Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility: A Comprehensive Guide to the Model Rules

102 questions on legal ethics and professional responsibility, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are advance conflict waivers enforceable?
• Can a lawyer accept a substantial gift from a client?
• Can a lawyer call a fee "nonrefundable" or "earned upon receipt"?
• Can a lawyer contact a former employee of an adverse organization?
• Can a lawyer share fees with a nonlawyer?
• Does competence require prior expertise in the subject matter?
• Does the American Bar Association regulate lawyers?
• Does the duty of candor override client confidentiality?
• Does the passage of time defeat a former-client conflict?
• Does the supervision duty extend to vendors and AI tools?
• Does violating an ethics rule automatically create malpractice liability?
• How broad is the duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.6?
• How can a firm avoid imputed disqualification from a prospective-client consultation?
• How do courts treat tactical disqualification motions?
• How do discipline, malpractice, and disqualification differ?
• How does an attorney-client relationship form?
• How does conflict imputation work within a firm?
• How does Rule 1.2(d) apply to representing a state-legal cannabis business?
• How does the crime-fraud exception to privilege differ from Rule 1.6(b)?
• How does the duty of confidentiality differ from the attorney-client privilege?
• How does the migrating-lawyer rule differ from the ordinary former-client rule?
• How is decisional authority divided between lawyer and client?
• How is the disciplinary sanction selected?
• How much do state rules of professional conduct actually differ from the Model Rules?
• How much should a withdrawal motion tell the court?
• Is "I was following orders" a defense for a subordinate lawyer?
• Is puffery in negotiation a violation of Rule 4.1?
• May a lawyer work remotely from a state where she is not licensed?
• Must a fee agreement be in writing?
• Must a lawyer cite adverse authority?
• What are a lawyer's ethical duties when using generative AI?
• What are a partner's supervisory obligations under Rule 5.1?
• What are the essential takeaways on legal ethics?
• What are the exceptions to the duty of confidentiality?
• What are the other categorical prohibitions in Rule 1.8?
• What communication duties does Rule 1.4 impose?
• What did In re Himmel establish about the duty to report?
• What did Nix v. Whiteside decide about threatening to disclose client perjury?
• What did Togstad v. Vesely teach about accidental clients?
• What did Upjohn v. United States decide about corporate privilege?
• What does a proper ethical screen consist of?
• What does Birbrower teach about crossing state lines to practice?
• What does candor to the tribunal require?
• What does "informed consent" mean in the Model Rules?
• What does Rule 1.15 require for client trust accounts?
• What does Rule 7.3 prohibit as solicitation?
• What does Rule 8.1 require of bar applicants?
• What does Sarbanes-Oxley Section 307 require of securities lawyers?
• What does the attorney disciplinary process look like?
• What duties does a lawyer owe a former client?
• What duties does a lawyer owe someone who consults but never hires her?
• What factors determine whether a legal fee is reasonable?
• What information-security obligation does Rule 1.6(c) impose?
• What is a concurrent conflict of interest?
• What is an Upjohn warning and when must it be given?
• What is IOLTA and is it constitutional?
• What is reciprocal discipline?
• What is the beauty-contest trap under Rule 1.18?
• What is the deepest lesson of professional responsibility?
• What is the difference between knowing and reasonably believing evidence is false?
• What is the duty of technological competence?
• What is the federal overlay on lawyer regulation?
• What is the line between advising about the law and assisting a crime?
• What is the narrative approach to client perjury?
• What is the new client due-diligence duty in Rule 1.16(a)?
• What is the no-contact rule?
• What is the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers and why does it matter?
• What is the substantial-relationship test?
• What line do the lawyer-advertising cases draw?
• What litigation conduct does Rule 3.4 prohibit?
• What may a lawyer say to an unrepresented person?
• What must a contingent-fee agreement contain?
• What must a lawyer do before entering a business transaction with a client?
• What must a lawyer do upon termination of a representation?
• What must a lawyer do who receives an inadvertently sent document?
• What should a lawyer do when a client intends to commit perjury?
• What should an engagement letter define?
• What should a non-engagement letter say?
• When are contingent fees prohibited?
• When can a concurrent conflict be waived?
• When can a firm screen a lateral hire to avoid imputed disqualification?
• When did lawyer advertising become constitutionally protected?
• When is limited-scope representation permitted?
• When may a corporate lawyer report outside the organization?
• When may a lawyer permissively withdraw?
• When may a lawyer practice temporarily in a state where she is not admitted?
• When may lawyers in different firms split a fee?
• When must a corporate lawyer report misconduct up the ladder?
• When must a lawyer report another lawyer's misconduct?
• When must a lawyer withdraw from a representation?
• Which employees of a represented organization are off limits under Rule 4.2?
• Which Rule 8.4 provisions do the most disciplinary work?
• Which state's ethics rules apply when a lawyer's conduct spans multiple jurisdictions?
• Who actually regulates lawyers in the United States?
• Who is the client when a lawyer represents an organization?
• Why are non-compete agreements for lawyers unethical?
• Why are the conflict rules more forgiving for former government lawyers?
• Why are trust-account violations treated so severely?
• Why is causation so difficult in a legal malpractice case?
• Why is neglect the most common subject of bar complaints?
• Why is the attorney-client privilege more fragile than confidentiality?
• Why should a law firm never design a marketing campaign from the Model Rules?