Professional Responsibility
NJ Supreme Court
Lower Commmittees
i. Most complaints resolved at district levels
ii. District Fee Arbitration committee – disputes about fees charged, not ethics violations
iii. Board of Bar Examiners
1. test your knowledge of the law
iv. Committee on Character
1. background checks
2.
v. Committee on Attorney Advertising
1. determines what forms of advertising are inappropriate
vi. Advisory committee of Professional Ethics
vii.
Categories of Discipline
Disbarment
Indeterminate Suspension
Term of suspension
Censure
Reprimand
Admonition
Burden of Proof
Clear & Convincing Evidence
NJ bar does not allow admissions on waiver
Difference between ethics and morals
Contingent Fee
Only get paid if you win
Raise ethical concern, b/c it could raise conflicts of interest for the lawyer
What makes lawyers “professionals”
Extra educational requirements
Inherent Powers Doctrine
Any state that doesn’t have a specific provision in the constitution, then the courts use this doctrine to take control over regulating lawyers
Question on p. 53
-Always reveal anything like cheating, or arrests on the bar application
–
Rose Gower (55)
Gower was applying to the bar, she had a history of mental health problems
Confidentiality
-Don’t talk in the elevator
-NJRPC 1.6 Confidentiality of Information
-Isn’t any simple bottom line concerning informal discussion of client matters
–
NJ Rules on confidentiality
-1.6
-NJ says you shall reveal if your client is going to do something that is likely to result in bodily harm
-but only a permissible duty to disclose to the person who the crime will be committed against
p.121
1/24
NJ RPC 1.6
-doesn’t really prohibit it, it makes it permissive
4.1 requires a lawyer to give up info that may be involved in a fraudulent act
1.2(d) on p. 144
-a lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage, or assist a client, in conduct that the lawyer knows is criminal or fraudulent.
1.6(b)(2)
-if the lawyer thinks that the client’s plan was ‘reasonably certain’ to cause substantial financial injury, the lawyer may disclose the client’s plan to prevent the harm.
Attorney Client Privilege
Overview
i. Says that an individual who provided his attorney w/ information
ii. **Not as broad as the confidentiality requirement, it only relates to information communicated directly from the client to the lawyer, in which the client is seeking legal advice or other legal services
iii. Slight differences from state to state in how they apply it
1. most say it continues to exist after the client dies
iv. the fact that you don’t bill someone for the service does not change the attorney client privilege
Exceptions to the Attorney Client Privilege
i. No privilege if a client seeks assistance w/ a crime or fraud
Competency Rules
NJ Rule 1.1
i. A lawyer shall not:
1. Handle or neglect a matter entrusted to the lawyer in such manner that the lawyer’s conduct constitutes gross negligence.
2. Exhibit a pattern of negligence or neglet in the lawyer’s handling of legal matters generally.
Chapter 1: The Regulation of Lawyers
Institu
is fit for the practice of law
ii. The bar examination
iii. The character and fitness inquiry (48)
1. court decisions on moral character on p. 50
Chapter 2: The duty to protect client confidences
The basic principle of confidentiality
i. Protection of ‘info relating to the representation of a client’
1. Rule 1.6(a): Confidentiality of Information (chart on p. 119)
a. A lawyer shall not reveal info relating to representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized in order to carry out the representation, or the disclosure is permitted by paragraph (b)
b. Requires lawyers to protect as confidential all info “relating to representation of a client.”
c. Info. that must be protected as confidential (chart on p. 111)
ii. Protection of info if there’s a reasonably prospect of harm to a client’s interests
1. Restatement
a. Prohibits revelation of such info only if “there is a reasonably prospect that doing so will adversely affect a material interest of the client or if the client has instructed the lawyer not to use or disclose such information.”
2. “adverse effects”
Includes frustration of the client’s objectives in the representation; material misfortunr, disadvantage, or other prejudice to the client; financial or physical harm to the client; or personal embarrassment
