Alright everyone I'm not even sure the MPRE actually even is tomorrow but someone told me it was so I decided to drop a QUICK Megathread after work and hopefully it will help one of you ethical souls get a few more right tomorrow
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Sex, Money, Gifts & Loyalty. (15% of test)

No this isn't a commercial for SeekingArrangements, these are the basic conflicts rules.
You can't represent opposing sides in the same litigation. If you represent the husband, you can't represent the wife in a divorce. You know this .
You can't have sex with a client or get huge gifts from them (unless they are related... for the gifts, not the sex you weirdo).
No media deals until after representation is over - no Making a Murderer and no Staircase, I don't care if Brendan Dassey never attends Wrestlemania 2048.
Other conflicts can be overcome but you need informed consent in writing.
If you have an aggregate client deal (bunch of different clients at once), like a bigass settlement, everyone needs to be INFORMEDLY consented and have writing about what everyone else got. Easy.
If you worked for the government on a matter then switched to private practice, you need your old agency's written consent and your current clients.
Firm Conflicts
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If another attorney at your firm has a conflict with something to do with your case (maybe they worked with the other side in the past or have some confidential info), you need informed consent + writing from your client.
As an alternative to informed consent + writing you can screen out the person in your firm to make sure he will have NO contact with the file that he has a conflict of interest with (make sure he doesn't participate at all with it or get paid).
Guys, just always pick the damn answer that says informed consent and writing.
No, you cannot GIVE your clients money in connection with litigation or loan them money. If your client is indigent you can help them with court costs.
Law clerks need permission to ask private parties for a job if they work at the courthouse.
A third party can pay YOUR client fees but they can't MEDDLE in the representation and your loyalty must remain WITH THE CLIENT!!
Guys... stop fucking around. You cannot take an "interest" in the litigation unless it is a contingency fee or a lawful lien to cover attorneys fees and expenses. You can't be like "okay if we win this criminal defense case you pay me an extra $10,000." It gives adverse incentives.
Conflicts section over - okay now you guys should have a solid 15% correct so far. Let's move on to...
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I only want one client: Justin Bieber. I want to be Scooter Braun.

The Lawyer Client Relationship (13% of test)

You can turn down any client but some clients you MUST turn down: if representation would break laws or conflict rules or your health is so fucked up you couldn't adequately represent them.
The moment you TALK to someone you owe them confidentiality, even if it's just a brief consultation.
What clients are allowed to decide:
You can remember what clients decide by saying to yourself "mr. POTTERS"
P - whether to plea or not
O - representation objectives
TT - whether to TESTIFY and have a jury TRIAL
e - Expenses (what to pay obviously)
R - Representation scope
S - When to settle (HIGHLY UNETHICAL to accept a settlement without telling the client)
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The boy who lived
The lawyer decides strategy and shit like that.
If you have a youth or mentally impaired client you can seek a conservatorship to help protect them. Free Brittany.
You and your client can talk about what could happen if they did some illegal shit, but you can't encourage illegal shit.
You need to mandatorily (is this a word?) withdraw if your client fires you and if it will break the law or if there is a conflict.
You can withdraw if it won't materially harm your client (some states ask you to seek permission to withdraw if the trial is coming up in like two days).
IF YOU WITHDRAW - you have to give NOTICE, and return client files, property and UNEARNED FEES.
Selling a firm
You can sell a firm if TINCerbell (the fairy from Peter Pan)
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T - Other person takes all firm, no selling some contracts and not others.
I - no price increases for clients when sold
N - Clients get notice and right to choose new lawyers
C - Seller ceases private practice in the area
You have to keep the client UP TO DATE on the status of the case and respond to them! (This gets so many lawyers fucked over - the ethics boards HATE when you ignore clients).
Fees
Fee's must be REASONABLE based on the scope and complexity of the matter. If you are SPLITTING FEE'S with another lawyer there must be informed consent in writing and PROPORTIONAL FEES OR the other lawyer has to take JOINT responsibility of the matter. Just write this shit down guys.
Contingency Fees
Must be WASE
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this little guy has been taking me through scary alleys lately
W - Written
A - Accounting (add up all the shit at the end)
S - Signed by client
E - Explain costs (40 trips to Las Vegas? explain this shit. Printer costs? fine).
No contingency fees for CRIMINAL cases or DIVORCES.

Litigation (13% of test)

No frivolous claims, speed shit up as much as you can, and don't lie to the judge. Easy.
Can't bring a crackhead claim but you can if you're like... trying to get the law changed or some shit.
Tell the court about opposing authority that directly contradicts your side, always be honest with them about shit even if no one brings it up.
You can't obstruct the other side from getting discovery. Don't be a little prick.
Don't bring up irrelevant evidence at trial or act in bad faith.
Don't destroy evidence.
Don't tell your client or other witnesses to lie.
Don't disobey court rules. Don't be a little shit.
No bribery. No telling people "oh I have clout on the internet and can influence this judge or do this because I'm the man"
Don't talk to jurors ex parte (with no one else there). Do NOT talk to a judge ex parte about a case if no one else from the other side is there.
Don't put stuff out there to the MEDIA that would prejudice the case or poison the waters down the line. You can only talk about basic shit like party basics, claim basics, arrests, or requests for help or information like PLEASE HELP US FIND KATHY.
You can't be like "okay everyone... this person is a total piece of shit." You will muddy up the jury pool down the line and are conducting a trial by media, not allowed kiddo.
If someone else unfairly roasts your ass in the media you can make CORRECTIVE statements to try and unwind some of that prejudice though.
A lawyer can only be a witness in the trial if the issue is about their legal fees or services.
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No fun allowed as a lawyer or you're getting reported

Confidentiality (9%)

Confidential client communications and work product (info prepared for litigation) are not discoverable, unless you literally GIVE IT to the other side (intentional disclosure waives everything).
THEY ALWAYS TEST ON UNINTENTIONAL DISCLOSURE - if you accidentally disclose some shit and then DON'T TAKE REASONABLE STEPS TO FIX IT... YORU CONFIDENTIALITY WILL BE WAIVED.
If someone overhears you and your client in what you THOUGHT was a confidential convo, it's still confidential.
LAW CLERKS AND PARALEGALS MUST KEEP ALL CLIENT INFO CONFIDENTIAL JUST LIKE LAWYERS.
You have "implied consent" to share client info if it's REASONABLY necessary to work a case (like in a conference with a judge etc.)
You can break a client confidence if there's a court order or a MALPRACTICE complaint against you. If someone comes at you, you can use confidential info to protect yourself. I saw one case in court where a criminal defendant went on appeal for ineffective counsel then called his attorney at an evidentiary hearing about why he didn't put him on the stand at trial and the lawyer said "your honor... may I?" *judge nods* then the attorney said "because you told me you murdered her and you DESCRIBED it in your cell." ...... and that was the end of that.
You can break confident to prevent violent or great bodily harm to someone, you can tell your judge if the client is perjuring themselves or lying on the stand, you can break confidence if they are using your services for financial harm or fraud OR to call the ethics hotline.
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Regulating the Profession (9%)

The highest state courts run shit basically when it comes to ethics.
Can't lie about shit on your bar exam application or C&F (lol this one girl tried to tell me she didn't get a DUI so she didn't put it on her application, but then she was like... well I mean... I just didn't personally believe I was drunk Goat... so I didn't list it =)" ... the board was like wtf.
No unauthorized practice of law you over-zealous law clerks.
If you break or attempt to break rules you'll be subject to discipline - and the rules of the state where the BULK of your fuckery occurred will apply.
Report Your Friends Provision
You have to report other lawyers when you have actual and unprivileged knowledge that something they are doing raises a SUBSTANTIAL question about their ethics (no cocaine wild night out at the strip club, this is like stealing hella money from clients and shit).
You can work in other jurisdictions but usually need to tag-team with a lawyer there. Pro haC VIE boys rise up.
Sharing Fees with non-lawyers
No, you can't do this shit.
You can share them with a dead lawyer in your firms heirs, non-profit organizations, and you can pay EMPLOYEES obviously lmao. that's not considered sharing fees when you pay employees though.
Partner liability
Partners can be disciplined for what their little junior buddies do if they:
ORDER THE MISCONDUCT
RATIFY IT
OR STAND BY THAT SHIT
If the partner knows you are up to some wild shit, they have to try and work to stop you
The only time you can excuse your misconduct by blaming someone else: the key-word here is you were going off a supervisors REASONABLE INTERPRETATION of AMBIGUITIES. Just always say this if you're about to get in trouble in law. "Reasonable interpretation of ambiguities."
You can't force a lawyer to sign a non-compete unless you're buying the firm from them or they are RETIRING from your firm.

Competence and Malpractice (9%)

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STAY WITH ME GANG I KNOW THIS STUFF IS BORING. ONE MORE DAY.
Okay you have to be competent and take continuing legal education and be diligent and prompt and shit, obviously.
You don't have to be the best lawyer and they will let you study up on shit. Like if you've never taken a family law matter and take your first one, you won't be per se incompetent. You can study and shit.
Civil Liability
If you blow a statute of limitations or do some wild shit you can be sued civilly for legal malpractice. People can even be sued for malicious prosecution (defendant wins the suit and it should never have been brought in the first place) and straight up fraud for what they do in the law.
STANDARD - PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE.
Malpractice you must prove DUTY AND BREACH.
If you're a general partner in a firm with someone who does some fucked up shit, you can be liable for it too since GP's are unprotected.
MPRE HOT TOPIC: YES, YOU CAN GET A CLIENT TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT LIMITING YOUR MALPRACTICE LIABILITY, BUT THEY NEED ANOTHER ATTORNEY TO INDEPENDENTLY ADVISE THEM.
You also can't have them sign something which waives your malpractice liability altogether.
You can also get the client to agree to arbitration.
ABA model rules don't say shit about malpractice insurance but some states require it.
Make it stop - this material is so boring

COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT (7% of test)

Your communication cannot be misleading to the public. You can't harass people. You can't advertise to anyone who tells you to fuck off.
Can't lie about having a partnership in your firm name. Can't imply you are associated with a government or charity when you aren't. If a partner takes a public office his name must be removed from the firm.
Solicitation
NO IN PERSON SOLICITATION YOU CRAZY PERSON. YOU CAN'T GO KNOCKING ON PEOPLES DOORS ADN SAY "HEY, I'M A SKETCHY LAWYER. COME ROCK WITH ME AND ZELLE ME SOME CASH."
But... sometimes you can.
FOUR EXCEPTIONS - STAY FOCUSED. WE NEED 35/60 RIGHT TOMORROW GANG.

1. LAWYERS
2. FAMILY AND FRIENDS
3. PEOPLE YOU HAD PRIOR PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH LIKE OLD BOSSES AND COLLEAGUES AND SHIT
4. People who routinely use your type of services for their BUSINESS (Idk like tax shit and you show up at a business to solicit)

Reciprocal referral agreements with non-lawyer - "you throw me some personal injury cases and I'll toss you some chiropractor cases"
You can't do this. This always makes me laugh - why are the rules always trying to fuck us over from making CASH.
But anyway, you CAN do this if it's
- Transparent (you tell the clients)
- not indefinite or exclusive (you can refer to other chiropractors, etc)
- No referral fees involved.
This rule is weird as fuck and probably has some reasoning behind it but let's be real, who cares. We are not Marcus Aurelius we are trying to make $80k.
You can't pay referral fees to anyone... FOR THE MOST PART. OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE 12 RANDOM EXCEPTIONS.
Exceptions: Qualified referral services (whatever these are), non-profits, prepaid or group legal plans (wtf), and you can give NOMINAL small little baby gifts to people who hook you up with referrals.
You can say that you have a SPECIALTY, but you can't say or imply that you are some type of super specialist or have some type of certification in Trusts law or some shit unless you are ACTUALLY certified you little liar.
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Lawyer Roles (7%)

If you become a legislator, you can't let clients interests effect you (obviously)
When an organization hires you, you don't represent any individual you represent the whole damn organization. You must REMIND people adverse to the organization who your actual allegiance lies to (the company, not them).
You have to REPORT people higher up the chain if it is in the best interests of the organization and your organization is about to be seriously fucked up by a violation of ethics from one of their employees.
Prosecutors
Need to share evidence that helps the defendant. If they realize defendant is innocent, need to make that KNOWN. Cannot prosecute people if they know there is no probable cause.
Prosecutors can't do any other sketchy shit either like try to force unrepresented people to give up tons of rights before trial or before they get a lawyer (will be easy to spot on test).
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This stuff is brutally boring

Safekeeping Property (5%)

You need to keep client funds separate from your own in a trust account. NO PERSONAL MONEY IN TRUST ACCOUNT. Trust account must be in the state where your office is.
If there is a dispute, keep the disputed shit in escrow until the dispute is settled and disburse the rest.
Keep all the files and the clients property safe and shit too.
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Communication with non-clients (5%)

IF OTHER PEOPLE HAVE ATTORNEYS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO THEM (wild how few attorneys know this lol)
If unrepresented person has a material interest adverse to your client, the ONLY THING you can say to them is "get a lawyer" ... you can't try to trick them with your sketchy ass.
Need to notify people if they accidentally sent you confidential info
Can't do things to harass or embarrass people obviously
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Harvard and Harvard Business school. This guy would have been a scary lawyer.

Duties to public (5%)

You need to do pro-bono hours every year (usually 50) unless your whole practice is like helping poor people or something.
Can't try to dodge court appointments for cases unless they would cause you like a massive financial burden
You can serve on a legal service organization and firm at the same time, even if there are conflicts (so long as you are screened from the conflicts)
You can promote law reform but you have to let everyone know if you have a CLIENT who is interested in the reform.
You can't defame lawyers or judges publicly.
You can't raise political contributions in hopes of scoring government legal work and you can't tell people you can improperly influence public officials.
CAN'T HARASS OR DISCRIMINATE ANYONE - INCLUDING CLIENTS - ON THE BASIS OF RACE OR SEX
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86 years

Judicial Conduct (3%)

These rules are all about avoiding the APPEARANCE of impropriety. If it looks bad to the public = it will not be allowed.
if it looks sketchy = it will not be allowed.
APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY. You will be able to common sense all these hard.
NOTHING can look sketchy to the public or self-serving, even if it isn't.
No press driven decisions. Can't let anyone sway you. No bias. Don't coerce settlement. Don't encourage a jury to act a certain way.
COMMON SENSE STUFF MY SWEET DARLINGS.
Don't comment on cases publicly.
You must appoint subordinates based on QUALIFICATIONS, not nepotism or favoritism.
Cooperate and be candid. Don't give jobs to people who donate you money. Don't do drugs or drink a lot. Report other judges who do drugs or drink a lot (rules aren't clear on this, but you can refer them to like a judicial assistance program)
EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS (ONE SIDED WITHOUT THE OTHER SIDE PRESENT)
CAN ONLY DO THIS IN A FEW SCENARIOS MY FRIENDS
- Settlement related discussions, if the other party consents
- Emergencies like protective orders where the other side can't get there in time
- administrative boring shit
If you accidentally do ex-parte you must NOTIFY the other party and let them RESPOND.
You also can't do EX PARTE factual investigations. you and your little clerks can look into the law, but you can't be on google GOOGLING shit with ChatGPT to find out more about the case.
If your impartiality is called into question - you must RECUSE.
A judge had a daughter who worked at our office, he'd recuse EVERY time we had a case in front of him and he would say "it's all about the appearance of impropriety"
ANY FINANCIAL INTEREST OR CLOSE RELATION TO A PARTY - RECUSE, RECUSE, RECUSE
Extrajudicial activities
what the
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Can't engage in weirdass activities outside being a judge that would cause you to excessively recuse yourself or undermine your credibility or look coercive.
You should only speak before a legislative body if legal issues are being discussed or the court system itself (like giving advice about new federal guidelines or some shit). or if you are subpoena'd to appear.
You cannot join any discriminatory organizations
You can't practice law on the side unless it's pro-se or for a family member
You can accept gifts outside the law so long as they don't look sketchy and are REPORTED.
That's about it everyone - GOOD LUCK TOMORROW. YOU GOT THIS. Ignore the spelling errors I have to go to dinner and can't edit this and wrote it in like 20 manic minutes.
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YOU GOT THIS TOMORROW GANG LET'S FUCKING GO
ALWAYS PICK THE SECOND MOST ETHICAL CHOICE
ALWAYS GET INFORMED CONSENT IN WRITING
IT'S ALL ABOUT JUDGES NOT LOOKING SKETCHY
USE YOUR COMMON SENSE - EAT A GOOD FRUIT FILLED BREAKFAST
AND GO IN THERE AND GET AT LEAST 34 OUT OF 60 RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD BE GOOD.
WE CAN'T FUCKING LOSE
- Goat