Confidentiality Flashcards
7 cards from real MPRE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Confidentiality flashcards as text
A law firm wants to use a cloud-based document management system to store client files. Under the Model Rules, the firm:
Answer: May use cloud storage if it takes reasonable precautions to protect client information
Rule 1.6(c) requires lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure, which can be satisfied for cloud storage through appropriate due diligence and safeguards.
A prosecutor possesses confidential information from a prior private law practice that is material to a pending prosecution. The prosecutor should:
Answer: Recuse from the case and screen herself from participation
Rule 1.11 requires government lawyers who have confidential information from prior private practice to be screened from matters where that information would be material.
A client authorizes her attorney to share confidential information with a consulting expert retained by the firm. A year later, the representation ends. The expert's obligation to maintain confidentiality:
Answer: Continues because the attorney's Rule 1.6 obligations extend through agents
Under Rule 1.6 Comment [16], lawyers must take reasonable steps to ensure that agents such as experts also maintain confidentiality of client information.
During settlement negotiations, opposing counsel asks the attorney to confirm that the client has a prior felony conviction. The attorney knows this is true. Under the Model Rules, the attorney:
Answer: May decline to answer to protect client confidentiality
Even if information is technically public, an attorney may decline to confirm it to protect client confidentiality, as long as the attorney does not make a false statement.
A lawyer receives a grand jury subpoena seeking client documents. The client has not consented to disclosure. The attorney should first:
Answer: Inform the client and move to quash or limit the subpoena if appropriate
Rule 1.6(b)(6) allows disclosure ordered by a court, but the lawyer should first consult the client and consider whether to challenge the subpoena before complying.
An attorney interviews a potential client who ultimately retains a different lawyer. The information disclosed during the consultation is:
Answer: Protected under Rule 1.6 as if the person had been a client
Rule 1.18 protects information disclosed by prospective clients during consultations, even when no formal representation begins.
A lawyer knows that a co-defendant in a joint representation has made statements that are damaging to the other co-defendant. Under the Model Rules, the lawyer:
Answer: May disclose only with the consent of the co-defendant who made the statements
In joint representations, attorneys must explain at the outset how confidentiality works; generally, a client's communications cannot be shared with co-clients without consent.