Who Decides Strategy: Lawyer or Client?
October 2009
Clients today are much more likely to insist on a decision-making role in contested matters. But what does an attorney do when his or her client disagrees about litigation strategy?
Special Credit in "Special Credit -- Legal Ethics"
1. Continuing to press a lawsuit discovered to lack probable cause may constitute malicious prosecution,subjecting the prosecuting attorney to civil liability. True False
2. The attorney, not the client, has authority to decide which witnesses to call during trial. True False
3. On appeal, an attorney may not abandon a defense even if he or she considers it to be unmeritorious. True False
4. If a client insists that an attorney engage in conduct that is contrary to the attorney’s judgment andadvice, the attorney may withdraw. True False
5. A Comment to the Model Rules suggests that an attorney defer to the client’s instructions with respect tothe cost of litigation. True False
6. If an attorney and a client disagree over whether a case should be tried, the attorney has no grounds towithdraw from the action. True False
7. When a court finds that a case was brought to harass or cause undue delay, sanctions may be awardedagainst both attorney and client. True False
8. An attorney may withdraw if a client persists in pursuing an objective that is not illegal but that thelawyer considers repugnant or imprudent. True False
9. An attorney may suppress damaging evidence in a case if it is in the client’s best interests. True False
10. In pursuing clients’ interests, attorneys have an ethical duty to employ only means that are con-sistentwith the truth. True False
11. An attorney may conduct a defense without probable cause if there is a good faith argument formodifying or reversing existing law. True False
12. A Comment to the Model Rules suggests that clients defer to their lawyers’ expertise on technical, legal,and tactical matters. True False
13. Withdrawal from a case is permitted when the client makes it unreasonably difficult for the attorney towork effectively. True False
14. An attorney shall not continue to represent a client in asserting a position that is unwarranted or withoutprobable cause under existing law, unless there is a good faith argument for modifying or reversing thatlaw. True False
15. An attorney may mislead a judicial officer if the attorney believes in good faith that an existing law shouldbe modified or reversed. True False
16. An attorney has the authority to decide what legal arguments to pursue in prosecuting an appeal. True False
17. The California Rules of Professional Conduct provide bright-line rules for allocating authority between anattorney and client. True False
18. The client has the ultimate authority to determine whether to waive a fundamental right, such as theright to a jury trial. True False
19. An attorney must withdraw from a pending case when he or she knows the client is asserting a litigationposition, without probable cause, to harass or injure any person. True False
20. Trial lawyers should temper zealous advocacy with an objective assessment of the merits of their clients’cases. True False
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