MPRE — Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam — All Questions

A lawyer wants to represent a new client in a matter directly adverse to an existing client in an unrelated matter. Under Model Rule 1.7, the lawyer may proceed only if, among other requirements:

• a.The lawyer discloses the conflict to the court only
• b.The lawyer charges both clients a reduced fee
• c.At least one client consents orally
• d.Each affected client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing✓

Rule 1.7(b) permits representation despite a concurrent conflict only if the lawyer reasonably believes the representation will be competent and diligent, it is not prohibited by law, it does not involve one client's claim against another in the same litigation, and "each affected client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing." Oral consent from one client is insufficient.

A lawyer formerly represented a company in negotiating a contract. A new client now wants to sue that former client in a substantially related matter with materially adverse interests. The lawyer may take the case only if:

• a.The new matter arose more than one year later
• b.The new client agrees to waive fees
• c.The lawyer no longer remembers confidential information
• d.The former client consents, confirmed in writing✓

Rule 1.9(a) bars representing another person in the same or a substantially related matter with materially adverse interests "unless the former client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing." The passage of time or a faded memory does not remove the conflict.

One lawyer in a firm has a conflict under Rule 1.7 or 1.9 that prohibits handling a matter. Under the general imputation rule of Model Rule 1.10, the conflict is:

• a.Imputed to the firm, subject to limited exceptions✓
• b.Automatically waived once the lawyer leaves the firm
• c.Cured if the firm charges no fee for the matter
• d.Limited to that one lawyer with no effect on the firm

Under Rule 1.10(a), while lawyers are associated in a firm, none of them may knowingly represent a client when any one of them practicing alone would be prohibited by Rules 1.7 or 1.9, subject to exceptions for purely personal conflicts and for screened lawyers who come from another firm.

Which conflict can NOT be cured by the clients' informed consent under Model Rule 1.7?

• a.A lawyer representing two co-plaintiffs with different injuries
• b.A lawyer suing a current client in an unrelated matter
• c.Representing both sides of one lawsuit✓
• d.A lawyer whose spouse works for the opposing party's company

Rule 1.7(b)(3) bars representation involving "the assertion of a claim by one client against another client represented by the lawyer in the same litigation," and the comment says this applies "regardless of the clients' consent." The other situations can be consentable.

A lawyer obtains a client's oral informed consent to a conflict at a meeting and emails the client a summary of that consent the same afternoon. Has the lawyer satisfied the "confirmed in writing" requirement of Rule 1.7?

• a.No, because email is not a writing.
• b.Yes, but only if the client replies to the email.
• c.No, because the client must sign a consent form.
• d.Yes, a prompt written confirmation suffices.✓

Rule 1.0(b) defines "confirmed in writing" to include "a writing that a lawyer promptly transmits to the person confirming an oral informed consent," and Rule 1.0(n) says a writing includes an electronic record. No signature is required.

A lawyer represents a driver in a traffic case and is asked to cross-examine that driver, as an adverse witness, in an unrelated civil trial for another client. What is the best description of the situation?

• a.A likely concurrent conflict that Rule 1.7 governs.✓
• b.A conflict that only the court can resolve.
• c.A former-client conflict under Rule 1.9.
• d.No conflict, because the matters are unrelated.

Rule 1.7(a) defines a concurrent conflict to include direct adversity to a current client and a significant risk of material limitation. The comment notes that loyalty forbids acting as an advocate against a current client "even when the matters are wholly unrelated." The driver is a current client, so Rule 1.9 does not apply.

Two siblings ask a lawyer to draft a partnership agreement for a bakery they will co-own. Their goals are compatible, though they disagree on who will manage it. May the lawyer represent both?

• a.No, because multiple clients may never be represented in one transaction.
• b.No, because a lawyer must always choose one sibling.
• c.Yes, without consent, because they are family.
• d.Yes, with each one's informed consent, confirmed in writing.✓

Joint representation is permitted when the lawyer reasonably believes both can be represented competently and each client gives informed consent confirmed in writing under Rule 1.7(b). The comment warns that such clients should be told that privilege will not protect their communications from each other if they later litigate.

Under Rule 1.8(k), which prohibition that applies to one lawyer in a firm does NOT automatically apply to the other lawyers?

• a.The prohibition on business transactions with clients
• b.The prohibition on sexual relations with a client✓
• c.The prohibition on acquiring an interest in litigation
• d.The prohibition on drafting instruments that give the lawyer gifts

Rule 1.8(k) extends only "a prohibition in the foregoing paragraphs (a) through (i)" to all lawyers in a firm. The sexual-relations bar is in paragraph (j), so it is personal to the lawyer involved.

A client asks her lawyer, who is not related to her, to draft a will leaving the lawyer's daughter $25,000. What may the lawyer do?

• a.Draft it if the daughter is over eighteen.
• b.Decline to draft it, because the daughter is related to the lawyer.✓
• c.Draft it, because the gift goes to the daughter, not the lawyer.
• d.Draft it if the client signs a written waiver.

Rule 1.8(c) forbids preparing an instrument "giving the lawyer or a person related to the lawyer any substantial gift unless the lawyer or other recipient of the gift is related to the client." A lawyer's child is a related person.

A lawyer represents a client in a slip-and-fall case on contingency. The client needs $1,500 for an expert's deposition fee. May the lawyer advance it?

• a.No, unless the client is indigent.
• b.Yes, but only if the client repays it regardless of outcome.
• c.No, because a lawyer may never give financial assistance to a litigation client.
• d.Yes, and repayment may depend on the outcome of the case.✓

Rule 1.8(e)(1) lets a lawyer "advance court costs and expenses of litigation, the repayment of which may be contingent on the outcome of the matter." Expert fees are litigation expenses; indigence is required only for paying costs outright under 1.8(e)(2).

A lawyer represented a hospital two years ago in defending a malpractice claim and learned its internal peer-review practices. A patient now asks the lawyer to sue the same hospital in a new malpractice case raising similar peer-review failures. What governs?

• a.No rule, because the first case is closed.
• b.Rule 1.18, because the hospital was a prospective client.
• c.Rule 1.7, because the hospital is still a client.
• d.Rule 1.9's substantial-relationship test.✓

Rule 1.9(a) protects former clients in "the same or a substantially related matter," and the comment defines substantial relationship by whether confidential information "as would normally have been obtained in the prior representation would materially advance the client's position." The peer-review knowledge may make these substantially related.

A lawyer who has left Firm A joins Firm B. At Firm A she never worked on, or learned anything about, Firm A's representation of Delta Corp. Firm B now wants her to help sue Delta in that same matter. Is she personally disqualified?

• a.Yes, unless Firm A consents.
• b.No, because she learned nothing protected about Delta.✓
• c.Yes, because her former firm represented Delta in the matter.
• d.No, because conflicts never follow lawyers between firms.

Rule 1.9(b) disqualifies a lawyer whose former firm represented a client only if the lawyer "had acquired information protected by Rules 1.6 and 1.9(c) that is material to the matter." Without such information she is not disqualified.

A prospective client meets a lawyer for ten minutes to describe a contract dispute. The lawyer asks only for the parties' names and the general nature of the dispute, then declines. Later the other party asks the lawyer to represent it in the dispute. May the lawyer?

• a.Yes, if nothing significantly harmful was disclosed.✓
• b.Yes, because no fee was paid.
• c.No, unless the prospective client consents in writing.
• d.No, because any consultation disqualifies the lawyer.

Rule 1.18(c) disqualifies a lawyer only if he "received information from the prospective client that could be significantly harmful to that person in the matter." Names and a general description, gathered to check conflicts, ordinarily do not meet that test.

Under Rule 1.10, which of these situations is NOT imputed to the other lawyers in the firm?

• a.A lawyer's purely personal conflict that does not limit others.✓
• b.A partner's conflict from representing the opposing party last year in the same case.
• c.An associate's conflict from currently representing the opposing party in another matter.
• d.A lawyer's conflict from a current client relationship with a party.

Rule 1.10(a)(1) does not impute a prohibition "based on a personal interest of the disqualified lawyer" that "does not present a significant risk of materially limiting the representation" by the others. Conflicts arising from other clients, current or former, are imputed.

After a partner who handled a matter for Client X leaves the firm, the firm wants to sue Client X, no longer its client, in a substantially related matter. No remaining lawyer has material confidential information about X. May the firm proceed?

• a.No, because the firm once represented X in a related matter.
• b.Yes, because the departed partner's conflict never applied to the firm.
• c.No, unless the departed partner consents.
• d.Yes, because no remaining lawyer has material protected information.✓

Rule 1.10(b) lets the firm proceed after the lawyer leaves unless the matter is the same or substantially related "and" a remaining lawyer "has information protected by Rules 1.6 and 1.9(c) that is material to the matter." Both conditions must be met to bar the firm.

A former judge's new firm wants to represent a party in a case the judge presided over. What does Rule 1.12 require for the firm to proceed without all parties' consent?

• a.A timely screen, no fee share, and prompt notice.✓
• b.A court order approving the representation.
• c.The judge's written promise not to discuss the case.
• d.Nothing, because the judge has retired from the bench.

Rule 1.12(c) lets the firm proceed if "the disqualified lawyer is timely screened from any participation in the matter and is apportioned no part of the fee therefrom" and "written notice is promptly given to the parties and any appropriate tribunal."

A law clerk working on a pending case wants to interview with the firm representing one of the parties. What must the clerk do first?

• a.Wait until the case is over.
• b.Obtain consent from all parties.
• c.Nothing, because clerks do not decide cases.
• d.Notify the judge she works for.✓

Rule 1.12(b) allows a law clerk to "negotiate for employment with a party or lawyer involved in a matter in which the clerk is participating personally and substantially, but only after the lawyer has notified the judge." Judges and neutrals themselves may not negotiate.

An employer pays for a lawyer to defend its employee in a lawsuit. Which condition is required by Rule 1.8(f)?

• a.The lawyer must represent the employer too.
• b.The employer must receive copies of all client communications.
• c.The employer must approve all settlement decisions.
• d.The employee must give informed consent to the arrangement.✓

Rule 1.8(f) permits compensation from a third party only if "the client gives informed consent," there is "no interference with the lawyer's independence of professional judgment," and client information is protected under Rule 1.6. The payer gets no control or access by paying.