MPRE Exam 3 UPDATED ACTUAL Exam
Questions and CORRECT Answers
A sales manager testified before a federal grand jury that was investigating price-fixing in the
automobile tire industry. Ultimately, the grand jury indicted the sales manager for price-fixing, a
felony under the Sherman Act. After his indictment, the sales manager sought to hire a
prominent attorney to represent him at his criminal trial. The sales manager is a middle class
business executive with enough savings to pay for private counsel. He told his attorney in
confidence that he had lied to the grand jury about several meetings he had had with competitors.
Furthermore, he told her that he wanted to plead not guilty to the criminal charge and that he
intended to testify at trial as he did before the grand jury. Which of the following would be
proper for the attorney to do in this situation?
A) Decline to represent the sales manager.
B) Agree to represent the sales manager and tell no one what he told her.
C) Inf - CORRECT ANSWER -
A married couple experienced continuing marital difficulties and, being unable to resolve their
problems, decided to divorce. The wife retained an attorney, who filed papers on the husband.
Shortly after he was served, the husband telephoned his wife's attorney and suggested that the
matter could be resolved amicably. The wife's attorney asked the husband if he was represented
by counsel. The husband replied that he was not. The wife's attorney strongly urged the husband
to retain a lawyer to represent him and to safeguard his interests, but the husband insisted that he
did not need a lawyer. A few weeks later, after ascertaining that the husband still had not
retained counsel, the wife's attorney sent the husband a proposed settlement dividing the marital
property. There were spaces at the bottom for both the husband and the wife to sign, but the copy
sent to the husband was unsigned by the wife. In his cover letter - CORRECT ANSWER -
The state in which a tax attorney practices levies an annual tax on trusts for the benefit of minors.
Tax returns must be filed, and the taxes must be paid, by March 15; late filing results in an
automatic penalty of 15%. In mid-January, the trustee of such a trust retained the attorney to
prepare and file a tax return. The trustee heard nothing from the attorney during February, and he
became seriously alarmed when the first week of March passed with no apparent action from the
attorney. He called the attorney repeatedly during late February and early March, but each time
the attorney was in a conference, in court, or in a deposition. The attorney never returned any of
the trustee's phone calls. On March 10, the trustee fired the attorney and hired a certified public
,accountant to do the necessary work. She was able to complete the tax return and get it filed on
time. Is the attorney subject to discipline?
A) Yes, - CORRECT ANSWER -
A car owner is insured under an auto liability policy issued by a nationally known insurance
company. The policy requires the insurance company to provide a lawyer to defend the car
owner, and it requires the car owner to cooperate in the defense. The car owner had an accident
and was sued. In a sworn statement to the insurance company's investigator, the car owner told a
story that showed he was clearly not at fault. Based on that story, the insurance company rejected
plaintiff's offer to settle the case for a modest sum. The insurance company hired an attorney to
represent the car owner at the trial of the case. Shortly before trial, the car owner told the
attorney in confidence that he had lied to the investigator, and he recounted facts that showed he
was clearly at fault in the accident. The attorney realized that under the applicable state law, the
car owner's falsehood was a breach of the "cooperate in the def - CORRECT ANSWER -
A basic tenet of the professional responsibility of lawyers is that every person in our society
should have ready access to the independent professional services of a lawyer of integrity and
competence. One way of fulfilling this responsibility is by accepting court appointments. In this
regard, which of the following statements is correct?
A) A lawyer may decline representation because a client or a cause is unpopular.
B) A lawyer may decline representation when there is adverse community reaction.
C) A lawyer may decline representation if the intensity of his personal feelings will impair his
effective representation of a prospective client.
D) A lawyer may decline representation in favor of accepting the representation of a paying
client. - CORRECT ANSWER -
An attorney who is a member of the state bar and a judge who sits on the district court set up a
probate workshop. The announced purpose of the workshop was to educate laypersons as to
probate procedures, and thereby enable them to file their own papers and avoid the expense of
obtaining counsel for the probate process. The tuition was a modest $50 per student, which
barely covered the expenses of books and forms provided to the students. The attorney and the
judge donated their time and received no remuneration. Each student was required to sign a
paper stating that the $50 tuition fee established an attorney-client relationship between the
attorney conducting the workshop and the students. The paper further stated that all attorneys
, connected in any way with the workshop were not liable for any damages that might be incurred
by students as a result of pro se filings made in accordance with, or at variance from, the -
CORRECT ANSWER -
For many years, a lawyer has represented a wealthy building contractor in a wide variety of legal
matters, including disputes with suppliers and customers. The contractor is a contentious man;
indeed, he is the lawyer's most lucrative client. The contractor built a single-family home for a
married couple. When the contractor finished, the couple confronted him with a list of 289 items
that they claimed were either construction defects or uncompleted tasks. The couple refused to
pay the contractor the final 25% installment under their construction contract until all 289 items
were remedied. The contractor contested all 289 items and demanded immediate payment. The
couple refused to pay and refused to talk further with the contractor. At that point, the contractor
called in the lawyer, who met with the couple and offered to represent both them and the
contractor in trying to find an amicable solution to their dispute. - CORRECT ANSWER -
During his second year in law school, a law student's wife divorced him, as a result of which he
suffered serious emotional imbalance. Ultimately, he managed to graduate, and the state bar sent
a routine form letter to one of his professors, asking her to comment on the law student's fitness
to practice law. The professor is a member of the bar of that state. In response, she gave her
candid opinion—that the law student was prone to extreme and irrational tirades against women,
and that he was not yet recovered from his emotional trauma. Based partly on this information,
the state bar denied the law student's petition for admission. Now, three years later, the law
student has asked the professor to support his re-petition for admission. After carefully checking
the facts, the professor concludes that the law student has regained his emotional balance. Which
of the following is correct?
A) Three years ago, it would h - CORRECT ANSWER -
A lawyer represented a defendant in a felony case that charged him with intentional evasion of
over $9 million in state income tax. The accused allegedly earned the unreported income from
selling child pornography. The state's criminal procedure law requires a unanimous jury verdict
to convict in a felony case. Midway through the prosecutor's case-in-chief, the defense lawyer
instructed one of the accused's employees to attend the trial daily, to sit in the spectator section
as close as possible to the defense counsel table, and to put the "evil eye" on a particular juror to
intimidate him. The employee, a wicked-looking man with a jagged scar down the side of his
face, attended every court session and stared constantly with cold, squinting eyes at the juror.
One day, when no one but that juror was looking, the employee pointed his hand like a pistol
directly at the juror's head and pretended to shoot by moving his t - CORRECT ANSWER -
Questions and CORRECT Answers
A sales manager testified before a federal grand jury that was investigating price-fixing in the
automobile tire industry. Ultimately, the grand jury indicted the sales manager for price-fixing, a
felony under the Sherman Act. After his indictment, the sales manager sought to hire a
prominent attorney to represent him at his criminal trial. The sales manager is a middle class
business executive with enough savings to pay for private counsel. He told his attorney in
confidence that he had lied to the grand jury about several meetings he had had with competitors.
Furthermore, he told her that he wanted to plead not guilty to the criminal charge and that he
intended to testify at trial as he did before the grand jury. Which of the following would be
proper for the attorney to do in this situation?
A) Decline to represent the sales manager.
B) Agree to represent the sales manager and tell no one what he told her.
C) Inf - CORRECT ANSWER -
A married couple experienced continuing marital difficulties and, being unable to resolve their
problems, decided to divorce. The wife retained an attorney, who filed papers on the husband.
Shortly after he was served, the husband telephoned his wife's attorney and suggested that the
matter could be resolved amicably. The wife's attorney asked the husband if he was represented
by counsel. The husband replied that he was not. The wife's attorney strongly urged the husband
to retain a lawyer to represent him and to safeguard his interests, but the husband insisted that he
did not need a lawyer. A few weeks later, after ascertaining that the husband still had not
retained counsel, the wife's attorney sent the husband a proposed settlement dividing the marital
property. There were spaces at the bottom for both the husband and the wife to sign, but the copy
sent to the husband was unsigned by the wife. In his cover letter - CORRECT ANSWER -
The state in which a tax attorney practices levies an annual tax on trusts for the benefit of minors.
Tax returns must be filed, and the taxes must be paid, by March 15; late filing results in an
automatic penalty of 15%. In mid-January, the trustee of such a trust retained the attorney to
prepare and file a tax return. The trustee heard nothing from the attorney during February, and he
became seriously alarmed when the first week of March passed with no apparent action from the
attorney. He called the attorney repeatedly during late February and early March, but each time
the attorney was in a conference, in court, or in a deposition. The attorney never returned any of
the trustee's phone calls. On March 10, the trustee fired the attorney and hired a certified public
,accountant to do the necessary work. She was able to complete the tax return and get it filed on
time. Is the attorney subject to discipline?
A) Yes, - CORRECT ANSWER -
A car owner is insured under an auto liability policy issued by a nationally known insurance
company. The policy requires the insurance company to provide a lawyer to defend the car
owner, and it requires the car owner to cooperate in the defense. The car owner had an accident
and was sued. In a sworn statement to the insurance company's investigator, the car owner told a
story that showed he was clearly not at fault. Based on that story, the insurance company rejected
plaintiff's offer to settle the case for a modest sum. The insurance company hired an attorney to
represent the car owner at the trial of the case. Shortly before trial, the car owner told the
attorney in confidence that he had lied to the investigator, and he recounted facts that showed he
was clearly at fault in the accident. The attorney realized that under the applicable state law, the
car owner's falsehood was a breach of the "cooperate in the def - CORRECT ANSWER -
A basic tenet of the professional responsibility of lawyers is that every person in our society
should have ready access to the independent professional services of a lawyer of integrity and
competence. One way of fulfilling this responsibility is by accepting court appointments. In this
regard, which of the following statements is correct?
A) A lawyer may decline representation because a client or a cause is unpopular.
B) A lawyer may decline representation when there is adverse community reaction.
C) A lawyer may decline representation if the intensity of his personal feelings will impair his
effective representation of a prospective client.
D) A lawyer may decline representation in favor of accepting the representation of a paying
client. - CORRECT ANSWER -
An attorney who is a member of the state bar and a judge who sits on the district court set up a
probate workshop. The announced purpose of the workshop was to educate laypersons as to
probate procedures, and thereby enable them to file their own papers and avoid the expense of
obtaining counsel for the probate process. The tuition was a modest $50 per student, which
barely covered the expenses of books and forms provided to the students. The attorney and the
judge donated their time and received no remuneration. Each student was required to sign a
paper stating that the $50 tuition fee established an attorney-client relationship between the
attorney conducting the workshop and the students. The paper further stated that all attorneys
, connected in any way with the workshop were not liable for any damages that might be incurred
by students as a result of pro se filings made in accordance with, or at variance from, the -
CORRECT ANSWER -
For many years, a lawyer has represented a wealthy building contractor in a wide variety of legal
matters, including disputes with suppliers and customers. The contractor is a contentious man;
indeed, he is the lawyer's most lucrative client. The contractor built a single-family home for a
married couple. When the contractor finished, the couple confronted him with a list of 289 items
that they claimed were either construction defects or uncompleted tasks. The couple refused to
pay the contractor the final 25% installment under their construction contract until all 289 items
were remedied. The contractor contested all 289 items and demanded immediate payment. The
couple refused to pay and refused to talk further with the contractor. At that point, the contractor
called in the lawyer, who met with the couple and offered to represent both them and the
contractor in trying to find an amicable solution to their dispute. - CORRECT ANSWER -
During his second year in law school, a law student's wife divorced him, as a result of which he
suffered serious emotional imbalance. Ultimately, he managed to graduate, and the state bar sent
a routine form letter to one of his professors, asking her to comment on the law student's fitness
to practice law. The professor is a member of the bar of that state. In response, she gave her
candid opinion—that the law student was prone to extreme and irrational tirades against women,
and that he was not yet recovered from his emotional trauma. Based partly on this information,
the state bar denied the law student's petition for admission. Now, three years later, the law
student has asked the professor to support his re-petition for admission. After carefully checking
the facts, the professor concludes that the law student has regained his emotional balance. Which
of the following is correct?
A) Three years ago, it would h - CORRECT ANSWER -
A lawyer represented a defendant in a felony case that charged him with intentional evasion of
over $9 million in state income tax. The accused allegedly earned the unreported income from
selling child pornography. The state's criminal procedure law requires a unanimous jury verdict
to convict in a felony case. Midway through the prosecutor's case-in-chief, the defense lawyer
instructed one of the accused's employees to attend the trial daily, to sit in the spectator section
as close as possible to the defense counsel table, and to put the "evil eye" on a particular juror to
intimidate him. The employee, a wicked-looking man with a jagged scar down the side of his
face, attended every court session and stared constantly with cold, squinting eyes at the juror.
One day, when no one but that juror was looking, the employee pointed his hand like a pistol
directly at the juror's head and pretended to shoot by moving his t - CORRECT ANSWER -
