MPRE Public Service 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Model Rule 6.5 provides a limited exception for lawyers providing short-term legal services under which of the following circumstances?
- Any free legal advice given informally to friends or neighbors.
- Services under the auspices of a nonprofit or court-annexed program where the lawyer reasonably expects no continuing representation. (Correct answer)
- Legal advice provided online regardless of organizational sponsorship.
- Reduced-fee services provided through a law firm's pro bono department.
Correct 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.
Question 2: Under Rule 6.5, the conflict of interest check required for short-term limited legal services is:
- Identical to the check required for full representation engagements.
- Reduced: the lawyer need only check for actual knowledge of conflicts, not conduct a full firm-wide search. (Correct answer)
- Waived entirely given the public service nature of the work.
- Satisfied by the sponsoring organization's own conflict screening.
Correct 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.
Question 3: 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:
- Is protected by Rule 6.5 from any conflict analysis because the service was short-term.
- Must immediately cease the representation and notify the firm client.
- Must withdraw from assisting the tenant because she now has actual knowledge of the conflict. (Correct answer)
- May continue to assist the tenant since the firm's representation is in a different matter.
Correct 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.
Question 4: Rule 6.5's relaxed imputation rules mean that a conflict disqualifying one lawyer in a short-term services program is:
- Automatically imputed to all lawyers in the same firm.
- Not imputed to other lawyers in the firm unless the lawyer who provided the service knew of the conflict. (Correct answer)
- Imputed only to partners, not associates.
- Imputed to lawyers in the program but not lawyers outside it.
Correct 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.
Question 5: Which of the following best explains why Model Rule 6.5 was adopted?
- To create a carve-out so lawyers could charge fees at reduced rates without violating fee rules.
- To encourage lawyer participation in legal aid programs by reducing practical barriers such as comprehensive conflict checks. (Correct answer)
- To allow law students to provide legal services without attorney supervision.
- To permit non-lawyers to operate legal self-help centers.
Correct 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.
Question 6: 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:
- Continue under Rule 6.5 since the session began as a short-term service.
- Terminate the session and decline any further involvement.
- Treat the engagement as full representation going forward, conducting a proper conflict check. (Correct answer)
- Refer the client to the clinic director and close the matter.
Correct 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.
Question 7: Which of the following public service activities is LEAST likely to fall within the aspirational goals described in Model Rule 6.1's commentary?
- Serving as a guardian ad litem for a child in a custody case without charge.
- Participating in a bar association committee drafting model legislation.
- Teaching a free community seminar on tenant rights.
- Providing discounted legal services to a corporate client that occasionally hires the attorney. (Correct answer)
Correct 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.
MPRE Public Service 5
Model Rule 6.5 provides a limited exception for lawyers providing short-term legal services under which of the following circumstances?