Injury Lawyer Attorney Ethics & Professional Responsibility 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An injury attorney learns privileged information about a potential client during an initial consultation, but declines to take the case. The attorney:
- May freely share the information since no attorney-client relationship was formed
- Is still bound to keep the information confidential even though no representation began (Correct answer)
- Must disclose the information to opposing counsel as a professional courtesy
- Can use the information to benefit other clients with similar cases
Correct answer: Is still bound to keep the information confidential even though no representation began
The duty of confidentiality attaches to prospective clients under Model Rule 1.18, protecting information shared during consultations even when representation is declined.
Question 2: Which practice violates the ethical rules governing client funds in a personal injury case?
- Keeping settlement proceeds in a separate IOLTA trust account until disbursement
- Deducting agreed litigation expenses from the settlement before disbursing the client's share
- Temporarily depositing the settlement check into the firm's general operating account for convenience (Correct answer)
- Providing the client with an itemized accounting before releasing funds
Correct answer: Temporarily depositing the settlement check into the firm's general operating account for convenience
Model Rule 1.15 requires that client funds be kept in a separate trust account and must never be commingled with the attorney's own funds.
Question 3: An injury attorney who refers a client to a specialist and shares in the resulting fee must ensure that:
- The referring attorney performs minimal work on the case to justify the fee
- The client consents in writing to the fee-sharing arrangement and the total fee is reasonable (Correct answer)
- The referral fee does not exceed 10% of the total recovery
- The specialist attorney waives all independent fees in exchange for the referral
Correct answer: The client consents in writing to the fee-sharing arrangement and the total fee is reasonable
Rule 1.5(e) allows fee division between lawyers not in the same firm only if the client agrees in writing and the total fee remains reasonable.
Question 4: Soliciting injury victims at the scene of an accident or in the hospital shortly after injury is prohibited under which category of ethics rules?
- Competence rules
- Anti-solicitation and anti-ambulance-chasing rules (in-person solicitation prohibitions) (Correct answer)
- Conflict of interest rules
- Confidentiality rules
Correct answer: Anti-solicitation and anti-ambulance-chasing rules (in-person solicitation prohibitions)
Model Rule 7.3 prohibits in-person or real-time electronic solicitation of prospective clients when the motive is pecuniary gain and the person is in a vulnerable situation.
Question 5: A personal injury attorney who makes a false statement about a material fact to opposing counsel during settlement negotiations has violated:
- Rule 3.3 — Candor toward the tribunal only
- Rule 4.1 — Truthfulness in statements to others (Correct answer)
- Rule 1.6 — Confidentiality
- Rule 1.2 — Scope of representation
Correct answer: Rule 4.1 — Truthfulness in statements to others
Rule 4.1 prohibits attorneys from knowingly making false statements of material fact or law to third parties, including opposing counsel during negotiations.
Question 6: A defense attorney offers to settle directly with an unrepresented injury plaintiff without going through the plaintiff's attorney. This conduct is:
- Permissible since unrepresented parties have no protected status
- Ethically prohibited without first advising the plaintiff to obtain counsel (Correct answer)
- Allowed only if the settlement is for less than $10,000
- Required when the plaintiff's attorney is unavailable
Correct answer: Ethically prohibited without first advising the plaintiff to obtain counsel
Rule 4.3 requires that when dealing with unrepresented persons, attorneys must not imply they are disinterested and must advise the person to obtain counsel if their interests conflict.
Question 7: Under the doctrine of imputed disqualification, if one attorney in a personal injury firm has a conflict of interest, the conflict generally:
- Affects only that attorney and not the rest of the firm
- Is imputed to all attorneys in the firm unless screening measures apply (Correct answer)
- Can be cured by having a different partner sign the pleadings
- Only matters if the conflicted attorney actively works on the file
Correct answer: Is imputed to all attorneys in the firm unless screening measures apply
Under Rule 1.10, a conflict of interest is generally imputed to the entire firm, meaning all lawyers in the firm are disqualified unless an exception such as timely screening applies.
Injury Lawyer Attorney Ethics & Professional Responsibility 2
An injury attorney learns privileged information about a potential client during an initial consultation, but declines to take the case.
The attorney: