John is an attorney in a hurry. His wife has been complaining about their lack of vacations together, and in two days they are planning to go away and leave their children with his in-laws. John has only one matter requiring his immediate attention: a suit filed on behalf of his client, Enid. Enid slipped and injured herself on the icy sidewalk outside of a fancy restaurant. They have sued for $2.5 million. The restaurant initiated negotiations, and has recently offered a settlement of $100,000. When asked by Enid what he thinks, John says "It's legal, and it's better than nothing." Based on this advice, Enid accepts the settlement and John gets to go on his vacation. John knew that she could have gotten much more (and he would have earned more on his contingency fee agreement) and likely would have, but he was eager to keep his word to his wife and didn't want negotiations to drag out. Has John done anything wrong in this scenario?

Tony Alto hires an attorney to help him close on a deal he has been negotiating with a hotel owner. Alto plans to buy the hotel, tear it down, and build a new hotel shaped like a giant dinosaur, which has been a dream of his since he was a child. His attorney believes that this plan is misguided and that a 5,000 room, dinosaur-shaped, world-class hotel with 6 pools and a golf course is simply not likely to be profitable in North Dakota. Of course, he would rather not tell Mr. Alto what he thinks. Should he?

Rule 2.1 requires attorneys to exercise independent professional judgment because:

Model Rule 8.4 is: