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Legal Profession Exam Prep.
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Legal Profession Exam PrepPam Prosecutor was attempting to negotiate a plea bargain with Damien Defendant,
who was charged with burglary. Prosecutor offered Defendant's defense lawyer Mason
the following deal: Defendant could plead to a reduced charge and serve sixty days.
Mason thought about the offer for five seconds and said, "No deal. We're going to trial."
Defendant indeed did have a trial and was sentenced to the maximum statutory penalty
of ten years. Three months later, a conscience-stricken Prosecutor wrote Defendant in
prison, informing him that Mason had "sold him down the river." Defendant immediately
filed a petition for post-conviction relief, claiming that Mason had been ineffective as his
counsel. At the hearing on whether to grant post-conviction relief, Mason will testify for
the state to uphold the conviction and Prosecutor will be a witness for Defendant to
support Defendant's allegations. An assistant district attorney fr - ANS-Mason probably
had an obligation under Rules 1.4 and 1.2 to communicate with his client about
important matters such as plea bargaining in criminal cases. Rule 1.4(a)(1) prescribes
that "a lawyer who receives from opposing counsel . . . a proffered plea bargain in a
criminal case must promptly inform the client of its substance unless the client has
previously indicated that the proposal will be acceptable or unacceptable or has
authorized the lawyer to accept or to reject the offer." Unless Mason and Defendant had
a prior understanding about what period of time Defendant was willing to accept as part
of a plea bargain, Mason had a duty under Rule 1.2(a) 42 to communicate with
Defendant about whether to accept the plea offer and change his plea from not guilty to
guilty. "In a criminal case, the lawyer shall abide by the client's decision, after
consultation with the lawyer, as to a plea to be entered. . . ." Rule 1.2(a).
During her college years, Miriam Maney probably enjoyed herself too much. She was
on academic probation during her freshman year and was briefly suspended from her
college a semester later. In her sophomore year, she was arrested twice and had one
conviction for forgery. When she applied to law school, she denied that she had been
suspended from an institution of higher education and she failed to mention the forgery
conviction when asked about prior arrests and convictions. Having both lied and hidden
her past in her law school application, should Miriam attempt to correct her law school
application while she is in law school, or should she rely on her law school application
when she applies to take the bar examination? - ANS-In an application to take the bar
examination, Miriam must be completely truthful in her written responses as well as
when an admissions or character and fitness committee assesses her character. Rule
8.1(a) requires that she must not knowingly make a false statement of material fact in
connection with her bar application. Having failed to answer the law school application
questions truthfully, she cannot continue to rely on those false answers and hidden
, information when she applies for admission to the bar. Making false statements about
her academic record and failing to disclose information about her burglary conviction
may result in her being denied admission to the bar, per Rule 8.1(a).
Further, she cannot fail to disclose a fact that is necessary to correct a misapprehension
known by her to have arisen. Rule 8.1(b). In certifying her to take the state's bar
examination, her law school in part will be relying on her law school application's false
answers. Ideally, she should correct her law school application as soon as possible.
Thereafter, she must respond truthfully in her bar application to all questions no matter
how embarrassing her answers may be.
Continental Towing Company is the nation's largest operator of towboats. It also has a
small manufacturing plant. A large Spanish corporation has been trying to acquire
Continental. Very few people at Continental know about the acquisition possibility and
the corporate CEO has instructed those few (including Maris, the General Counsel) not
to tell anyone about it. The takeover almost certainly would result in the Spanish
company selling off most of Continental's operations business with nothing remaining of
the current Continental business but the small manufacturing entity.
Jordan is the Associate General Counsel for Continental and seeks your advice. Two
years ago, she learned from a recently-fired executive (who was her mentor) that Maris
had secretly tried to take over Continental without the corporate CEO's knowledge. Last
week, Continental's outside counsel told her that Maris and he were promoting the
takeov - ANS-When a client discloses information to a lawyer, generally that information
cannot be disclosed by the lawyer without the client's consent. Model Rule of
Professional Conduct 1.6(a). Rule 1.6(a) requires a lawyer to maintain inviolate
information relating to the representation of a client. Here, the CEO did not give
permission to Maris to disclose information about the acquisition possibility. He clearly
told the Maris not to disclose the information to anyone. Thus, Maris violated the duty of
confidentiality owed by an attorney to the client.
Arthur Kirkland practices law in Hartford, primarily representing plaintiffs in civil litigation.
Recent events have made him concerned about the ethics of his behavior. After
successfully obtaining a hefty settlement for Sam Jones in a personal injury case, Arthur
was troubled by the fact that, in preparing for trial, Jones had told him that he is a
cocaine trafficker and plans to continue engaging in that work. Arthur contacted the
local police to about Sam's admissions to him. Did Arthur violate the rules on
confidentiality by reporting his client's admissions? - ANS-Rule 1.6 generally prohibits
an attorney from revealing "information relating to representation of a client" without the
client's consent. Arthur would have a duty not to disclose Jones's past criminal
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