CRIMINAL TRIAL PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSIBILITY EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Attorney Wilson has no litigation experience because she exclusively handles
business transactional work. Attorney Wilson has represented Client in a number of
her business transactions. In one instance, Wilson prepared a detailed non-compete
agreement for Client to use with a nationally known mathematician whom Client hired
to work on Client's predictive coding algorithms. After signing the agreement and
working with Client's company for a short period of time, the mathematician left
Client's company and began working for Client's main business rival, apparently in
violation of the non-compete agreement. Client asked Attorney Wilson to bring an
enforcement action against the mathematician. Wilson declined to represent Client in
the litigation. Attorney Wilson reminded Client that their previous retainer agreement
pertaining to the non-compete agreement specifically stated that Wilson's
representation would include o - ANSWER-The correct answer is C. This question
illustrates a common misunderstanding that arises between clients and their lawyers:
a client sometimes assumes that a lawyer hired to handle one matter will
automatically handle every legal matter that the client encounters. The Model Rules,
therefore, encourage lawyers to communicate clearly with clients to define the scope
of the representation. Lawyers may limit their representation to a single matter, or
even a particular part of a client's matter (such as pre-trial work but not the actual
trial, or transactional work but not litigation), provided that the limitation is reasonable
under the circumstances.
Mr. Barrows asked Big Bank for a loan using farm land and farm machinery, which
Barrows claims to own, as a security interest. Big Bank had a lending policy that
required borrowers to provide at the closing a lawyer's opinion letter (from the
borrower's lawyer) that Big Bank's new mortgage lien on the security property will
have priority to any other recorded liens. Barrows hired Attorney Abrams to provide
the opinion letter. The letter that Attorney Abrams provided met Big Bank's
requirements, but it included a disclaimer that the attorney has neither physically
inspected the property nor investigated the state of the record title with respect to the
mortgaged property, but that instead he had relied on the preliminary title report of a
title-insurance company to the effect that there are no other liens on the property and
that title to the property is vested in the client. After the closing, it turned out that a th
- ANSWER-Answer D is the best answer. The Restatement (Third) of the Law
Governing Lawyers § 95 (An Evaluation Undertaken for a Third Person) covers this
type of scenario in some of its illustrations, which explains:
The factual basis of an evaluation is that which it states, expressly or by implication
from the circumstances. In all events, unless stated or agreed otherwise, a lawyer's
evaluation does not entail a guarantee by the lawyer that facts stated in it are
accurate.
A client retained Attorney Stevens to handle a criminal matter. On Friday afternoon,
the client delivered a check to Stevens's office. The amount of the check only
covered the work Attorney Stevens anticipated completing the following Monday.
,Because the following Monday was a banking holiday, if Attorney Stevens deposited
the retainer check into his client trust account on Friday afternoon, he would not have
had access to the funds until Tuesday. Stevens deposited the client's check into his
business checking account and paid himself with those funds on Friday before the
firm closed. According to the Model Rules, did Attorney Stevens violate his ethical
duty to his client by depositing the funds in this way?
(A) Yes, because attorneys shall not accept amounts paid in advance for criminal
matters
(B) Yes, because attorneys shall deposit amounts paid in advance into a client trust
account and the attorney shall not w - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. This
question is about temporarily commingling client funds. A lawyer may mistakenly
believe that as long as the lawyer eventually separates the client's funds into another
account, it is harmless to commingle the funds briefly for the sake of convenience.
The Model Rules do not permit this practice. Even a temporary commingling of client
funds with the lawyer's funds violates the Rules and could trigger disciplinary action.
Thus, Answer B is the best answer because it states the correct rule: lawyers must
promptly deposit client funds into a trust account, separate from the lawyer's
business or personal accounts.
A defendant in a business-related lawsuit hires an attorney to represent him in the
matter. The plaintiff is one of the client's vendors. The attorney explains that she
needs $10,000 from the client at the outset of the representation, $2,000 of which is
a non-refundable availability retainer, with the remainder to be used to cover
expenses, court costs, and the attorney's hourly fees. These fees, costs, and
expenses will be deducted as they accrue throughout the representation. Should
more funds prove necessary, the client can provide more at the time; if any of the
original $10,000 remains unused at the end of the representation, the attorney will
refund the balance to the client. The client provides a check for $10,000 that the
attorney deposits in his firm's primary bank account, carefully noting the deposit in
the bank ledger and using the funds exactly as described. The attorney immediately
used $2,000 to pay t - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. The Model Rules strictly
prohibit commingling client funds with the lawyer's own funds. This means lawyers
must maintain a separate bank account that is exclusively for holding client funds—a
client trust account. At the end of the representation, a lawyer must promptly return
unused funds to the client. Answer B best describes the lawyer's violation of the rule,
which in turn could result in a disciplinary action (a reprimand, license suspension, or
permanent disbarment). The lawyer did most things right in this situation, but she
deposited the client's money in her firm's regular bank account, commingling client
funds with the firm's funds used for operating expenses. The Rules require that the
money be deposited in a separate trust account.
An attorney represented a seller in a business transaction involving industrial
equipment. When the sale was complete, the purchaser sent the attorney a check for
$7,000, the agreed-upon purchase price, with a letter directing the attorney to
forward the money to his client (the seller). The attorney notified his client
immediately that he had received the check. The client was traveling at the time and
asked the attorney to hold the funds until he returned from his trip. The attorney had
only recently moved to this jurisdiction and opened a new firm. Because the attorney
did not yet have a trust account at a bank in the area, he deposited the check in the
,trust account in the neighboring state, where he had practiced until recently. He told
the client that the funds would be in a client trust account at an out-of-state bank. The
client consented. As soon as the check cleared, the attorney wrote the client a check
fo - ANSWER-The correct answer is A. Model Rule 1.15(a) requires lawyers to
deposit client funds in a trust account in the same state. This may present issues for
firms with small satellite offices in multiple states. In this case, if the attorney had not
first obtained the client's consent, it would have been an ethical violation to deposit
the money in an out-of-state bank account, subjecting the attorney to disciplinary
action.
Fortunately, the attorney in this problem obtained the client's consent beforehand,
making Answer A correct.
At 3:00 pm on December 24 an attorney received a small settlement check for a
client from the opposing party. All the support staff in the attorney's office had
already gone home, and the office was to stay closed until January 2. The attorney
was rushing to catch a flight to Europe, where she planned to spend the holidays
with her family. On January 2, when the attorney returned and the office reopened,
she promptly notified the client that the check had arrived. Did the attorney violate
the ethical rules for this delay?
(A) Yes, because she should have instructed the opposing party to send the check
directly to the client
(B) Yes, because she did not notify the client soon enough
(C) No, because the office was closed during the entire period, and the attorney
notified the client promptly as soon as the office reopened
(D) No, because the attorney had to catch a flight, and the client suffered no harm
from this del - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. Delays in notifying the client about
funds is a violation of the Model Rules, which require prompt notification. When funds
arrive at the firm, either the attorney or the support staff should notify the client as
soon as possible (ideally, within a day). Here, the attorney was leaving on vacation
and the office was closed for a week, so she delayed contacting the client for a full
week. Holidays and vacations are times when lawyers could miss important
deadlines or postpone some necessary communication.
Attorney Smith, a solo practitioner who recently passed the bar exam, accepted
Client's case for a flat fee of $3,000. Attorney Smith's contract included a statement
in underlined and bold print that stated the entire fee is non-refundable regardless of
the outcome of the case or whether Client continued to retain Smith through the
finalization of the case. After several weeks with no movement on the case by
Attorney Smith, Client fired Smith and hired other counsel to represent him on this
case. Client sent a request in writing for reimbursement of the retainer. Attorney
Smith responded to Client by stating the funds are non-refundable and refused to
refund Client. Were Attorney Smith's actions proper?
(A) Yes, because an attorney may refuse to refund an advanced payment of fees if
the contract contained such language and the language was clear and obvious in the
contract
(B) Yes, because an attorney is not require - ANSWER-The correct answer is D.
Clients sometimes fire their lawyers in the middle of the representation and switch to
other counsel. In many of these cases, the attorney is holding unused client funds
, received in an advance payment at the outset of representation. Model Rule 1.5
requires that attorneys return all the remaining unused funds to the client (but not
those that cover hours of work the attorney already completed), even if the client was
unjustified or unreasonable in terminating the representation
An attorney represented a client in an estate planning matter. The client was showing
early signs of Alzheimer's dementia: forgetfulness, abrupt changes in the
conversation, and repeating the same story or information within the same
consultation. At the beginning of each conversation, the client would ask the attorney
to remind her of the attorney's first name and how he liked being a lawyer, though
she always recognized the attorney as her legal representative. Home health aides
visited the client twice a week, but otherwise the client lived alone and took care of
her daily needs without incident, though she no longer drove a car. The attorney
found it frustrating to discuss the more difficult legal questions in the estate plan with
the client, who would frequently repeat a question twenty minutes after the attorney
had given a lengthy explanation to the same question. The client's overall objectives
were clear—she - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. ABA Model Rule 1.14
provides, "When a client's capacity to make adequately considered decisions in
connection with a representation is diminished, whether because of minority, mental
impairment or for some other reason, the lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible,
maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client." The Restatement (Third)
of the Law Governing Lawyers § 24 includes similar verbiage. In this case, it is not
clear how much the client's early-stage dementia impairs her ability to participate in
the decisions, except that the attorney needs to exercise extra patience and explain
the same points a few times. As Comment 1 to Rule 1.14 concludes, "So also, it is
recognized that some persons of advanced age can be quite capable of handling
routine financial matters while needing special legal protection concerning major
transactions." Thus, the attorney in this question should have discussed decisions
with the client regarding the creation of a trust or the liquidation of certain assets from
the estate.
A former client sued Attorney Andrews for legal malpractice, alleging that Andrews
improperly withdrew from the representation on the eve of trial, thereby harming the
client. Attorney Andrews claimed in defense that her withdrawal was due to an
unforeseen conflict of interest that arose after the representation was underway, and
that the conflict was serious enough to compel withdrawal from the representation.
The client insists that there was no real conflict of interest that could have required
Attorney Andrews' abrupt withdrawal. Should a judge allow expert testimony to help
persuade the factfinder that the state's ethical rules concerning conflicts of interest
indeed required withdrawal?
(A) Yes, because compliance with the ethical rules is an absolute defense against
legal malpractice and dispositive to the matter.
(B) Yes, because compliance with the requirements of the ethical rules is relevant
and material - ANSWER-Answer B is the best answer. Legal malpractice actions are
usually either a tort negligence claim or a claim for a breach of fiduciary duty, and
most of our guidance for rules in this area comes from case law and the Restatement
(Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers § 52 (This Question has facts that are
analogous to Illustration 2 in § 52).
RESPONSIBILITY EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Attorney Wilson has no litigation experience because she exclusively handles
business transactional work. Attorney Wilson has represented Client in a number of
her business transactions. In one instance, Wilson prepared a detailed non-compete
agreement for Client to use with a nationally known mathematician whom Client hired
to work on Client's predictive coding algorithms. After signing the agreement and
working with Client's company for a short period of time, the mathematician left
Client's company and began working for Client's main business rival, apparently in
violation of the non-compete agreement. Client asked Attorney Wilson to bring an
enforcement action against the mathematician. Wilson declined to represent Client in
the litigation. Attorney Wilson reminded Client that their previous retainer agreement
pertaining to the non-compete agreement specifically stated that Wilson's
representation would include o - ANSWER-The correct answer is C. This question
illustrates a common misunderstanding that arises between clients and their lawyers:
a client sometimes assumes that a lawyer hired to handle one matter will
automatically handle every legal matter that the client encounters. The Model Rules,
therefore, encourage lawyers to communicate clearly with clients to define the scope
of the representation. Lawyers may limit their representation to a single matter, or
even a particular part of a client's matter (such as pre-trial work but not the actual
trial, or transactional work but not litigation), provided that the limitation is reasonable
under the circumstances.
Mr. Barrows asked Big Bank for a loan using farm land and farm machinery, which
Barrows claims to own, as a security interest. Big Bank had a lending policy that
required borrowers to provide at the closing a lawyer's opinion letter (from the
borrower's lawyer) that Big Bank's new mortgage lien on the security property will
have priority to any other recorded liens. Barrows hired Attorney Abrams to provide
the opinion letter. The letter that Attorney Abrams provided met Big Bank's
requirements, but it included a disclaimer that the attorney has neither physically
inspected the property nor investigated the state of the record title with respect to the
mortgaged property, but that instead he had relied on the preliminary title report of a
title-insurance company to the effect that there are no other liens on the property and
that title to the property is vested in the client. After the closing, it turned out that a th
- ANSWER-Answer D is the best answer. The Restatement (Third) of the Law
Governing Lawyers § 95 (An Evaluation Undertaken for a Third Person) covers this
type of scenario in some of its illustrations, which explains:
The factual basis of an evaluation is that which it states, expressly or by implication
from the circumstances. In all events, unless stated or agreed otherwise, a lawyer's
evaluation does not entail a guarantee by the lawyer that facts stated in it are
accurate.
A client retained Attorney Stevens to handle a criminal matter. On Friday afternoon,
the client delivered a check to Stevens's office. The amount of the check only
covered the work Attorney Stevens anticipated completing the following Monday.
,Because the following Monday was a banking holiday, if Attorney Stevens deposited
the retainer check into his client trust account on Friday afternoon, he would not have
had access to the funds until Tuesday. Stevens deposited the client's check into his
business checking account and paid himself with those funds on Friday before the
firm closed. According to the Model Rules, did Attorney Stevens violate his ethical
duty to his client by depositing the funds in this way?
(A) Yes, because attorneys shall not accept amounts paid in advance for criminal
matters
(B) Yes, because attorneys shall deposit amounts paid in advance into a client trust
account and the attorney shall not w - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. This
question is about temporarily commingling client funds. A lawyer may mistakenly
believe that as long as the lawyer eventually separates the client's funds into another
account, it is harmless to commingle the funds briefly for the sake of convenience.
The Model Rules do not permit this practice. Even a temporary commingling of client
funds with the lawyer's funds violates the Rules and could trigger disciplinary action.
Thus, Answer B is the best answer because it states the correct rule: lawyers must
promptly deposit client funds into a trust account, separate from the lawyer's
business or personal accounts.
A defendant in a business-related lawsuit hires an attorney to represent him in the
matter. The plaintiff is one of the client's vendors. The attorney explains that she
needs $10,000 from the client at the outset of the representation, $2,000 of which is
a non-refundable availability retainer, with the remainder to be used to cover
expenses, court costs, and the attorney's hourly fees. These fees, costs, and
expenses will be deducted as they accrue throughout the representation. Should
more funds prove necessary, the client can provide more at the time; if any of the
original $10,000 remains unused at the end of the representation, the attorney will
refund the balance to the client. The client provides a check for $10,000 that the
attorney deposits in his firm's primary bank account, carefully noting the deposit in
the bank ledger and using the funds exactly as described. The attorney immediately
used $2,000 to pay t - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. The Model Rules strictly
prohibit commingling client funds with the lawyer's own funds. This means lawyers
must maintain a separate bank account that is exclusively for holding client funds—a
client trust account. At the end of the representation, a lawyer must promptly return
unused funds to the client. Answer B best describes the lawyer's violation of the rule,
which in turn could result in a disciplinary action (a reprimand, license suspension, or
permanent disbarment). The lawyer did most things right in this situation, but she
deposited the client's money in her firm's regular bank account, commingling client
funds with the firm's funds used for operating expenses. The Rules require that the
money be deposited in a separate trust account.
An attorney represented a seller in a business transaction involving industrial
equipment. When the sale was complete, the purchaser sent the attorney a check for
$7,000, the agreed-upon purchase price, with a letter directing the attorney to
forward the money to his client (the seller). The attorney notified his client
immediately that he had received the check. The client was traveling at the time and
asked the attorney to hold the funds until he returned from his trip. The attorney had
only recently moved to this jurisdiction and opened a new firm. Because the attorney
did not yet have a trust account at a bank in the area, he deposited the check in the
,trust account in the neighboring state, where he had practiced until recently. He told
the client that the funds would be in a client trust account at an out-of-state bank. The
client consented. As soon as the check cleared, the attorney wrote the client a check
fo - ANSWER-The correct answer is A. Model Rule 1.15(a) requires lawyers to
deposit client funds in a trust account in the same state. This may present issues for
firms with small satellite offices in multiple states. In this case, if the attorney had not
first obtained the client's consent, it would have been an ethical violation to deposit
the money in an out-of-state bank account, subjecting the attorney to disciplinary
action.
Fortunately, the attorney in this problem obtained the client's consent beforehand,
making Answer A correct.
At 3:00 pm on December 24 an attorney received a small settlement check for a
client from the opposing party. All the support staff in the attorney's office had
already gone home, and the office was to stay closed until January 2. The attorney
was rushing to catch a flight to Europe, where she planned to spend the holidays
with her family. On January 2, when the attorney returned and the office reopened,
she promptly notified the client that the check had arrived. Did the attorney violate
the ethical rules for this delay?
(A) Yes, because she should have instructed the opposing party to send the check
directly to the client
(B) Yes, because she did not notify the client soon enough
(C) No, because the office was closed during the entire period, and the attorney
notified the client promptly as soon as the office reopened
(D) No, because the attorney had to catch a flight, and the client suffered no harm
from this del - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. Delays in notifying the client about
funds is a violation of the Model Rules, which require prompt notification. When funds
arrive at the firm, either the attorney or the support staff should notify the client as
soon as possible (ideally, within a day). Here, the attorney was leaving on vacation
and the office was closed for a week, so she delayed contacting the client for a full
week. Holidays and vacations are times when lawyers could miss important
deadlines or postpone some necessary communication.
Attorney Smith, a solo practitioner who recently passed the bar exam, accepted
Client's case for a flat fee of $3,000. Attorney Smith's contract included a statement
in underlined and bold print that stated the entire fee is non-refundable regardless of
the outcome of the case or whether Client continued to retain Smith through the
finalization of the case. After several weeks with no movement on the case by
Attorney Smith, Client fired Smith and hired other counsel to represent him on this
case. Client sent a request in writing for reimbursement of the retainer. Attorney
Smith responded to Client by stating the funds are non-refundable and refused to
refund Client. Were Attorney Smith's actions proper?
(A) Yes, because an attorney may refuse to refund an advanced payment of fees if
the contract contained such language and the language was clear and obvious in the
contract
(B) Yes, because an attorney is not require - ANSWER-The correct answer is D.
Clients sometimes fire their lawyers in the middle of the representation and switch to
other counsel. In many of these cases, the attorney is holding unused client funds
, received in an advance payment at the outset of representation. Model Rule 1.5
requires that attorneys return all the remaining unused funds to the client (but not
those that cover hours of work the attorney already completed), even if the client was
unjustified or unreasonable in terminating the representation
An attorney represented a client in an estate planning matter. The client was showing
early signs of Alzheimer's dementia: forgetfulness, abrupt changes in the
conversation, and repeating the same story or information within the same
consultation. At the beginning of each conversation, the client would ask the attorney
to remind her of the attorney's first name and how he liked being a lawyer, though
she always recognized the attorney as her legal representative. Home health aides
visited the client twice a week, but otherwise the client lived alone and took care of
her daily needs without incident, though she no longer drove a car. The attorney
found it frustrating to discuss the more difficult legal questions in the estate plan with
the client, who would frequently repeat a question twenty minutes after the attorney
had given a lengthy explanation to the same question. The client's overall objectives
were clear—she - ANSWER-The correct answer is B. ABA Model Rule 1.14
provides, "When a client's capacity to make adequately considered decisions in
connection with a representation is diminished, whether because of minority, mental
impairment or for some other reason, the lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible,
maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client." The Restatement (Third)
of the Law Governing Lawyers § 24 includes similar verbiage. In this case, it is not
clear how much the client's early-stage dementia impairs her ability to participate in
the decisions, except that the attorney needs to exercise extra patience and explain
the same points a few times. As Comment 1 to Rule 1.14 concludes, "So also, it is
recognized that some persons of advanced age can be quite capable of handling
routine financial matters while needing special legal protection concerning major
transactions." Thus, the attorney in this question should have discussed decisions
with the client regarding the creation of a trust or the liquidation of certain assets from
the estate.
A former client sued Attorney Andrews for legal malpractice, alleging that Andrews
improperly withdrew from the representation on the eve of trial, thereby harming the
client. Attorney Andrews claimed in defense that her withdrawal was due to an
unforeseen conflict of interest that arose after the representation was underway, and
that the conflict was serious enough to compel withdrawal from the representation.
The client insists that there was no real conflict of interest that could have required
Attorney Andrews' abrupt withdrawal. Should a judge allow expert testimony to help
persuade the factfinder that the state's ethical rules concerning conflicts of interest
indeed required withdrawal?
(A) Yes, because compliance with the ethical rules is an absolute defense against
legal malpractice and dispositive to the matter.
(B) Yes, because compliance with the requirements of the ethical rules is relevant
and material - ANSWER-Answer B is the best answer. Legal malpractice actions are
usually either a tort negligence claim or a claim for a breach of fiduciary duty, and
most of our guidance for rules in this area comes from case law and the Restatement
(Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers § 52 (This Question has facts that are
analogous to Illustration 2 in § 52).
