MPRE TEST BANK 168 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES (VERIFIED ANSWERS) |ALREADY GRADED A+ An attorney was at a party talking with his friend when the frien d 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 re medial 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 Pr ofessional 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 t he friend failed to take remedial action - ANSWER - (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 repres ent 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 to ok place. (B)No, because the communication was not relayed for legal advice. (C) Yes, because the woman had a reasonable expectation that she had established an attorney -client relationship with the attorney. (D) Yes, because the woman had a reasonable expectation that she had established an attorney -client relationship with the attorney, and she stated that the communication was confidential. - ANSWER - (B)No, because the communication was not relayed for legal advice. An attorney represented an incorpo rated 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 wit nessed 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 f or 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 the attorney engaged in a sexual relationship with an employee of the attorney's cli ent. (D) Yes, because the attorney did not seek the informed consent of the witness -
employee before engaging the sexual relations - ANSWER - (A) No, because the witness -employee did not supervise, direct, or regularly consult with the attorney concerning th e 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 ch arges 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 - ANSWER - (D) Yes, although the attorney did not receive th e 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 app eal 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 t he 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 the attorney worked there. (C) Yes, because the attorney did not acquire confidential government information about the client while working at the attorney general's office. (D) Yes, because the attorney did not participate in the defendant's conviction while working at the attorney general's office. - ANSWER - (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 substant ially 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 s hould 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 representa tion 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 competent and diligent representation to the client. - ANSWER - (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 attorn ey 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 wo rking 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 her divorce with the attorney. (B) No, because the attorney gave the wife a representation agreement to sign. (C) Yes, because the wife and the attorney did not enter into an attorney -client relationship. (D) Yes, because the wife had not paid a retainer when the attorney agreed to represent the husband. - ANSWER - (A) No, because the wife had discussed the facts a nd 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 prope rty. 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 nephew. They instead awarded him the rock y land abutting the lake. The nephew filed a negligence action against the attorney. The attorney moved to dismiss the nephew's claim and argued that he owed no duty to the nephew. Would the nephew be entitled to file such a claim under a negligence theory ? (A) No, because the attorney did not owe a duty to the nephew. (B)No, because the attorney did not represent the nephew. (C) Yes, because the attorney knew that his client wanted the will to provide the nephew with the wooded property. (D) Yes, because the attorney breached a duty to his client - ANSWER - (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. Th e 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 an d 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 e xistence 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. I s the lawyer likely subject to civil liability to the lender? (B) No, because the lender was not the attorney's client.
