VA Bar Professional Responsibility 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A lawyer represents both a buyer and seller in a real estate transaction. Both clients give informed written consent after full disclosure. Under the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct, this representation is:
- Permitted if the lawyer reasonably believes she can represent both competently and impartially (Correct answer)
- Always prohibited as a per se conflict
- Permitted only if one client later waives all claims
- Prohibited unless approved by a Virginia bar ethics committee
Correct answer: Permitted if the lawyer reasonably believes she can represent both competently and impartially
Concurrent conflicts may be waived by informed written consent if the lawyer reasonably believes she can provide competent and diligent representation to each client.
Question 2: An attorney represented a corporation in a merger three years ago. That corporation now seeks to hire the attorney to sue a competitor — the same competitor that was the attorney's current client during the merger. The attorney should:
- Decline the new matter without the former client's informed consent
- Accept because the merger representation concluded years ago
- Accept because the adverse party is the competitor, not the corporation
- Decline only if the matters are substantially related (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Decline only if the matters are substantially related
Rule 1.9 prohibits representing a new client against a former client in a substantially related matter without the former client's informed written consent.
Question 3: A client tells his attorney he has decided to plead guilty to a DUI charge and asks the attorney not to contact witnesses on his behalf. The attorney believes calling a key witness could result in acquittal. The attorney must:
- Abide by the client's decision about the plea even if the attorney disagrees (Correct answer)
- Override the client's instruction and call the witness in the client's best interest
- Withdraw from representation because the client is making a poor decision
- File a motion to delay the plea until the client reconsiders
Correct answer: Abide by the client's decision about the plea even if the attorney disagrees
Under Rule 1.2, the client controls decisions about the objectives of representation, including whether to plead guilty, even over the lawyer's objection.
Question 4: During representation, a client tells his attorney that he plans to forge a notary's signature on a deed next week. The attorney may disclose this information to:
- Third parties to prevent the client from committing a crime involving fraud (Correct answer)
- No one, because all client communications are absolutely privileged
- The court only, with prior notice to the client
- The bar disciplinary board only
Correct answer: Third parties to prevent the client from committing a crime involving fraud
Virginia Rule 1.6(c) permits (but does not require) disclosure to prevent a client's future crime reasonably certain to result in substantial financial harm involving the lawyer's services.
Question 5: Which of the following correctly distinguishes the attorney-client privilege from the ethical duty of confidentiality under Virginia Rule 1.6?
- The privilege is an evidentiary rule limiting compelled disclosure; the duty of confidentiality is broader and applies in all contexts (Correct answer)
- They are identical rules that apply in exactly the same situations
- The duty of confidentiality applies only in court proceedings; the privilege applies outside court
- The privilege protects all client information; the duty only protects written communications
Correct answer: The privilege is an evidentiary rule limiting compelled disclosure; the duty of confidentiality is broader and applies in all contexts
The attorney-client privilege is an evidentiary rule protecting against compelled disclosure in proceedings, while Rule 1.6 confidentiality is an ethical obligation covering all client information in any context.
Question 6: A lawyer at Firm A is disqualified from a matter because she previously worked on that matter at Firm B. Firm A seeks to use a 'screen' to avoid imputed disqualification of all its lawyers. Under Virginia's rules, the screen is:
- Effective to avoid imputation for lateral hires if timely erected and proper notice given (Correct answer)
- Never effective — all conflicts are automatically imputed to the entire firm
- Effective only if the disqualified lawyer received no fees from the new matter
- Effective only with written consent from all affected clients
Correct answer: Effective to avoid imputation for lateral hires if timely erected and proper notice given
Virginia Rule 1.10 permits timely screening with notice to prevent imputation of a lateral lawyer's personal conflict to the new firm, provided the screened lawyer is apportioned no part of the fee.
Question 7: A prospective client meets with an attorney for 30 minutes to discuss a potential personal injury claim but ultimately hires a different lawyer. The attorney's duties to this prospective client include:
- Maintaining confidentiality of information shared during the consultation (Correct answer)
- Filing a notice of appearance to protect the client's statute of limitations
- Providing a written engagement letter even though no representation began
- No duty, because no attorney-client relationship was formed
Correct answer: Maintaining confidentiality of information shared during the consultation
Under Rule 1.18, a lawyer owes duties of confidentiality to a prospective client even if no representation results from the consultation.
VA Bar Professional Responsibility 2
A lawyer represents both a buyer and seller in a real estate transaction.
Both clients give informed written consent after full disclosure.
Under the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct, this representation is: