Quiz F13 Class 5 Annotated
1. Under the
Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, if an attorney's fee is contingent on the
outcome of the matter,
A. the lawyer must have a written contingent fee
agreement with the client
Rule 1.5(c)(1): “A contingent fee agreement
shall be in writing...” GLE p. 19
B. the lawyer must inform the client in writing
whether expenses are deducted before or after the contingent fee is calculated.
Rule 1.5(c)(1): “in writing and shall state
... whether such expenses are to be deducted before or after the contingent fee
is calculated.” GLE p. 19
C. the fee can only be divided between lawyers in
different firms if the client is advised of the share each lawyer is to
receive.
Rule
1.5(e)(2) A
division of a fee between lawyers who are not in the same firm may be made only
if...the client is advised of the share that each lawyer is to receive and does
not object to the participation of all the lawyers involved...” GLE p. 19
✓ D.
All of the above.
E. None of the above
2. The Georgia
Rules of Professional Conduct specifically prohibit a lawyer from charging a
contingent fee
A. for recovering a post-judgment
balance due under an order for alimony.
Rule 1.5 Comment 6: “This provision does not preclude a contract for
a contingent fee for legal representation in connection with the recovery of
post-judgment balances due under support, alimony or other financial orders
because such contracts do not implicate the same policy concerns. See Formal Advisory
Opinions 36 and 47.” GLE p. 21
Advisory Opinion 47: “...it is ethically permissible
for a lawyer to charge a contingent fee to collect past due alimony or child
support for the following reasons: Collection of these amounts occurs after
the divorce, i.e. it is a post-judgment proceeding; a suit for execution of a
judgment on such arrearages is neither a "domestic relations" nor a
"divorce" case; the human relationships involved and the unique
character of domestic relations proceedings which generally prohibit contingent
fees are not present and do not apply in these cases; and, most importantly, in
many circumstances, a contingent fee arrangement may be the only means by which
these vital legal rights can be enforced.”
GLE p. 167
✓ B. for representing a defendant in a criminal case.
Rule
1.5(d)(2): “A lawyer shall not enter into an arrangement for, charge, or
collect...
a contingent fee for
representing a defendant in a criminal case.” GLE p. 19
C. Both A and B
D. Neither A nor B
3. In McKenzie
Construction v Maynard, the 3rd Circuit held that
✓A.
In a dispute between a client and lawyer over the fee, the burden of proving
that the fee is reasonable is on the lawyer
At *100: “ Plaintiff says that in an
attorney-client dispute over fees, the burden is on the attorney, even if the
client is the plaintiff suing to recover fees already paid. We agree. ... This
allocation of the burden of proof is premised on the relationship of trust owed
by a lawyer to his client, with a concomitant obligation to charge only a
reasonable fee whether the arrangement be contingent
or otherwise. This approach is at the very heart of the special relationship
between attorney and client. ...[We do not]
think the essential burden is shifted to the plaintiff in this case because of
the mere happenstance that the client was required to initiate the action. We
therefore conclude that it was error to place on the plaintiff the burden of
showing the reasonableness of the fee.”
B. $65,000 for less than 100 hours of work was a
clearly excessive fee
The case was remanded for consideration under an
“unreasonable fee” standard.
C. The same standard should be applied as would be
used in deciding whether to discipline the lawyer for violating the
disciplinary rules regarding fees
At *101: “ In [a fee dispute] the court is not
deciding whether a lawyer's conduct is unethical but whether, as against the
client, it has resulted in such an enrichment at the expense of the client that
it offends a court's sense of fundamental fairness and equity. ... We conclude, therefore, that the
district court should have determined this action under an equity and fairness
standard rather than under the more demanding standard required to prove an
ethical violation.”
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
4. When managing
trust accounts required by the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct,
✓ A. a lawyer must always use interest bearing
accounts for all client funds.
Rule 1.15(II)(c): “All
client’s funds shall be placed in either an interest-bearing account with the
interest being paid to the client or an interest-bearing (IOLTA)
account...” GLE p. 50
B. a lawyer is never permitted to deposit personal
funds into trust accounts.
Rule 1.15(II)(b): No
personal funds shall ever be deposited in a lawyer’s trust account, except that unearned attorney’s fees
may be so held until the same are earned. Sufficient
personal funds of the lawyer may be kept in the trust account to cover
maintenance fees such as service charges on the account.” GLE p. 50
C. a lawyer may never remit interest earned from
client funds in a trust account to anyone other than the clients who deposited
the funds.
Interest from an IOLTA account is paid to the
Georgia Bar Foundation, Rule 1.15(II)(c). GLE p. 49
D. All of the above
E. None of the above