MPRE Practice Questions -Full
Multistate Exam Prep with Answers
and Explanations (2025 Update)
A bank operates a professional referral hotline for its depositors. Any bank
depositor who needs to find a physician, lawyer, accountant, dentist, or the like can
telephone the hotline and obtain a free referral from lists of professionals compiled
by the bank. The lists are limited to professionals who maintain an average balance
of at least $10,000 in an account at the bank, but the professional does not pay a fee
to the bank for receiving a particular referral. A lawyer keeps $10,000 on deposit
with the bank for the express purpose of being included on its lawyer referral list.
Is this arrangement proper? -Answer:The arrangement is not proper because the
lawyer is required to keep $10,000 on deposit to be included on the list. A lawyer
may not give "anything of value" to a person for recommending the lawyer's
services. [ABA Model Rule 7.2(b)] The bank benefits in many ways by increasing the
amount of its deposits; for example, its deposits determine how much it can lend to
borrowers. Thus, obtaining deposits from lawyers is of value to the bank, and that is
one reason it has devised the referral scheme. (A) is wrong because although a
lawyer may pay the usual charges of a not-for-profit or qualified lawyer referral
service [ABA Model Rule 7.2(b)], banks operate for profit, and there is no indication
that the bank has been approved by the appropriate regulatory authority as a
qualified lawyer referral service. (B) is wrong because the lawyer is giving
something of value for the referrals, as explained above, even though there is no fee
for individual referrals. (D) is wrong because this arrangement does not constitute
an improper partnership or association with a nonlawyer for the purpose of
practicing law. A lawyer's professional association with a nonlawyer is improper if
the nonlawyer: (i) owns an interest in the practice; (ii) is an officer or director of a
business involving law practice; or (iii) has the right to control the lawyer's
professional judgment. [ABA Model Rule 5.4(d)] None of these is the case here; the
bank is acting solely as a referral agent, and has nothing to do with the operation of
the lawyer's practice.
,A client hired a lawyer to draft a will for him. The client willed his entire estate to a
43-year-old widow. The client told the lawyer in confidence that he was neither a
relative nor a friend of the widow. The client explained that he felt a moral obligation
to the widow because he had killed her husband, and he had never become a
suspect or confessed his sin to anyone. One day after signing the will, the client
committed suicide. In due course, all of the client's assets were distributed to the
widow, and the probate court closed his estate and discharged his executor. The
lawyer never told the widow or anyone else that the client had confessed to killing
the widow's husband. Now, a few years later, an enthusiastic young prosecutor is
charging an innocent man with murdering the widow's husband in the first degree
with aggravating circumstances, and the prosecutor is seeking the death penalty.
May the lawyer volunt -Answer:Yes, the lawyer may tell, but he would not be subject
to discipline if he decides not to do so.
The controlling doctrine in this case is the lawyer's ethical duty of confidentiality, not
the attorney-client privilege. The lawyer needs to know whether he can voluntarily
reveal the client's confession, not whether he would be forced to do so if he were put
on the witness stand in a court. ABA Model Rule 1.6(b)(1) states the applicable
exception to the ethical duty of confidentiality: A lawyer may reveal confidential
information if the lawyer reasonably believes that doing so is necessary to prevent
reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm. One might quibble whether the
innocent man's death is "reasonably certain" when his trial has not even started, but
surely the ethics rule should not be read to require the innocent man to order his last
meal before being loosed from the executioner's grip. (A) is wrong because ABA
Model Rule 1.6(b)(1) gives the lawyer discretion to reveal the client's confession; the
Rule does not force him to do so. [See comment 15 to ABA Model Rule 1.6] (A few
states go farther and require disclosure to prevent death or substantial bodily harm,
but they are a small minority.) (C) is wrong for two reasons. First, the applicable
doctrine is the ethical duty of confidentiality, not the attorney-client privilege.
Second, even if the privilege were the applicable doctrine, who could claim it in this
situation? The client cannot because he is dead. The client's executor cannot
because the client's estate was closed and the executor was discharged. The lawyer
cannot claim it because a lawyer's right to claim the privilege is only derivative from
the client. (D) is wrong for two reasons. First, the admissibility of this hearsay is
irrelevant to the ethics issue. Second, the client's confession w
A client hired an attorney to put together a complex real estate syndicate. In
connection with that work, the client disclosed to the attorney a great deal of
confidential information about the client's financial affairs. When the task was about
half completed, the attorney's wife was killed in a car accident and his family's house
burned down, all in the same week. The attorney was so emotionally and physically
drained that he felt he could not competently continue with the work for his client.
The client refused to allow the attorney to withdraw. The attorney begged the client
to allow him to turn the files over to his law partner, an excellent real estate lawyer
who was completely trustworthy and perfectly competent to handle the matter. The
,client refused to allow his files to be turned over to any other lawyer and insisted
that the attorney himself promptly complete the work.
What should the attorney do? -Answer:Withdraw and turn the client's files over to the
client.
A lawyer must withdraw if the lawyer's physical or mental condition will materially
impair his ability to represent the client. [ABA Model Rule 1.16(a)(2)] The client may
be right in thinking that hard work will be good for the attorney, but the attorney has
to be the ultimate judge of his own physical and mental capacity to carry on. If the
attorney believes that his condition prevents him from serving the client
competently, he must withdraw regardless of what the client wants. (A) is wrong
because the files include confidential information about the client's financial affairs,
and the attorney cannot turn them over to his law partner against the client's express
wishes. [ABA Model Rule 1.6] (C) is wrong because the client has asked the attorney
to complete the work promptly. The attorney's recovery may take months or years.
The attorney must not continue representing the client unless he can complete the
work with reasonable diligence and promptness. [ABA Model Rule 1.3] (D) is wrong
because, as discussed above, if the attorney believes his mental and physical
conditions prevent him from serving the client competently, he must withdraw.
A client lives in State A and is a regular client of an attorney who is admitted to
practice only in State A. When the client was on vacation in distant State B, she was
injured in a car accident caused by a resident of State B. The client hired the attorney
to represent her in a civil action against the State B driver. For reasons of jurisdiction
and venue, the case had to be filed and tried in State B. The written fee agreement
between the client and the attorney provided that:
(1) The attorney would assume full responsibility for the case as lead lawyer;
(2) The client would pay the attorney 40% of the net recovery after deduction of
litigation expenses;
(3) The attorney would associate a State B lawyer to serve as trial counsel in State B;
(4) The State B attorney would assume responsibility only for his work as trial
counsel; and
(5) The attorney would pay the State B attorney an appropriate portion of the 40% c -
Answer:It would not be proper for the attorney to split his fee with the State B
attorney because the written fee agreement with the client does not comply with the
ABA Model Rules. ABA Model Rule 1.5(e) allows a lawyer to split a fee with a lawyer
who is not in his firm if: (i) the total fee is reasonable; (ii) the split is in proportion to
the services rendered by each lawyer, or in some other proportion if each lawyer
assumes joint responsibility for the matter; and (iii) the client agrees to the split in a
writing that discloses the share that each lawyer will receive. Here, the written fee
agreement did not specify the share that each lawyer will receive; thus, a fee split
between the attorney and the State B attorney would be improper. (A) is wrong
because there is no requirement that a lawyer be licensed in the same state as the
attorney with whom he is splitting a fee. (C) is wrong because the written fee
agreement with the client did not indicate the share that each lawyer will receive,
, and thus the agreement was improper regardless of whether the State B attorney was
assuming responsibility for his work. (D) is wrong because even though there was a
fee agreement, it did not comply with the ABA Model Rules.
A concerned environmentalist hired a lawyer to obtain preliminary and permanent
injunctions against a highway construction project that would require draining and
filling certain wetlands inhabited by migratory waterfowl. The lawyer is the nation's
leading expert in wetland preservation law, and he charges $400 per hour for his
services. The environmentalist agreed to pay him at that rate. She gave him a
$40,000 advance on attorneys' fees and a $5,000 advance to cover future litigation
expenses. The lawyer deposited the entire $45,000 in his client trust account.
The lawyer then spent 80 hours preparing and filing a complaint and preparing and
arguing a motion for a preliminary injunction. He paid a court filing fee of $50, plus
$1,950 in witness fees to wetlands experts who testified at the hearing on the
preliminary injunction motion. The judge denied the preliminary injunction motion.
The lawyer sent the environme -Answer:The lawyer must promptly refund $11,000
because that amount is not in dispute. The lawyer claimed $32,000 in fees (80 hours
at $400 per hour) from the $40,000 fee advance (leaving an excess of $8,000). The
lawyer further claimed $2,000 from the $5,000 advance for expenses (leaving an
excess of $3,000). Adding $8,000 and $3,000 produces an $11,000 refund due
immediately from the lawyer to the environmentalist. [ABA Model Rule 1.16(d)] The
environmentalist apparently disputes the lawyer's right to $32,000 in fees; thus, that
disputed amount must remain in the lawyer's client trust account until the fee dispute
is settled. [ABA Model Rule 1.15(e)] (A) is wrong because when a lawyer is fired or
withdraws, he must immediately refund the unspent portion of the expense advance
and the portion of the fee advance that he does not claim to have earned. [ABA
Model Rule 1.16(d)] (C) is wrong because the lawyer may retain the disputed
portion of the expense advance, as explained above. (D) is wrong because the
lawyer is entitled to retain the disputed $32,000 in his client trust account until the
fee dispute is settled.
A consumer who bought a defective product that injured him hired a lawyer to
represent him in a personal injury action against the large corporation that made the
product. As the consumer and the lawyer discussed the case, the consumer stated
that he probably would not agree to a settlement under $500,000. The lawyer agreed
that the claim was worth at least that, but felt they would receive a much higher
award if the case went to a jury. Shortly before the trial started, the lawyer for the
corporation contacted the consumer's lawyer with a settlement offer of $150,000. The
consumer's lawyer tried to call his client, but could not reach him. After two hours of
trying to reach his client, the attorney called opposing counsel and rejected the
offer. At trial, the jury awarded the consumer $1 million.
Is the consumer's lawyer subject to malpractice liability for his actions? -Answer:No,
because the jury award was much greater than the settlement offer.
Multistate Exam Prep with Answers
and Explanations (2025 Update)
A bank operates a professional referral hotline for its depositors. Any bank
depositor who needs to find a physician, lawyer, accountant, dentist, or the like can
telephone the hotline and obtain a free referral from lists of professionals compiled
by the bank. The lists are limited to professionals who maintain an average balance
of at least $10,000 in an account at the bank, but the professional does not pay a fee
to the bank for receiving a particular referral. A lawyer keeps $10,000 on deposit
with the bank for the express purpose of being included on its lawyer referral list.
Is this arrangement proper? -Answer:The arrangement is not proper because the
lawyer is required to keep $10,000 on deposit to be included on the list. A lawyer
may not give "anything of value" to a person for recommending the lawyer's
services. [ABA Model Rule 7.2(b)] The bank benefits in many ways by increasing the
amount of its deposits; for example, its deposits determine how much it can lend to
borrowers. Thus, obtaining deposits from lawyers is of value to the bank, and that is
one reason it has devised the referral scheme. (A) is wrong because although a
lawyer may pay the usual charges of a not-for-profit or qualified lawyer referral
service [ABA Model Rule 7.2(b)], banks operate for profit, and there is no indication
that the bank has been approved by the appropriate regulatory authority as a
qualified lawyer referral service. (B) is wrong because the lawyer is giving
something of value for the referrals, as explained above, even though there is no fee
for individual referrals. (D) is wrong because this arrangement does not constitute
an improper partnership or association with a nonlawyer for the purpose of
practicing law. A lawyer's professional association with a nonlawyer is improper if
the nonlawyer: (i) owns an interest in the practice; (ii) is an officer or director of a
business involving law practice; or (iii) has the right to control the lawyer's
professional judgment. [ABA Model Rule 5.4(d)] None of these is the case here; the
bank is acting solely as a referral agent, and has nothing to do with the operation of
the lawyer's practice.
,A client hired a lawyer to draft a will for him. The client willed his entire estate to a
43-year-old widow. The client told the lawyer in confidence that he was neither a
relative nor a friend of the widow. The client explained that he felt a moral obligation
to the widow because he had killed her husband, and he had never become a
suspect or confessed his sin to anyone. One day after signing the will, the client
committed suicide. In due course, all of the client's assets were distributed to the
widow, and the probate court closed his estate and discharged his executor. The
lawyer never told the widow or anyone else that the client had confessed to killing
the widow's husband. Now, a few years later, an enthusiastic young prosecutor is
charging an innocent man with murdering the widow's husband in the first degree
with aggravating circumstances, and the prosecutor is seeking the death penalty.
May the lawyer volunt -Answer:Yes, the lawyer may tell, but he would not be subject
to discipline if he decides not to do so.
The controlling doctrine in this case is the lawyer's ethical duty of confidentiality, not
the attorney-client privilege. The lawyer needs to know whether he can voluntarily
reveal the client's confession, not whether he would be forced to do so if he were put
on the witness stand in a court. ABA Model Rule 1.6(b)(1) states the applicable
exception to the ethical duty of confidentiality: A lawyer may reveal confidential
information if the lawyer reasonably believes that doing so is necessary to prevent
reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm. One might quibble whether the
innocent man's death is "reasonably certain" when his trial has not even started, but
surely the ethics rule should not be read to require the innocent man to order his last
meal before being loosed from the executioner's grip. (A) is wrong because ABA
Model Rule 1.6(b)(1) gives the lawyer discretion to reveal the client's confession; the
Rule does not force him to do so. [See comment 15 to ABA Model Rule 1.6] (A few
states go farther and require disclosure to prevent death or substantial bodily harm,
but they are a small minority.) (C) is wrong for two reasons. First, the applicable
doctrine is the ethical duty of confidentiality, not the attorney-client privilege.
Second, even if the privilege were the applicable doctrine, who could claim it in this
situation? The client cannot because he is dead. The client's executor cannot
because the client's estate was closed and the executor was discharged. The lawyer
cannot claim it because a lawyer's right to claim the privilege is only derivative from
the client. (D) is wrong for two reasons. First, the admissibility of this hearsay is
irrelevant to the ethics issue. Second, the client's confession w
A client hired an attorney to put together a complex real estate syndicate. In
connection with that work, the client disclosed to the attorney a great deal of
confidential information about the client's financial affairs. When the task was about
half completed, the attorney's wife was killed in a car accident and his family's house
burned down, all in the same week. The attorney was so emotionally and physically
drained that he felt he could not competently continue with the work for his client.
The client refused to allow the attorney to withdraw. The attorney begged the client
to allow him to turn the files over to his law partner, an excellent real estate lawyer
who was completely trustworthy and perfectly competent to handle the matter. The
,client refused to allow his files to be turned over to any other lawyer and insisted
that the attorney himself promptly complete the work.
What should the attorney do? -Answer:Withdraw and turn the client's files over to the
client.
A lawyer must withdraw if the lawyer's physical or mental condition will materially
impair his ability to represent the client. [ABA Model Rule 1.16(a)(2)] The client may
be right in thinking that hard work will be good for the attorney, but the attorney has
to be the ultimate judge of his own physical and mental capacity to carry on. If the
attorney believes that his condition prevents him from serving the client
competently, he must withdraw regardless of what the client wants. (A) is wrong
because the files include confidential information about the client's financial affairs,
and the attorney cannot turn them over to his law partner against the client's express
wishes. [ABA Model Rule 1.6] (C) is wrong because the client has asked the attorney
to complete the work promptly. The attorney's recovery may take months or years.
The attorney must not continue representing the client unless he can complete the
work with reasonable diligence and promptness. [ABA Model Rule 1.3] (D) is wrong
because, as discussed above, if the attorney believes his mental and physical
conditions prevent him from serving the client competently, he must withdraw.
A client lives in State A and is a regular client of an attorney who is admitted to
practice only in State A. When the client was on vacation in distant State B, she was
injured in a car accident caused by a resident of State B. The client hired the attorney
to represent her in a civil action against the State B driver. For reasons of jurisdiction
and venue, the case had to be filed and tried in State B. The written fee agreement
between the client and the attorney provided that:
(1) The attorney would assume full responsibility for the case as lead lawyer;
(2) The client would pay the attorney 40% of the net recovery after deduction of
litigation expenses;
(3) The attorney would associate a State B lawyer to serve as trial counsel in State B;
(4) The State B attorney would assume responsibility only for his work as trial
counsel; and
(5) The attorney would pay the State B attorney an appropriate portion of the 40% c -
Answer:It would not be proper for the attorney to split his fee with the State B
attorney because the written fee agreement with the client does not comply with the
ABA Model Rules. ABA Model Rule 1.5(e) allows a lawyer to split a fee with a lawyer
who is not in his firm if: (i) the total fee is reasonable; (ii) the split is in proportion to
the services rendered by each lawyer, or in some other proportion if each lawyer
assumes joint responsibility for the matter; and (iii) the client agrees to the split in a
writing that discloses the share that each lawyer will receive. Here, the written fee
agreement did not specify the share that each lawyer will receive; thus, a fee split
between the attorney and the State B attorney would be improper. (A) is wrong
because there is no requirement that a lawyer be licensed in the same state as the
attorney with whom he is splitting a fee. (C) is wrong because the written fee
agreement with the client did not indicate the share that each lawyer will receive,
, and thus the agreement was improper regardless of whether the State B attorney was
assuming responsibility for his work. (D) is wrong because even though there was a
fee agreement, it did not comply with the ABA Model Rules.
A concerned environmentalist hired a lawyer to obtain preliminary and permanent
injunctions against a highway construction project that would require draining and
filling certain wetlands inhabited by migratory waterfowl. The lawyer is the nation's
leading expert in wetland preservation law, and he charges $400 per hour for his
services. The environmentalist agreed to pay him at that rate. She gave him a
$40,000 advance on attorneys' fees and a $5,000 advance to cover future litigation
expenses. The lawyer deposited the entire $45,000 in his client trust account.
The lawyer then spent 80 hours preparing and filing a complaint and preparing and
arguing a motion for a preliminary injunction. He paid a court filing fee of $50, plus
$1,950 in witness fees to wetlands experts who testified at the hearing on the
preliminary injunction motion. The judge denied the preliminary injunction motion.
The lawyer sent the environme -Answer:The lawyer must promptly refund $11,000
because that amount is not in dispute. The lawyer claimed $32,000 in fees (80 hours
at $400 per hour) from the $40,000 fee advance (leaving an excess of $8,000). The
lawyer further claimed $2,000 from the $5,000 advance for expenses (leaving an
excess of $3,000). Adding $8,000 and $3,000 produces an $11,000 refund due
immediately from the lawyer to the environmentalist. [ABA Model Rule 1.16(d)] The
environmentalist apparently disputes the lawyer's right to $32,000 in fees; thus, that
disputed amount must remain in the lawyer's client trust account until the fee dispute
is settled. [ABA Model Rule 1.15(e)] (A) is wrong because when a lawyer is fired or
withdraws, he must immediately refund the unspent portion of the expense advance
and the portion of the fee advance that he does not claim to have earned. [ABA
Model Rule 1.16(d)] (C) is wrong because the lawyer may retain the disputed
portion of the expense advance, as explained above. (D) is wrong because the
lawyer is entitled to retain the disputed $32,000 in his client trust account until the
fee dispute is settled.
A consumer who bought a defective product that injured him hired a lawyer to
represent him in a personal injury action against the large corporation that made the
product. As the consumer and the lawyer discussed the case, the consumer stated
that he probably would not agree to a settlement under $500,000. The lawyer agreed
that the claim was worth at least that, but felt they would receive a much higher
award if the case went to a jury. Shortly before the trial started, the lawyer for the
corporation contacted the consumer's lawyer with a settlement offer of $150,000. The
consumer's lawyer tried to call his client, but could not reach him. After two hours of
trying to reach his client, the attorney called opposing counsel and rejected the
offer. At trial, the jury awarded the consumer $1 million.
Is the consumer's lawyer subject to malpractice liability for his actions? -Answer:No,
because the jury award was much greater than the settlement offer.
