Chapter 4: Attorney Ethics and Paralegal Ethics
Review Questions
4.1.Define ethics.
4.2.All ethical rules are enforced by meaningful sanctions. True or False? Explain.
4.3.Meaningful sanctions are used to enforce the ethical codes of paralegal associations. True or False? Explain.
4.4.List four common rationalizations or excuses for unethical conduct.
4.5.Give examples of a national, a state, a local, and a specialty bar association.
4.6.If a bar association is ______, then membership is required as a condition of practicing law in the state.
4.7.The American Bar Association regulates the ethical conduct of attorneys. True or False? Explain.
4.8.What is the relationship between the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct?
4.9.What is the relationship between the ABA Model Rules, and state ethical codes?
4.10.Define DR and EC within the ABA Model Code.
4.11.List four possible sanctions that can be imposed on unethical attorneys.
4.12.In what sense do the ethical rules governing attorneys apply to paralegals?
4.13.What is an MDP?
4.14.Name the paralegal ethical code(s) published by: ABA, NFPA, NALA, and NALS.
4.15.Define ethical competence.
4.16.Define clinical education and CLE.
4.17.Attorney incompetence can lead to what two charges against the attorney?
4.18.What is the ethical danger in working for a busy attorney who has a great deal of confidence in a paralegal’s ability?
4.19.What is an attorney’s ethical obligation on diligence and unwarranted delay?
4.20.Attorney conduct that does not harm a client cannot be the basis of an ethical violation. True or False? Explain.
4.21.List four factors that help determine the reasonableness of a fee.
4.22.The contract in which the client hires the attorney is called a(n) ______.
4.23.Give an example of illegal price fixing by attorneys.
4.24.Contingent fees are unethical in criminal cases. When are they unethical in family law cases?
4.25.What is fee splitting and when is it unethical?
4.26.What is a forwarding fee?
4.27.What is a fee cap?
4.28.Law firms generate their resources from client fees. It is not improper for a paralegal to be paid out of these fees so long as the paralegal is not given a portion of a fee paid by a(n) ______client.
4.29.Can paralegals be compensated for referring business to an attorney?
4.30.Give an example of double billing.
4.31.Padding time sheets is ______.
4.32.Distinguish between task padding and time padding.
4.33.What is block billing?
4.34.What is a billable hours quota?
4.35.State the two holdings of Brown v. Hammond.
4.36.What is a client security fund?
4.37.List several examples of wrongdoing by a paralegal that could lead to court action against the paralegal.
4.38.A clause in a document in which you say you witnessed someone do something to or in the document is a(n) ______clause.
4.39.Define insider trading.
4.40.Define malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and spoliation.
4.41.Our legal system is an adversarial system. What does this mean?
4.42.State the two tests to determine whether an attorney is asserting a frivolous position on behalf of a client.
4.43.What are the obligations of an attorney under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure?
4.44.What is a fiduciary?
4.45.Define the unethical commingling of funds.
4.46.What is a client trust account?
4.47.Give two meanings of retainer.
4.48.(a) When must an attorney disclose a material fact to a court or other tribunal? (b) When must an attorney disclose a law to a court or other tribunal that is against the position of the attorney’s own client?
4.49.List four situations when an attorney must withdraw from a case.
4.50.What are the following letters called?
(a) A letter telling the client the attorney will no longer berepresenting him or her.
(b) A letter telling a prospective client the attorney will not represent him or her.
4.51.One of the conditions under which an attorney can reveal confidential information is when the client consents. Name another.
4.52.The ethical duty of nondisclosure applies solely to client secrets or to damaging information about the client. True or False? Explain.
4.53.The attorney-client privilege is a(n) ______rule on when an attorney (and the attorney’s employees) can refuse to disclose information about a client.
4.54.What communications of a client are protected by the attorney-client privilege?
4.55.Compare what is protected by the ethical duty of confidentiality and the attorney-client privilege.
4.56.When we say that a document or other evidence is discoverable, what do we mean?
4.57.What is the work-product rule?
4.58.You might cause the ______of a client’s attorney-client privilege if you carelessly or inadvertently allow someone to overhear your conversation about the client.
4.59.What is metadata and how can it compromise confidentiality?
4.60.A(n) ______document is one that has been edited or prepared for publication or release by deleting, altering, or blocking out text that you do not want disclosed.
4.61.Define conflict of interest.
4.62.What are the three conditions making it ethical for an attorney to enter a business transaction with a client?
4.63.It can be ethical for an attorney to lend his or her client ______expenses.
4.64.Unless the attorney is related to a client, the attorney cannot prepare a document that makes a substantial gift to the attorney or to the family of the attorney. True or False? Explain.
4.65.Define bias and disinterested.
4.66.When could a paralegal’s personal feelings about a case create a conflict of interest?
4.67.If there are ______between two parties, it is usually a conflict of interest for an attorney to represent both.
4.68.When is it unethical for an attorney in a current case to oppose a person who was once a client of the attorney in an earlier case?
4.69.If one attorney in a law firm is tainted or contaminated because he or she has a conflict of interest, there can be a(n) ______disqualification of the entire firm because of the tainted or contaminated attorney.
4.70.What is the purpose of a Chinese Wall?
4.71.List five screening techniques of a Chinese Wall.
4.72.When a Chinese Wall is built around a tainted employee, the latter is called a(n) ______employee.
4.73.When a law office is considering a lateral hire, it should do a(n) ______on him or her to avoid imputed disqualification.
4.74.How can a paralegal cause the imputed disqualification of a law firm?
4.75.Why are freelance paralegals more likely to cause the imputed disqualification of a law firm than other paralegals?
4.76.A confidential list of every client and matter you worked on in any law office from the beginning of your legal career to the present time that can be used to help determine whether any of your future work might create a conflict of interest is called a(n) ______list.
4.77.What is the anticontact rule?
4.78.Attorneys can solicit prospective clients. True or False? Explain.
4.79.What is a runner?
4.80.Give three requirements for advertising to be ethical.
4.81.What ethical danger exists when an attorney has a Web site?
4.82.When must one attorney report another?
4.83.Attorneys who have committed no ethical impropriety can still be unethical if they appearto have committed such improprieties. True or False? Explain.
4.84.Under EC 3-6 of the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility, what are the three conditions for proper attorney delegation to nonattorneys?
4.85.According to ABA Formal Opinion 316, name the three things an attorney must not ask a nonattorney to do.
4.86.Under Rule 5.3 of the ABA Model Rules, what are the three categories of attorneys who have ethical duties concerning nonattorneys?
4.87.An attorney who supervises a paralegal must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the paralegal’s conduct is compatible with the ______of an attorney.
4.88.Why is it unethical for a paralegal to use the word “associate” as part of a job title?
4.89.When a state allows a suspended or disbarred attorney to be a paralegal, what danger exists?
4.90.What is the clearest way for a paralegal to communicate his or her nonattorney status?
4.91.Paralegal business cards cannot be used to ______for an attorney.
4.92.What ethical dangers exist when nonattorneys sign letters on attorney stationery?
4.93.Define the practice of law.
4.94.List two areas where a paralegal can give legal advice.
4.95.Paralegals can draft legal documents, assist at closings, and conduct depositions. True or False? Explain.
4.96.The opposite of “shoulder” supervision is ______supervision.
4.97.An attorney’s ethical duty of supervision may be most difficult to fulfill with respect to what category of paralegals? Explain why.