Barbri PE-2 Exam Questions With 100%
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A solo practitioner who does municipal bond work in a single state is nearing retirement
age and takes on a young attorney as a partner. Their partnership agreement provides that
the solo practitioner will train the young attorney and will receive 75% of the partnership's
net earnings during the first three years, and that the young attorney will receive the
remaining 25%. The agreement also provides that if the
young attorney leaves the partnership before the end of the first three years, he will remit
to the solo practitioner 75% of all fees he earns thereafter from municipal bond work in the
state. Finally, the agreement provides that if the solo practitioner and the young attorney
are still partners when the solo practitioner retires, the young attorney will pay the solo
practitioner retirement benefits of $3,000 per month until the solo practitioner's death; in
return, upon his retirement, the solo practitioner will turn over to the young attorney all of
the partnership assets (including goodwill) .4,nd will not thereafter practice municipal
bond law in the state.
Are the solo practitioner and the young attorney subject to discipline for entering into this
partnership agreement?
(B) No, because the agreement enables the solo practitioner to sell the partnership assets in return
for the restriction on his right to practice.
A justice was on the state supreme court. The state's supreme court rules provide that in
capital punishment cases, any one justice of the supreme court is empowered to grant a
stay of execu-tion pending appeal to the supreme court. The justice granted such a stay in a
recent criminal case, on the ground that the defendant had been denied the effective
assistance of counsel at his trial. A few months later, the justice retired from the supreme
court and went back to private law practice.
In due course, the supreme court heard the appeal in the case, rejected the defendant's
effective assistance of counsel contention, and affirmed the death penalty. The defendant'
then commenced a federal habeas corpus proceeding in an appropriate federal district
,court and asked that court toappoint a private lawyer to represent him. The district court
appointed the retired justice to represent the defendant. A key issue in the habeas corpus
proceeding is whether the defendant was deprived of the effective assis- tance of counsel at
his trial.
May the retired justice represent the defendant without getting informed consent,
confirmed in writing, from all parties to the habeas corpus proceeding?
(D) Yes, because the respondent in the habeas corpus case is the prison warden, not the state.
A farmer asked an attorney to represent him in an eminent domain proceeding in which
the state sought to obtain a right-of-way across the farmer's land. The attorney had not
handled an eminent domain case before, but she planned to make herself competent
through diligent research and study. As it turned out, the attorney did not have enough
time to do what she had planned, so she associated an eminent domain specialist as her co-
counsel in the case. The attorney did not consult the farmer about associating the specialist.
The specialist did about 90% of the work in the case, and the attorney did the other 10%.
Together they secured a very favor-able result for the farmer, and the attorney sent the
farmer a fee bill for a reasonable amount. The farmer paid the bill, and the attorney
remitted 90% of the proceeds to the specialist.
Is the attorney subject to discipline?
(B) Yes, because she did not consult the farmer about associating the specialist.
An attorney is defending her client in a civil fraud case in which it is relevant to know what
advice the client received in confidence from an independent certified public accountant.
The jurisdiction has no evidentiary privilege for confidential communications between
accountants and their clients. The accountant telephoned the attorney and asked how he
should respond to the plaintiff's lawyer's request to speak with him privately about the
case. Reason- ably believing that the accountant would not be harmed by refusing to talk
informally with the plaintiff's lawyer, the attorney responded that if the plaintiff's lawyer
subpoenaed him to testify, then he must do so, but encouraged him not to talk to the
plaintiff's lawyer about the case unless under subpoena.
, (C) Yes, because the accountant acted as the client's agent in rendering accounting advice to the
client.
Solo practitioners Alpha and Beta share office space. Each of them has organized her
practice as a professional corporation. The sign on their office door reads:
Attorney Alpha, P.C. Personal Injury Law
Attorney Beta, P.C. General Practice
Alpha and Beta frequently consult each other about their respective cases, and they often
refer clients to one another. Sometimes they work on cases together under a fee-sharing
arrangement. When one of them is out of the office, the other responds to client inquiries to
the extent that she is able, and to facilitate that practice, each attorney has physical access
to the other's client files. A plaintiff hired Alpha to sue a bakery for personal injuries he
sustained when he bit into
a piece of glass in a dinner roll baked by the bakery. The bakery's liability insurance
carrier asked Beta to serve as defense counsel in the case. Alpha and Beta each disclosed
her relation- ship with the other to their clients, and the plain- tiff, the bakery, and the
insurance company each gave written consent to Beta's serving as defense counsel.
May Beta take the case?
(C) No, even though Alpha and Beta believe that they can effectively represent their respective
clients.
A client made a preliminary contact with a lawyer to see if she wanted to hire the lawyer to
defend her in a tort case that had been assigned to a judge. The lawyer told the client that
the initial consultation was free of charge. After listening to the client's brief outline of the
case, the lawyer told her that she knew how to get a favorable decision from that judge. She
said that he would be running for re-election 18 months from now, and he would need
money for his campaign. She advised the client to send him a $2,000 campaign contribution
now, with a nice note wishing him well in his bid for re-election. She explained that the
judge's opponent in the election would be a local lawyer, and that although the local lawyer
was an honest fellow, his two brothers were associated with organized crime. The lawyer
offered to write a guest editorial for the local paper, praising the judge's judicial record
and implying that the local lawyer was a crook. With the contribution and the letter, the
Verified Answers!!
A solo practitioner who does municipal bond work in a single state is nearing retirement
age and takes on a young attorney as a partner. Their partnership agreement provides that
the solo practitioner will train the young attorney and will receive 75% of the partnership's
net earnings during the first three years, and that the young attorney will receive the
remaining 25%. The agreement also provides that if the
young attorney leaves the partnership before the end of the first three years, he will remit
to the solo practitioner 75% of all fees he earns thereafter from municipal bond work in the
state. Finally, the agreement provides that if the solo practitioner and the young attorney
are still partners when the solo practitioner retires, the young attorney will pay the solo
practitioner retirement benefits of $3,000 per month until the solo practitioner's death; in
return, upon his retirement, the solo practitioner will turn over to the young attorney all of
the partnership assets (including goodwill) .4,nd will not thereafter practice municipal
bond law in the state.
Are the solo practitioner and the young attorney subject to discipline for entering into this
partnership agreement?
(B) No, because the agreement enables the solo practitioner to sell the partnership assets in return
for the restriction on his right to practice.
A justice was on the state supreme court. The state's supreme court rules provide that in
capital punishment cases, any one justice of the supreme court is empowered to grant a
stay of execu-tion pending appeal to the supreme court. The justice granted such a stay in a
recent criminal case, on the ground that the defendant had been denied the effective
assistance of counsel at his trial. A few months later, the justice retired from the supreme
court and went back to private law practice.
In due course, the supreme court heard the appeal in the case, rejected the defendant's
effective assistance of counsel contention, and affirmed the death penalty. The defendant'
then commenced a federal habeas corpus proceeding in an appropriate federal district
,court and asked that court toappoint a private lawyer to represent him. The district court
appointed the retired justice to represent the defendant. A key issue in the habeas corpus
proceeding is whether the defendant was deprived of the effective assis- tance of counsel at
his trial.
May the retired justice represent the defendant without getting informed consent,
confirmed in writing, from all parties to the habeas corpus proceeding?
(D) Yes, because the respondent in the habeas corpus case is the prison warden, not the state.
A farmer asked an attorney to represent him in an eminent domain proceeding in which
the state sought to obtain a right-of-way across the farmer's land. The attorney had not
handled an eminent domain case before, but she planned to make herself competent
through diligent research and study. As it turned out, the attorney did not have enough
time to do what she had planned, so she associated an eminent domain specialist as her co-
counsel in the case. The attorney did not consult the farmer about associating the specialist.
The specialist did about 90% of the work in the case, and the attorney did the other 10%.
Together they secured a very favor-able result for the farmer, and the attorney sent the
farmer a fee bill for a reasonable amount. The farmer paid the bill, and the attorney
remitted 90% of the proceeds to the specialist.
Is the attorney subject to discipline?
(B) Yes, because she did not consult the farmer about associating the specialist.
An attorney is defending her client in a civil fraud case in which it is relevant to know what
advice the client received in confidence from an independent certified public accountant.
The jurisdiction has no evidentiary privilege for confidential communications between
accountants and their clients. The accountant telephoned the attorney and asked how he
should respond to the plaintiff's lawyer's request to speak with him privately about the
case. Reason- ably believing that the accountant would not be harmed by refusing to talk
informally with the plaintiff's lawyer, the attorney responded that if the plaintiff's lawyer
subpoenaed him to testify, then he must do so, but encouraged him not to talk to the
plaintiff's lawyer about the case unless under subpoena.
, (C) Yes, because the accountant acted as the client's agent in rendering accounting advice to the
client.
Solo practitioners Alpha and Beta share office space. Each of them has organized her
practice as a professional corporation. The sign on their office door reads:
Attorney Alpha, P.C. Personal Injury Law
Attorney Beta, P.C. General Practice
Alpha and Beta frequently consult each other about their respective cases, and they often
refer clients to one another. Sometimes they work on cases together under a fee-sharing
arrangement. When one of them is out of the office, the other responds to client inquiries to
the extent that she is able, and to facilitate that practice, each attorney has physical access
to the other's client files. A plaintiff hired Alpha to sue a bakery for personal injuries he
sustained when he bit into
a piece of glass in a dinner roll baked by the bakery. The bakery's liability insurance
carrier asked Beta to serve as defense counsel in the case. Alpha and Beta each disclosed
her relation- ship with the other to their clients, and the plain- tiff, the bakery, and the
insurance company each gave written consent to Beta's serving as defense counsel.
May Beta take the case?
(C) No, even though Alpha and Beta believe that they can effectively represent their respective
clients.
A client made a preliminary contact with a lawyer to see if she wanted to hire the lawyer to
defend her in a tort case that had been assigned to a judge. The lawyer told the client that
the initial consultation was free of charge. After listening to the client's brief outline of the
case, the lawyer told her that she knew how to get a favorable decision from that judge. She
said that he would be running for re-election 18 months from now, and he would need
money for his campaign. She advised the client to send him a $2,000 campaign contribution
now, with a nice note wishing him well in his bid for re-election. She explained that the
judge's opponent in the election would be a local lawyer, and that although the local lawyer
was an honest fellow, his two brothers were associated with organized crime. The lawyer
offered to write a guest editorial for the local paper, praising the judge's judicial record
and implying that the local lawyer was a crook. With the contribution and the letter, the
