The Attorney-Client Relationship - Module 2 of 5

Question 1

Which of the following would be sufficient to form an attorney-client relationship?

A signed agreement describing the matter for which the lawyer will represent the client

The client pays the lawyer a retainer fee to secure her services for ongoing representation

An individual meets with a lawyer who gives the individual specific legal advice, knowing he will very likely rely on that advice to deal with his legal concern

All of the above

Question 2

Which of the following is not one of the duties owed by a lawyer to a client?

Competence

Diligence

Unconditional advocacy

Consultation regarding legal strategy

Question 3

When an individual is charged with a crime, the decision as to whether to plead guilty or not guilty ________?

is up to the client, but the lawyer should provide his best legal advice regarding the plea

must be agreed upon by both the lawyer and the client

is up to the lawyer, but the lawyer must seek the client’s input

is under the sole discretion of the lawyer

Question 4

Which of the following would be an example of a lawyer violating the rules of professional responsibility?

A lawyer agrees to represent a client in an area of law she has never practiced before

A lawyer exercises her own judgment during trial when making decisions regarding legal strategy without getting advance permission from her client

A lawyer fails to aggressively press for a mistrial as a last-ditch effort to protect her client, when she knows the effort has little chance of success

A lawyer fails to inform her client that she will not follow the client’s instruction because she believes the conduct involved would be contrary to the rules of professional conduct

Question 5

A lawyer who represents a corporation ______.

Has a duty to the directors and officers of the corporation

Has a duty to the corporation as a whole, which supersedes the duty to individuals operating on behalf of the corporation

Has a duty to the corporation, but this duty is secondary to the duty owed to the individuals who operate on its behalf

Has no duty to report violations of the law by board members

Question 6

Which of the following is not considered confidential information?

Information relevant to his client’s case revealed to the lawyer by a third party

Information revealed to the lawyer by a former client, who he no longer represents

Information revealed to the lawyer by his client about a matter unconnected with his legal representation

Information that could lead to the discovery of the identity of the client, or the subject matter of the legal representation

Question 7

Which of the following would be the most helpful justification a lawyer could offer for her decision to reveal confidential information?

The confidential information was not relayed to her directly by the client

She no longer represents the client

In her judgement, the information about the representation is not harmful to the client’s interests

She revealed information pertinent to the representation in response to a malpractice suit brought against her by the client

Question 8

Which of the following is not required for communication to be protected by the attorney-client privilege?

The communication involves information which incriminates or is to the detriment of the client

The communication is between lawyer and client

The communication is made for the purpose of securing legal advice

No third parties are present when the communication is made

Question 9

Which of the following is most likely to be considered to be protected by attorney-client privilege?

Business documents which were submitted to a lawyer for review, but which were originally drafted for purely business purposes

An individual seeks legal advice from an attorney regarding drafting a contract which contains material misrepresentation of facts, and which the individual intends to use for fraudulent purposes

A communication between the CEO of a company and an in-house lawyer who works at the company, which contains discussion of business matters, but whose primary purpose is obtaining legal advice from the in-house-lawyer

A client informs his lawyer that he committed perjury in a court hearing, and the client subsequently reveals this same information to his co-worker

Question 10

Under which circumstances may an adverse party compel the disclosure of a lawyer’s material prepared in anticipation of litigation?

If the adverse party can show a substantial need for the information, and that obtaining it in other ways would constitute an undue hardship

If the information is relevant to the pending litigation

If the material consists of the lawyer’s mental impressions concerning his core legal theory of the litigation

Work product of an adverse lawyer may never be compelled