MPRE EXAM
QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
An attorney was at a party talking with his friend when the friend confessed that while
serving as trustee of a now defunct charitable trust, she had embezzled funds from the
trust. The attorney urged the friend, who was also a lawyer, to set matters straight, but
otherwise took no action. The friend did not take any remedial action. Was the attorney's
conduct proper?
(A) Yes, because the friend was serving as a trustee rather than an attorney at the time
that the friend embezzled the funds, so the friend's conduct did not constitute a violation
of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
(B)Yes, because the attorney did not learn of his friend's misconduct as a legal
representative.
(C) No, because the attorney failed to inform the appropriate authority that another
lawyer had embezzled trust funds.
(D) No, because the friend failed to take remedial action - Answers- (C) No, because
the attorney failed to inform the appropriate authority that another lawyer had
embezzled trust funds.
An attorney and a prospective client met to discuss whether the attorney would
represent the client in a contractual dispute. During the conversation, the potential
plaintiff spoke to the attorney about her litigation objectives and how much she would be
able to pay the attorney. As they were wrapping up the meeting, the client noticed a
picture of the attorney's teenaged son on the wall. The client confided in the attorney
that she had a son the same age, but she had given him up for adoption because she
was an unwed teenager when he was born. She told the attorney that no one except
,her family knew about the adoption, and she asked the attorney to keep it confidential.
Is the information about the client's pregnancy protected by the attorney-client privilege?
(A) No, because the woman had not retained the attorney when the conversation took
place.
(B)No, because the communication was not relayed for legal advice. - Answers- (B)No,
because the communication was not relayed for legal advice.
An attorney represented an incorporated delivery business in a negligence lawsuit
stemming from an accident involving a driver employed by the business. The attorney
was selected and directed by the president and sole shareholder of the business. After
interviewing another employee who witnessed the accident, the attorney engaged in
sexual relations with this witness-employee. The attorney did not discuss his
professional responsibility obligations regarding sexual relations with the witness-
employee. Is the attorney subject to discipline for engaging in sexual relations with the
witness-employee?
(A) No, because the witness-employee did not supervise, direct, or regularly consult
with the attorney concerning the delivery business's legal matters.
(B) No, because the conflict of interest arising from sexual relations with a client does
not apply when the client is an entity rather than an individual.
(C)Yes, because - Answers- (A) No, because the witness-employee did not supervise,
direct, or regularly consult with the attorney concerning the delivery business's legal
matters.
An attorney successfully represented a woman charged with operating a house of
prostitution. Subsequently, a famous politician who was charged with soliciting a
prostitute within the alleged brothel sought to hire the attorney to represent him. The
woman told the attorney that she did not object to his representation of any of the men
charged with solicitation, but she refused to sign a written statement to that effect
because she no longer wanted to be linked to the charges in any written document.
Would it be proper for the attorney to accept the politician as a client?
(A) No, because the attorney represented the woman previously.
(B) No, because the politician's claim is substantially related to the matter in which the
attorney represented the woman.
(C) Yes, because the attorney received the woman's informed oral consent.
(D) Yes, although the attorney did not receive the woman's informed consent in writing -
Answers- (D) Yes, although the attorney did not receive the woman's informed consent
in writing
After working for several years in the civil division of a state attorney general's office, an
attorney left the attorney general's office and joined a private law firm. The law firm
represented a defendant in the appeal of his criminal conviction, which had been
obtained by the criminal division of the attorney general's office while the attorney was
,employed in the civil division. The attorney was assigned to the team representing the
defendant. The attorney did not seek the consent of the attorney general's office to the
attorney's participation in the firm's representation of the defendant. Is the attorney's
participation in the firm's representation of the defendant in an appellate action proper?
(A) No, because the attorney did not obtain the attorney general's consent prior to his
representation of the defendant.
(B) No, because the defendant's conviction was obtained by the attorney general's
office while th - Answers- (D) Yes, because the attorney did not participate in the
defendant's conviction while working at the attorney general's office.
An attorney decided to accept a case although a verdict in favor of his client would
cause his own property to decrease substantially in value. The attorney explained the
situation to the client, and the client consented in writing to the representation. After the
court ruled against the attorney, the client filed a complaint with the disciplinary board
alleging that the attorney should not have accepted the case. By what standard should
the attorney's action be judged to determine whether he violated the conflict-of-interest
rules?
(A) The attorney must have honestly believed that he could provide competent and
diligent representation to the client.
(B) The attorney must have reasonably believed that he could provide competent and
diligent representation to the client.
(C) The client must have believed that the attorney could provide competent and diligent
representation to him.
(D) The attorney must have provided - Answers- (B) The attorney must have
reasonably believed that he could provide competent and diligent representation to the
client.
A woman had a meeting with an attorney to discuss the attorney's possible
representation of her in a divorce. They discussed the facts and circumstances of the
divorce, as well as the attorney's fees. At the conclusion of the meeting, the woman told
the attorney that she looked forward to working with him. The attorney sent her home
with a representation agreement, which he told her to sign and return to him with the
discussed retainer. Later that day, the woman's husband, who was a senior manager of
a large corporation, asked the attorney to represent him. The attorney realized that he
might be able to get other business from the husband and agreed to represent him.
When the wife returned the signed representation agreement, the attorney informed her
that he was now representing her husband. Is the attorney's representation of the
husband proper?
(A) No, because the wife had discussed the facts and circumstances of - Answers- (A)
No, because the wife had discussed the facts and circumstances of her divorce with the
attorney.
, An elderly client hired an attorney to amend his will to provide the client's nephew with a
specific tract of heavily wooded property that he knew the nephew loved to use for
hunting. The wooded property was one of many tracts of land on a vast stretch of
property owned by the client. After the client died, the nephew discovered that the tract
of land actually left to him was a patch of rocky shore abutting a large lake two plots
down from the wooded property. The error occurred because the attorney had
mistakenly listed the incorrect address for the property that the client sought to transfer
to his nephew. The nephew, having been told by his grandfather that he would receive
the wooded property, filed an action to have the wooded property transferred to him.
During the estate proceedings, the court held that there was insufficient evidence to
establish that the client intended to transfer the wooded property to the - Answers- (C)
Yes, because the attorney knew that his client wanted the will to provide the nephew
with the wooded property.
A farmer asked his attorney to draft a letter in connection with a loan transaction. The
letter issued by the attorney stated that the farm equipment to be pledged by the farmer
to the lender to secure the loan was not subject to prior liens. The letter did not indicate
that the attorney had relied on the farmer's statement to that effect and had not
performed, as custom would require, a search of the relevant public records. Such a
search would have revealed that the farmer's statement was false. At the farmer's
direction, the attorney, unaware that the farmer had misinformed him as to the existence
of the liens, sent the letter to the lender, who relied on it in making the loan.
Subsequently, the farmer defaulted on the loan and, due to the prior liens, the lender
was unable to recoup the outstanding balance owed by the farmer on the loan. Is the
lawyer likely subject to civil liability to the lender?
(B) No, beca - Answers- (C) Yes, because the attorney failed to comply with his duty of
care with regard to the letter.
An attorney filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of his client despite
knowledge of directly adverse case law from the highest court in the state. Since the
issuance of that decision, however, courts in other states had reached the opposite
conclusion. In the motion, the attorney cited the decisions from other states but did not
mention the decision from the state's highest court. The opposing attorney filed a brief in
opposition to the motion for summary judgment that did not cite the decision from the
state's highest court. The court did not hold oral argument but granted summary
judgment based on the briefs. Were the attorney's actions in not disclosing the decision
of the state's highest court proper?
(A) No, because the attorney was required to disclose the decision in his initial brief
supporting the motion for summary judgment.
(B) No, because the attorney was required to disclose the decision after - Answers- (B)
No, because the attorney was required to disclose the decision after the opposing
counsel failed to disclose it.