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Legal Ethics

Should You or Shouldn't You?

 

Online, participatory ethics MCLE credit for California Attorneys

 

INSTRUCTIONS: Read and answer the following 10 questions for 1 hour of participatory MCLE ethics credit. Use the hyperlinks in each question to find the answers. This quiz will not only help you learn more about legal ethics in California, but it will also help you hone your Internet research skills.

State Bar of California Certificates of Completion will be issued after the quiz materials on this page are completed by the Attorney and returned to Internet For Lawyers, along with your $20 (for one hour of MCLE credit) payment (credit card or check). Select your payment option below.

If your browser does not support filling in this type of form, you may print out these questions and write your answers in by hand and mail the completed quiz to our postal mail address below.
 
 

Internet For Lawyers can teach you how to get the most out of the Internet for your law practice. 

Used properly, the Internet can be one of the greatest enhancements to the practice of law. 

Attorneys can use the Internet to:

extend the range of their marketing and networking activities

increase access to FREE online legal resources

save time and money currently lost to handling paper, pulling cases, photocopying and maintaining a library, by accessing this free information, right at your own desk.

Internet For Lawyers offers:

One-on-OneTraining

Group Seminars

Web Site Audits

Electronic Marketing Consulting

Online Participatory MLCE Materials

for all legal professionals including Paralegals, Law Office Administrators, Law Office Marketing Departments and Legal Secretaries, in addition to Attorneys.

LEGAL ADVERTISING

1. The California Business & Professions Code (http://www.calbar.org/pub250/sbact.htm) has very stringent guidelines with respect to lawyer advertising. Chapter 4 of the Code ("The State Bar Act" http://www.calbar.org/pub250/sbact.htm) mandates not just what kind of information can and cannot be presented, but Article 9.5 (dealing with Unlawful Solicitation) also dictates HOW that material can be presented.

According to paragraph 6157.2 of Article 9.5 (http://www.calbar.org/pub250/b/s0233.htm), for the purposes of illustration or dramatization, is there ANY circumstance under which it allowable for an actor to portray an attorney in that attorney's advertisements?

Select One:  Yes  No

2. As part of their marketing efforts, many attorneys affilliate with lawyer referral services. In California, ownership of these referral services is strictly regulated by the Business & Professions Code. Attorney ownership and management of these referral services are particularly limited by paragraph 6155 of Article 9 (http://www.calbar.org/pub250/b/s0229.htm). The Code is careful to insure that these referral services are not operated by lawyers who simply "refer" business to themselves.

According to paragraph 6155 of Article 9 of the California Business & Professions Code, attorney referral services in California cannot be "owned or operated, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly," by attorneys who represent a certain percentage of "those lawyers to whom, individually or collectively...referrals are made." What is that percentage?

Enter your answer here: 

COMMUNICATION OF SETTLEMENT OFFERS

3. Chapter Three of the California Rules of Professional Conduct (http://www.calbar.org/pub250/8/s0024.htm) regulates attorneys' relationships with their clients. Rule 3-510 sets specific parameters for a lawyer to inform their client of a settlement offer from opposition. What is the time limit set forth in Rule 3-510 for an attorney to inform a client of a settlement offer?

Select One: 24 hours  36 hours 

7 "business" days  "promptly"

FEE ARRANGEMENTS WITH CLIENTS

4. Chapter Four of the California Rules of Professional Conduct (http://www.calbar.org/pub250/8/s0028.htm) regulates attorneys' financial relationships with their clients. Rule 4-200 outlines acceptable fee practices. While fees for legal services vary widely, Rule 4-200 restricts attorneys from "enter[ing] into an agreement for, charg[ing], or collect[ing] an illegal or unconscionable fee." The Rule goes on to define the factors "determining the conscionability" of a fee as:

Mark all that apply: 

The amount of the fee in proportion to the value of the services performed 

The ability of the client to pay 

The relative sophistication of the member and the client 

The experience, reputation, and ability of the member or members performing the services 

The amount involved and the results obtained

 

FORMING OF PARTNERSHIPS 

5. In California, attorney/non-attorney partnerships are covered by the State Bar's "Rules of Profesional Conduct" (Rule 1-310 http://www.calbar.org/pub250/8/s0008.htm).

Under what circumstances could an attorney form a partnership with a non-attorney in California?

Enter your answer here: 

DISBARMENT

6. The State Bar of California takes its "Rules of Profesional Conduct" very seriously. Violation of any number of these rules (or provisions of the state's Business & Professions Code) can result in an attorney being disbarred.

According to Article 6 of Chapter 4 of the Business & Professions Code (http://www.calbar.org/pub250/sbact6.htm) which of the following can lead to an attorney being disbarred in California? Mark all that apply:

Conviction of Crime of Moral Turpitude  Permitting Mis-use of Name by Non-Attorney 

Insurance Fraud

Sexual Relations Between Attorney & Client 

Moral Turpitude, Dishonesty or Corruption (without conviction)  Appearing as Attorney Without Authority

 

7.  If a California attorney is disbarred, the State Bar of California wants to be immediately certain that attorney is no longer practicing law, or giving the impression that they are practicing law. 

According to Article 7 of Chapter 4 of the Business & Professions Code (paragraph 6132 http://www.calbar.org/pub250/b/s0188.htm), how long does a firm have to remove the name of a disciplined or disbarred attorney from the firm name?

Enter your answer here: 

CALIFORNIA ETHICS RULES COMPARED TO OTHER STATES' RULES

8. Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute has an excellent digital legal ethics library (http://www.law.cornell.edu/ethics/) that contains the codes or rules of professional conduct and commentary, organized on a state by state basis. Major law firms and legal academics, working on a pro bono basis, are contributing narratives on the law of lawyering in their states (California is one). The American Bar Association's ethics materials are also included in the library.

 

Click on the following: "Listing by Jurisdiction" (on the right hand side), then "California" from the alphabetical list of states, and then "American Legal Ethics Library Narrative."

 

To search the Narrative, click "Search" in the light grey bar near the top of the page (this is the "Search" link on the same line as "American Legal Ethics Library," and not the one above it in the dark grey bar), and then search for "unusual" in "codes and narratives" and narrow your results just to "California" by selecting it in the pull-down menu. Click on the "Sources of Rules and Guidance" link(s) in the results list to read the narrative about "unusual aspects" of the California Ethics Code.

 

Is the most unusual aspect of the California ethics code that it, more than any other state, governs the conduct of lawyers by statute?

 

Select One:  Yes  No

ETHICS OPINIONS

9. If you encounter an ethical question in your practice, there is a good chance that the State Bar may have dealt with such a question, and issued an opinion already. The California State Bar publishes its Ethics opinions on its website at http://www.calbar.org/2pub/3eth/3ethndx.htm. Using the keyword search function to search by Opinion number brings up a "Table of Contents" that will include a link to the Opinion number for which you've searched.

Official Opinion number 1997-149 deals with the issue of compensating non-expert witnesses. According to this opinion, can an attorney reimburse a "non-expert" witness for the time they take preparing for a deposition or court testimony if such preparation causes no loss of income for the witness?

Select One:  Yes  No

OTHER ETHICS QUESTIONS

10. Don't let these numerous ethical rules daunt you. The State Bar of California offers an "Ethics Hotline" (http://www.calbar.org/2pub/3eth/3ethndx.htm) to "assist attorneys with questions relating to their ethical responsibilities." This service is available between the hours 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on weekdays.

The "Ethics Hotline" is available via a toll-free "800" number. Enter the phone number here:

CALIFORNIA: Internet For Lawyers certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1 hour of participatory general or ethics credit. Internet For Lawyers is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. 

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