Injury Lawyer Attorney Ethics & Professional Responsibility 2

Question 1

An injury attorney learns privileged information about a potential client during an initial consultation, but declines to take the case. The attorney:

Accepted Answer

Is still bound to keep the information confidential even though no representation began

Answer

May freely share the information since no attorney-client relationship was formed

Answer

Must disclose the information to opposing counsel as a professional courtesy

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Can use the information to benefit other clients with similar cases

Question 2

Which practice violates the ethical rules governing client funds in a personal injury case?

Accepted Answer

Temporarily depositing the settlement check into the firm's general operating account for convenience

Answer

Keeping settlement proceeds in a separate IOLTA trust account until disbursement

Answer

Deducting agreed litigation expenses from the settlement before disbursing the client's share

Answer

Providing the client with an itemized accounting before releasing funds

Question 3

An injury attorney who refers a client to a specialist and shares in the resulting fee must ensure that:

Accepted Answer

The client consents in writing to the fee-sharing arrangement and the total fee is reasonable

Answer

The referring attorney performs minimal work on the case to justify the fee

Answer

The referral fee does not exceed 10% of the total recovery

Answer

The specialist attorney waives all independent fees in exchange for the referral

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?

Accepted Answer

Anti-solicitation and anti-ambulance-chasing rules (in-person solicitation prohibitions)

Answer

Competence rules

Answer

Conflict of interest rules

Answer

Confidentiality rules

Question 5

A personal injury attorney who makes a false statement about a material fact to opposing counsel during settlement negotiations has violated:

Accepted Answer

Rule 4.1 — Truthfulness in statements to others

Answer

Rule 3.3 — Candor toward the tribunal only

Answer

Rule 1.6 — Confidentiality

Answer

Rule 1.2 — Scope of representation

Question 6

A defense attorney offers to settle directly with an unrepresented injury plaintiff without going through the plaintiff's attorney. This conduct is:

Accepted Answer

Ethically prohibited without first advising the plaintiff to obtain counsel

Answer

Permissible since unrepresented parties have no protected status

Answer

Allowed only if the settlement is for less than $10,000

Answer

Required when the plaintiff's attorney is unavailable

Question 7

Under the doctrine of imputed disqualification, if one attorney in a personal injury firm has a conflict of interest, the conflict generally:

Accepted Answer

Is imputed to all attorneys in the firm unless screening measures apply

Answer

Affects only that attorney and not the rest of the firm

Answer

Can be cured by having a different partner sign the pleadings

Answer

Only matters if the conflicted attorney actively works on the file