Happy Monday! 

Friday’s questions are here.  The answers follow today’s Honor Roll.

Honor Roll

  • Evan Barquist, Montroll Oettinger & Barquist
  • Alberto Bernabe, Professor, UIC School of Law
  • Beth DeBernardi, Administrative Law Judge, Vermont Department of Labor
  • Benjamin Gould, Paul Frank + Collins
  • Robert Grundstein
  • Keith Kasper, McCormick, Fitzpatrick, Kasper and Burchard
  • John T. Leddy, McNeil, Leddy, Sheehan
  • Pam Loginsky, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Pierce County, Tacoma, WA
  • Kevin Lumpkin, Sheehey Furlong & Behm
  • Brad Martin, Baystate Financial
  • Jack McCullough, Project Director, Mental Health Law Project, Vermont Legal Aid
  • Jeffrey Messina, Messina Law
  • Hal Miller, Hawaii Agency Underwriting Counsel, First American Title Insurance
  • James Remsen, Master Planner, Parker Hannafin
  • Keith Roberts, Darby Kolter & Roberts
  • Jason Warfield, J.D.
  • The Honorable John Valente, Vermont Superior Judge
  • Thomas Wilkinson, Jr., Cozen O’Connor

Answers

Question 1

Which of the 7 Cs of Legal Ethics refers specifically to funds & property?

COMMINGLING.

Tip:  V.R.Pr.C. 1.15(a) requires a lawyer to keep funds & property of clients and third persons separate from the lawyer’s own.  There is an exception for funds deposited in trust “for the sole purpose of paying service charges or fees on [the] account, but only in an amount necessary for that purpose.”  The most common cause of “commingling” a lawyer’s failure to remove an earned fee from trust.  Remember: as I pointed out in Trust Accounting in a Nutshell, commingling can also result from improper handling of a fee that is paid in advance and that complies with Rule 1.5(f).

Question 2

Lawyer called me with an inquiry.  I listened, then responded “one of the situations that requires it is when continued representation will result in a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.”

Given my response, what does “it” refer to?  Whether Lawyer must _______:

  • A.   self-report to Disciplinary Counsel.
  • B.   disclose confidential information over a client’s objection.
  • C.   withdraw from representing a client.  V.R.Pr.C. 1.16(a)(1).
  • D.   put Lawyer’s malpractice insurance carrier on notice of a potential claim.

Question 3

Attorney represents Client.  At the outset of the relationship, Client advanced a fee that Attorney billed against.  When the matter resolved, Client was so pleased that Client lauded Attorney’s virtues in a public comment posted to Attorney’s firm’s social media page.

What do the rules require Attorney to keep for 6 years?

  • A.  Client’s confidences and secrets.
  • B.  Records of funds held on behalf of Client.  V.R.Pr.C. 1.15(a)(1).
  • C.  A “copy’ of the social media page because it’s an “advertisement.”
  • D.  A copy of Client’s file.

Answer (A) is not correct.  Unless disclosure is permitted or required by the rules, a former client’s confidences must be kept forever.

Answer (C) is not correct. The rule requiring lawyers to keep copies of advertisements was repealed long ago. And, when it was in place, it required ads to be kept for 2 years.

Answer (D) is not correct.  There is no requirement for a lawyer to keep a “copy” of a client’s file.  Rather, Rule 1.169d) requires a lawyer to deliver “papers and property” to which the client is entitled upon the termination of the representation. 

Question 4

There are two types of cases in which a contingent fee is prohibited.  Name them.

  • V.R.Pr.C. 1.5(d)(2) prohibits a contingent fee for representing a defendant in a criminal case.
  • V.R.Pr.C. 1.15(d)(1) prohibits a fee “which is contingent upon the securing of a divorce or upon or upon the amount of spousal maintenance or support, or property settlement in lieu thereof.”

NOTE: the rule ALLOWS contingent fees “in domestic relations matters which involve the collection of (i) spousal maintenance after a final judgment is entered, or (ii) child support and maintenance supplement arrearages due after final judgment, provided that the court approves the reasonableness of the fee agreement.  This can be an excellent tool to provide access to legal services.

Question 5

Earlier this week, the Academy of Arts & Television continued its embarrassing tradition of snubbing Better Call Saul.  Yet again, the show did not receive a single Primetime Emmy.  In protest, and because Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman is my favorite ethically challenged fictional lawyer, I’m devoting Question 5 to the show for the second time in three quizzes. 

Doing so is quite timely.  Tomorrow is ___________ Day.  The word that properly fills in the blank is quite relevant to the legal profession.  It’s also the answer to this question:

In both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, what’s on the wallpaper in Saul’s office? 

Here’s a hint that might help people who have never seen the show.

Today is September 16. On this day in 1830, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (father of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.) wrote a poem. The poem is widely considered to have saved a US Naval vessel from being decommissioned. The vessel, which is now the oldest commissioned ship in the navy, is named after the answer to Question 5.

Saul’s wallpaper shows The Constitution of the United States.   Saturday was Constitution Day.  And Oliver Wendell Holmes’s Old Ironsides is a poem about the USS Constitution.