Deck 2: Ethics

Question 1

Which of the following is protected by the lawyer-client confidentiality privilege?

A) The client discloses a plan to commit a crime.
B) The client discloses past crimes unknown to the police or the prosecutor's office.
C) The client's disclosure indicates risk of substantial bodily harm to a third party.
D) The client waives the privilege.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Free services provided by an attorney to the public are called

A) pro se.
B) pro tem.
C) pro rata.
D) pro bono.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

As a practical matter, the paralegal should be most concerned with the

A) NALA's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility .
B) NFPA's Affirmation of Responsibility .
C) attorneys' code of ethics adopted in the jurisdiction where the paralegal is employed.
D) Ethical Considerations of the ABA.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following constitutes the greatest risk of being considered unethical solicitation by an attorney?

A) Contacting a person who has just been injured in an auto accident
B) Advertising in the Yellow Pages
C) Advertising on television
D) Sending advertising fliers out to all registered voters

Question 5

Who is ultimately responsible for holding paralegals accountable for unethical conduct?

A) The ABA
B) NALA
C) Their supervising attorneys
D) State bar associations

Question 6

Which of the following presents a problem of conflict of interests?

A) A lawyer representing a client in commercial transactions represents that client in divorce proceedings.
B) A paralegal moves to a new firm that is representing a defendant in a case the paralegal researched for the plaintiffs in a prior firm.
C) A paralegal marries an attorney.
D) A lawyer hands out business cards to injured persons at a hospital.

Question 7

Conflict of interests may sometimes be avoided by

A) a "Chinese wall."
B) compurgation.
C) neutrality.
D) sealing the record.

Question 8

The Model Rules differ from the former Model Code of the ABA in

A) the addition of the Canons of Ethics.
B) prescribing disciplinary measures to be taken against paralegals.
C) prohibiting advertising.
D) providing greater specificity.

Question 9

Which of the following, if done by a non attorney, constitutes unauthorized practice of law?

A) Drafting of legal papers by a paralegal in a law office
B) Representing a person before a court
C) Referring a person to an attorney
D) Obtaining arrest records

Question 10

The ethical rationale for requiring that only licensed attorneys may represent a client in court is to

A) preserve the monopoly of the bar.
B) control accountability for representation.
C) prevent persons from representing themselves.
D) preserve the integrity of the bar.

Question 11

In People v. Mitchell (Mitchell woke up with a dead girl next to him),

A) the court held that statements Mitchell made to unknown women in the common reception area of law offices were not protected by lawyer-client privilege.
B) the court held that statements Mitchell made to unknown women in the common reception area of law offices were protected by lawyer-client privilege.
C) Mitchell's statements were privileged because he was in a law office when he made them.
D) Mitchell's statements were protected by client-attorney privilege.

Question 12

Client confidentiality privilege is lost where

A) an attorney waives the privilege.
B) disclosures are made to law office staff.
C) disclosures are made in the presence of third parties.
D) no retainer was paid.

Question 13

The most recent ethical principles formulated by the ABA are the

A) Model Code of Responsibility .
B) ABA Canons.
C) Model Rules of Professional Conduct .
D) Disciplinary Rules .

Question 14

Who may be charged with unauthorized practice of law?

A) Anyone
B) Only independent paralegals
C) Only law office staff
D) Only those not associated with a law office

Question 15

In People v. Alexander , a law clerk was found not guilty of contempt for preparing an order for the court because

A) opposing counsel participated in the process.
B) he was a licensed paralegal.
C) he was ordered to do so by the judge.
D) his conduct did not constitute the unauthorized practice of law.

Question 16

Contingency fees are ethical in which of the following kinds of cases?

A) Divorce cases
B) Criminal cases
C) Personal injury cases
D) All litigation

Question 17

A lawyer must breach confidentiality in which of the following?

A) A client discloses past undetected crimes.
B) A client insists that he will commit a crime.
C) A client disputes the attorney's bill.
D) A client is mentally unstable.

Question 18

The prohibition against attorney advertising was first voided by

A) U.S. Supreme Court decision.
B) the ABA Model Rules .
C) the ABA Model Code .
D) NALA.

Question 19

The failure of a professional person to act with reasonable care, thereby causing injury, constitutes

A) abuse of discretion.
B) misnomer.
C) contempt.
D) malpractice.

Question 20

A paralegal who discloses a client's privileged confidential statements is guilty of

A) a misdemeanor.
B) merely violating ethical principles.
C) malpractice.
D) unauthorized practice of law.

Question 21

In In re Wells, the court held that

A) Wells would be subject to Public Reprimand for including false and misleading statements in advertising his law firm.
B) the statements on Well's website were substantiated by the facts.
C) Wells would not be subject to discipline because the advertising materials were corrected almost immediately after he received the ethics complaint.
D) Wells's advertising was not unethical because he was only exaggerating his claims about his law firm so as to attract clients.

Question 22

In In re Hawkins , the court held that

A) Judge Hawkins's prior record of service and good intentions overcame the violations, and Judge Hawkins would not be disciplined.
B) there was no basis for the bar's allegations that Judge Hawkins engaged in unethical behavior.
C) Judge Hawkins's action in operating a business from her chambers was unethical, and Judge Hawkins should be removed from office as a county judge.
D) because Judge Hawkins had fully cooperated with the ethics investigation, she would not be subject to discipline.

Question 23

In In re Anonymous Member of the South Carolina Bar , the court held that

A) the civility clause contained within the lawyer's oath was unconstitutionally vague and overbroad.
B) the attorney's conduct was uncivil but not unethical.
C) the attorney's conduct bordered on being unethical but the court would not take any private disciplinary action; the court warned that similar action in the future would result in public sanction.
D) the attorney's action of sending an email accusing the daughter of opposing counsel of dealing in illegal drugs was unethical and the court issued a Letter of Caution.

Question 24

When a longtime client comes to you, as an attorney, asking you to write a will including yourself as a beneficiary, you can avoid ethical problems by

A) having the will signed by the client in the presence of witnesses who are also the primary beneficiaries.
B) writing and signing a sealed and dated letter to the client's file relating the client's insistence that you be a beneficiary over your cautions to the client.
C) insisting the client go to another attorney to draft a codicil to the will for any gift in your behalf.
D) getting another member of your firm to read the will and ask the client if she means to give you the specific bequest stated in the will and then making a record of her affirmance.

Question 25

In Disciplinary Counsel v. Owen, the court held that

A) the lawyer who engages in a sexual relationship with a client's spouse during the representation creates an inherent and impermissible conflict between the interests of the lawyer and those of the client.
B) it was not an ethics violation to engage in a sexual relationship with a client's spouse during the representation.
C) Owen would not be subject to discipline because he fully cooperated with the investigation.
D) there was no ethics violation because no ethics rule prohibited engaging in a sexual relationship with a client's spouse during the representation.

Question 26

In Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Markins, the court held that

A) there was no ethics violation because Markins secretly accessed only his wife's emails.
B) clients had waived client-attorney confidentiality by including confidential information in emails.
C) Markins should be suspended for 2 years because surreptitiously accessing attorney emails violated ethics rules.
D) Markins should be prosecuted rather than being disciplined under attorney ethics rules.