Public Service 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 Public Service flashcards as text
Model Rule 6.5 provides a limited exception for lawyers providing short-term legal services under which of the following circumstances?
Answer: Services under the auspices of a nonprofit or court-annexed program where the lawyer reasonably expects no continuing representation.
Rule 6.5 applies specifically to short-term services offered through nonprofit or court-annexed programs where ongoing representation is not anticipated.
Under Rule 6.5, the conflict of interest check required for short-term limited legal services is:
Answer: Reduced: the lawyer need only check for actual knowledge of conflicts, not conduct a full firm-wide search.
Rule 6.5 relaxes the conflict check to actual knowledge because a comprehensive firm-wide search would be impractical and would deter lawyers from participating in such programs.
A lawyer volunteers at a courthouse self-help center under Rule 6.5. During a brief session, she advises a person on landlord-tenant law. That same day she discovers her firm represents the landlord in the very dispute. Under Rule 6.5, she:
Answer: Must withdraw from assisting the tenant because she now has actual knowledge of the conflict.
Rule 6.5's reduced conflict check applies only where there is no actual knowledge of a conflict; upon learning of the conflict, the attorney must withdraw from the assistance.
Rule 6.5's relaxed imputation rules mean that a conflict disqualifying one lawyer in a short-term services program is:
Answer: Not imputed to other lawyers in the firm unless the lawyer who provided the service knew of the conflict.
Under Rule 6.5, imputation to other firm lawyers is limited — only the participating lawyer's actual-knowledge conflicts are imputed, avoiding deterrence of law firm participation in pro bono programs.
Which of the following best explains why Model Rule 6.5 was adopted?
Answer: To encourage lawyer participation in legal aid programs by reducing practical barriers such as comprehensive conflict checks.
Rule 6.5 was adopted to remove a practical impediment — the burden of full conflict screening — that was discouraging lawyers from volunteering in court-annexed and nonprofit legal assistance programs.
An attorney volunteering at a legal clinic under Rule 6.5 realizes mid-consultation that the matter has become complex and will require ongoing representation. At that point, the attorney should:
Answer: Treat the engagement as full representation going forward, conducting a proper conflict check.
Once representation is expected to continue beyond the short-term session, Rule 6.5's relaxed standards no longer apply and the lawyer must comply with all standard Rules, including a full conflict analysis.
Which of the following public service activities is LEAST likely to fall within the aspirational goals described in Model Rule 6.1's commentary?
Answer: Providing discounted legal services to a corporate client that occasionally hires the attorney.
Services to paying or corporate clients at a reduced rate do not primarily serve persons of limited means or advance access to justice and fall outside Rule 6.1's aspirational goals.