Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility tests duties owed to clients, courts, and the profession. Expect fact patterns on confidentiality, conflicts, competence, fees, client property, and candor.
Core rules
- Confidentiality protects information learned in the professional relationship and generally survives termination.
- A concurrent conflict exists when representation of one client is directly adverse to another, or when a personal interest materially limits the lawyer. Informed consent may cure some conflicts, but not all.
- Competence requires the legal knowledge, skill, and preparation reasonably necessary; a lawyer must decline or associate when competence is lacking.
- Client funds must be kept separate and accounted for; fees must be reasonable and clearly explained.
- Candor to the tribunal prohibits false statements and improper influence, even when it helps the client.
Worked example
Lawyer L represents A in a contract dispute, then is asked to represent B against A in a related dispute. This is a concurrent conflict because the representations are directly adverse. A's confidential information may be relevant, and L's duty of loyalty is compromised. Informed consent from both clients is generally insufficient for a directly adverse representation in the same matter. L must decline the second engagement and protect A's information.
Traps
- Believing confidentiality ends when the retainer ends.
- Treating informed consent as a cure for every conflict.
- Confusing prospective-client duties with full-client duties.
- Commingling client funds with office funds.
- Making factual assertions to the court without a good-faith basis.