(b) The entire practice, or the entire area of practice, is sold to one or more lawyers or law firms;
There is a general presumption that a judge is impartial. A judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned when, for example, personal familiarity with the facts of the particular case or a judge's relationship with the particular parties may establish judicial bias or prejudice. But judges are presumed to be able to put aside general preferences, and to follow the law. Therefore, judges are not required to recuse themselves simply because of past professional experience working on behalf of a particular policy, because of a prior association with an organization that reflects particular political, social, or philosophical preferences, or because of previously expressed opinions on the generally applicable law.
(A) A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality* might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to the following circumstances:
The work-product doctrine broadly protects any material prepared by a lawyer in anticipation of litigation, including witness statements as well as the lawyer's opinions and mental impressions.
When an evaluation provided to a third party presents no significant risk to the client, the lawyer may be impliedly authorized to disclose information to carry out the representation.
A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. A lawyer for the defendant in a criminal proceeding, or the respondent in a proceeding that could result in incarceration, may nevertheless so defend the proceeding as to require that every element of the case be established.
The name of a lawyer holding public office may not be used in the name of a law firm during any substantial period in which the lawyer is not actively and regularly practicing with the firm.
The attorney-client privilege requires that the communication be made in confidence. A client communication is made in confidence if the communicating person reasonably believes that no one except a privileged person will learn the contents of the communication.
The prosecutor in a criminal case shall: (a) refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause;
(a) Subject to paragraphs (c) and (d), a lawyer shall abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation and, as required by Rule 1.4, shall consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued. A lawyer may take such action on behalf of the client as is impliedly authorized to carry out the representation. A lawyer shall abide by a client's decision whether to settle a matter. In a criminal case, the lawyer shall abide by the client's decision, after consultation with the lawyer, as to a plea to be entered, whether to waive jury trial and whether the client will testify.
Model Rule 4.1 prohibits a lawyer from knowingly making a false statement of material fact to a third person; however, Comment 2 states that under generally accepted conventions in negotiation, certain types of statements are not taken as statements of material fact, including estimates of price or value or statements of a party's intentions as to an acceptable settlement of a claim. The attorney's statements with respect to the amount the buyer was willing to pay clearly fell within these conventions.
(c) A lawyer shall not solicit any substantial gift from a client, including a testamentary gift, or prepare on behalf of a client an instrument giving the lawyer or a person related to the lawyer any substantial gift unless the lawyer or other recipient of the gift is related to the client. For purposes of this paragraph, related persons include a spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent or other relative or individual with whom the lawyer or the client maintains a close, familial relationship.
There is no Model Rule or other law that requires a lawyer to have "good cause" to decline to represent a prospective client, or to provide a reason for declining such representation, even when there are no other competent lawyers who could represent the prospective client.
A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation consistent with the interests of the client.
Federal district courts have inherent authority to regulate the conduct of attorneys who appear before them, including the authority to disqualify an attorney based on conflicts of interest or ethical violations. This authority includes enforcing rules of professional conduct, such as the state's version of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, as adopted by the local rule of the federal district court.
(a) A lawyer shall not enter into a business transaction with a client or knowingly acquire an ownership, possessory, security or other pecuniary interest adverse to a client unless:(1) the transaction and terms on which the lawyer acquires the interest are fair and reasonable to the client and are fully disclosed and transmitted in writing in a manner that can be reasonably understood by the client;(2) the client is advised in writing of the desirability of seeking and is given a reasonable opportunity to seek the advice of independent legal counsel on the transaction; and(3) the client gives informed consent, in a writing signed by the client, to the essential terms of the transaction and the lawyer's role in the transaction, including whether the lawyer is representing the client in the transaction.
(a) A lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the 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).
(A) A judge shall not initiate, permit, or consider ex parte communications, or consider other communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers, concerning a pending or impending matter, except as follows:(1) When circumstances require it, ex parte communication for scheduling, administrative, or emergency purposes, which does not address substantive matters, is permitted, provided:(a) the judge reasonably believes that no party will gain a procedural, substantive, or tactical advantage as a result of the ex parte communication; and
(b) A lawyer shall not solicit professional employment by live person-to-person contact when a significant motive for the lawyer’s doing so is the lawyer’s or law firm’s pecuniary gain, unless the contact is with a:
(1) lawyer;
(2) person who has a family, close personal, or prior business or professional relationship with the lawyer or law firm; or
(3) person who routinely uses for business purposes the type of legal services offered by the lawyer.
[3] With regard to paragraph (b), it is not improper to pay a witness's expenses or to compensate an expert witness on terms permitted by law. The common law rule in most jurisdictions is that it is improper to pay an occurrence witness any fee for testifying and that it is improper to pay an expert witness a contingent fee.
