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Ethical Scenario-Legal Fees/Financial Matters
Scenario 1:
A solo practitioner’s wife was diagnosed with valve blockage and needed to have immediate open heart surgery. The hospital required the sum of $42,000.00 to be paid as a deposit towards their portion of the surgery based on their health insurance policy. The attorney wrote a check to himself from his trust account to cover the deposit required by the hospital. After a successful surgery and recovery by his wife, the attorney repaid the full $42,000.00 into his trust account. 1) Discuss the ramifications of the attorney’s actions referencing the rules.
2) What is the ethical obligation of the attorney’s paralegal if the paralegal knows of the attorney’s actions?
A lawyer is representative of clients, an officer of the legal system, and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice. As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As an adviser, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. As an advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system. As a negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealing with others. As an intermediary between clients, a lawyer seeks to reconcile their interests as an adviser and o a limited extent, as a spokesperson for each client. A lawyer acts as an evaluator by examining a client’s legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others. In all professional functions a lawyer should be competent, prompt, and diligent. With that being said the attorney should of not written a check to himself from his trust account to cover the deposit required by he hospital. He should of paid the cost out of his

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