Legal Ethics In Fee Agreements

A probate attorney obtained a decedent’s coin collection in order to inventory it. The attorney put the coin collection into a heavy brown envelope, labeled it as part of the decedent’s estate, put the brown envelope and the decedent’s other belongings into the file drawer of her desk, and left for lunch without locking the file drawer. The attorney’s secretary saw the coins and saw what the probate attorney did with them. While the attorney was at lunch, the secretary took the envelope of coins and disappeared, never to be seen again. • Is the probate attorney subject to discipline? A. B. C. D. Yes, because the attorney did not put the coins in a safe place. Yes, because the attorney is responsible for her employee’s dishonest act. No, because the loss was proximately caused by the secretary’s dishonesty, not by the attorney’s conduct. No, because the attorney took reasonable precautions to safeguard the coins in the circumstances.

Lawyer Liz represents ABC Store, Inc. as in-house counsel. ABC Store, Inc. is being sued for a slip and fall accident where a patron of the store is alleging that the store failed to clean a spill in an isle which caused the patron to fall. Edgar, the janitor of the store, has admitted to his manager that the spill did not get cleaned right away *. *. *. because he had taken an unscheduled cigarette break. Edgar’s manager instructed him to speak to Liz immediately and disclose his admission. • Is Edgar’s conversation with Liz confidential

A client hired an attorney to do the legal work in connection with a complex public offering of securities. The attorney agreed to do the work for a set hourly fee. The attorney did a great deal of legal research, prepared numerous memoranda of fact and law, and drafted most of the documents needed for the public offering. At that point, the client became angry with the attorney for no apparent reason and fired him. The client paid the attorney at the agreed rate for the work the attorney had done and demanded that the attorney turn over to him the papers that the attorney had prepared, including the legal and fact memoranda and the document drafts. • What papers must the attorney turn over to the client? A. B. C. D. Only the document drafts, but not the legal and fact memoranda. Only the legal and fact memoranda, but not the document drafts. None of the papers, because the client fired the attorney. All of the papers, even though the client fired the attorney.

Lawyer Logan helped a client, Clark, purchase a car wash through the use of a “shell corporation” because “he did not want his name connected to the car wash. ” The car wash was a success. A year later, however, Logan received a call from Clark who said that he had been charged with drug charges and money laundering, and asked Logan to represent him. Logan agreed. After reviewing the discovery, Logan discovered that Clark had been distributing drugs before the purchase of the car wash, and purchased the car wash for the purpose of laundering the money. • Is Clark’s statement to Logan about the purchase of car wash confidential?

A juvenile charged with auto theft, which is a felony, hires an attorney to represent him. Before the case comes to trial, his attorney confers with the prosecutor who has been assigned to prosecute the case. The prosecutor suggests to the juvenile’s attorney that, because her client is a juvenile, the charge might be reduced to *. *. “joyriding, ” a misdemeanor. The juvenile’s attorney flatly refused without explanation, unreasonably, in the prosecutor’s opinion. • It would be improper conduct for the prosecutor to: A. B. C. D. Ask the court to dismiss the auto theft charge and prosecute the juvenile for joyriding. Prosecute the auto theft charge. Send an investigator to talk to the juvenile about the offer to lower the charges. Remind the juvenile’s attorney of the duty to communicate settlement offers the client.

A small-town prosecutor quit the prosecutor’s office and became the partner of a general practice law firm. Almost all of the firm’s current criminal cases were overseen by the former prosecutor. The former prosecutor was hired to handle and oversee the firm’s criminal cases, but not until all current criminal cases were closed. Until then, the former prosecutor was placed in the firm’s civil offices to work on various civil matters. • Should the firm be disqualified from representing its current criminal clients?

An attorney has a regular client who is elderly and in failing health. The client has retained the attorney to draft his will. The attorney asked the client for a list of assets to help her prepare the will. In a subsequent meeting, the attorney indicated her admiration for the client’s classic car, which the client has maintained in mint condition. The client was pleased at the attorney’s interest in the car, and directed the attorney to bequeath the car to herself in the will. • May the attorney include this bequest in the client’s will? A. B. C. No, because this is a substantial gift, given in a context in which she potentially wielded undue influence. No, because a lawyer may never draft a will in which the lawyer is a beneficiary. Yes, because the attorney did not induce the client to make the gift. D. Yes, because the client may leave his property to whomever he chooses unless he is mentally incompetent.

Bette is seeking to obtain controlling shares in a business, *% to be exact, which owns a large office building in town. Bette hired lawyer Lucille to help her obtain the shares. When they sat down to draft the retainer agreement, Bette told Lucille to draft the retainer agreement so that when Bette obtained the *%, Lucille’s legal fees would be *% interest in the business so that Bette can retain a majority share of the business and a lien on the office building in the amount of $*,*. Lucille agrees and both of them sign the retainer agreement indicating the arrangement. • Is Lucille’s conduct proper?