlawyer professional, if that agreement is not exclusive and your client is told about the existence and nature of the agreement. Rule 7.2(b)(4). Otherwise, you cannot pay anyone for sending professional work your way. Rule 7.2, Comment 6. The purpose of these Rules is that you must be independent of other persons.
- Rule 7.3(a) prohibits a lawyer from soliciting “professional employment when a significant motive for the lawyer’s doing so is the lawyer’s pecuniary gain.” The targets of all Weinstein mailings are to former clients. An exception to the general rule permits a contact with persons who have a “a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer.” Rule 7.3(a)(2).
- You may use the name of a deceased or retired member of your law firm in the firm name in a line of succession. Rule 7.5, Comment 1. Otherwise, the names that can appear in the law firm name are lawyers who currently practice actively and regularly with the firm. These standards also apply to professional designations in electronic media like websites and emails.
- You must include the words “Advertising Material” in any written, recorded or electronic communication that you send to solicit employment from anyone who is known to be in need of legal services, unless the recipient is another lawyer or has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with you. Rule 7.3(c).
- You cannot use a firm name, letterhead, or other professional designation that is false or misleading. You may use a trade name, e.g., “Fourth Street Clinic,” as long as it is not false or misleading, and
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Acknowledgments 1 result
Chapter 2. The Lawyer-Client Relationship 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Nature and length of the professional relationship with the client.
- Nature and length of the professional relationship with the client.
- You must “consult with the client about any relevant limitation on the lawyer’s conduct when the lawyer knows that the client expects assistance not permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law.”
- Nature and length of the professional relationship with the client.
- A lawyer subject to the Model Rules may divide a legal fee with a lawyer in a jurisdiction that allows sharing legal fees with non-lawyers, as long as there is no interference with the lawyer’s independent professional judgment. ABA Formal Opinion 13–464.
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- In a professional malpractice claim based on negligence, your former client must prove that:
- In a professional malpractice case based on your negligence, your former client must prove that you owed her a duty of care, that you breached that duty, and that the breach caused injury to her in the form of damages.
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Table of Contents 2 results
Chapter 1. Regulation of the Legal Profession 13 results (showing 5 best matches)
- As an exercise of their police powers, the states regulate the legal profession because it affects the public interest. The courts of each state have the inherent power to regulate members of the legal profession for their conduct, both in-court and elsewhere. The highest court of each state has adopted standards of professional ethics based on models created by the American Bar Association [ABA].
- Since 1983, states have adopted a version of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct [MRPC]. Each state is free to adopt all or part of the MRPC. As with their predecessor standards, each state is free to adopt all or part of each standard. Before you begin to practice in a state, it is essential that you consult that state’s ethical standards. You can check the status of each state’s review of its professional conduct rules by looking at
- Applicants for admission to the bar usually must satisfy several requirements. They must: (1) graduate from an accredited law school, (2) pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), (3) pass the bar examination for that state, and (4) have the necessary character and fitness to practice law.
- REPORTING PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT
- Reporting Professional Misconduct
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Chapter 3. Client Confidentiality 6 results (showing 5 best matches)
- PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY—GENERAL RULE
- In the case of an inadvertent fax, ABA Formal Opinion 06–440 recognizes that Rule 4.4(b) requires only that the receiving lawyer notify the sender if she knows or reasonably should know that the fax was sent inadvertently. Comment 3 to Rule 4.4(b) leaves it to the recipient’s professional judgment to determine whether to return the document unread.
- Professional Obligation of Confidentiality—General Rule
- One example of implied authorization of a lawyer to disclose confidential communications about a client’s case occurs when lawyers in the same firm frequently discuss their clients’ cases, even if the client hired only one of the lawyers. ABA Formal Opinion 08–453. Your client may choose to instruct you not to discuss all or some of that information, even with your professional colleagues.
- When a client discloses information to a lawyer, generally that information cannot be disclosed by the lawyer without the client’s consent. Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6(a). Rule 1.6(a) requires a lawyer to maintain inviolate information relating to the representation of a client. Here, the CEO did not give permission to Maris to disclose information about the acquisition possibility. He clearly told the Maris
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Chapter 4. Conflicts of Interest 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Imputed disqualification for most Rule 1.8 violations. Except for sexual relations (a personal, not professional, conflict with a client), all Rule 1.8 conflicts between you and your client are imputed to other lawyers in your firm.
- Because your obligations are to your client, you cannot allow the third-party payer to interfere with your exercise of professional judgment.
- The payment will not interfere with the attorney’s independent professional judgment or with the attorney-client relationship, and
- The MRPC describe standards for identifying conflicts of interest that arise between your (1) current clients, (2) current and future clients, (3) current and former clients, (4) current client and interested third parties, and (5) current client and your own interest. The consequences of a conflict of interest may include: (1) professional discipline by a state’s highest court, (2) disqualification from representing a particular client pursuant to a court’s inherent power to regulate who practices before it, (3) breaching a duty of loyalty to a client, and (4) forfeiture of your fee.
- If you acquire a financial interest in your client’s litigation, there is a risk that your independent professional judgment will be affected by your interest. Your client may believe that you are more objective about the transaction than you really are, and you may be tempted to use her confidential information to her disadvantage. Therefore, you cannot acquire a proprietary interest in a claim for relief or the subject matter of a litigation. (The Rule is inapplicable to a pre-existing interest held by you before your representation begins, but Rule 1.7 would apply.) Most of the interest in Rule 1.8(i) focuses on its two exceptions. First, you can obtain a proprietary interest in your client’s case through a reasonable contingent fee in civil cases. Rule 1.8(i)(2).
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Chapter 8. Different Roles of the Lawyer 2 results
- In your role as an advisor, you must exercise your independent professional judgment to give your client your realistic opinion about both what a court is likely to do in her case and the practical effects of the ruling. The exercise of your independent professional judgment refers to the advice to your client, free of biases created by other interests or parties. You also have a duty to tell your litigation clients about “forms of dispute resolution that might constitute reasonable alternatives to litigation.” Rule 2.1, Comment 5. On the other hand, if your client tells you to confine your advice to legal matters or not to offer unsolicited advice, you should comply unless her inexperience suggests that you should say more to her. Rule 2.1, Comments 3 and 5.
- In the wake of the Enron scandals during which thousands of people saw the value of their pensions disappear, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act required the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] to create regulations governing the professional responsibility of lawyers who represent corporations which issue publicly-traded securities. Those regulations are found in 17 CFR Part 205, which addresses a lawyer’s duty to act in matters before the SEC.
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Appendix A: Mini-Checklists 8 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Reporting of Professional Misconduct
- Professional Obligation of Confidentiality
- Except for sexual relations (a personal, not professional, conflict with a client), all Rule 1.8 conflicts between you and your client are imputed to other lawyers in your firm. Rule 1.8(k).
- You generally cannot acquire a financial interest in your client’s litigation because of the risk that your independent professional judgment will be affected.
- Because your obligations are to your client, you cannot allow the third-party payer to interfere with your exercise of professional judgment. You must obtain her consent to that fee arrangement.
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Chapter 12. Judicial Ethics 3 results
- If a judge knows either that another judge has violated the CJC or that a lawyer has violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, raising a substantial question about his honesty, trustworthiness or general fitness to serve, she must inform the appropriate authority.
- If a judge knows either that another judge has violated the CJC or that a lawyer has violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, she must inform the appropriate authority. CJC Rule 2.15(A)–(B).
- If a judge reasonably believes that a lawyer or another judge “is impaired by drugs or alcohol, or by a mental, emotional, or physical condition,” she must “take appropriate action, which may include a confidential referral to a lawyer or judicial assistance program.” CJC Rule 2.14. If a judge knows either that another judge has violated the CJC or that a lawyer has violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, raising a substantial question about his
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- Publication Date: July 6th, 2017
- ISBN: 9781683284093
- Subject: Professional Responsibility/Ethics
- Series: Acing Series
- Type: Exam Prep
- Description: Acing Professional Responsibility provides a dual benefit to law students who, to become licensed lawyers, have to pass both a law school exam in a Legal Ethics course as well as the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). To prepare for the law school examination, there are pages of text, numerous outlines, bullet points, sample essay questions and answers, and mini-checklists to learn the basics and fine points of Professional Responsibility. The Acing book also enables students to quickly recall and pass the MPRE. The materials are current through the Model Rules changes in 2016.
