500 MPRE QUESTIONS | PART 2
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH
SOLUTIONS 2024
275. Two clients, an entrepreneur and a venture capitalist, jointly consulted an attorney about
establishing a business. The two clients had not yet agreed on the confidentiality of their separate
communications with the attorney. The entrepreneur later sent the attorney a confidential
memorandum outlining his own proposed business arrangement. The venture capitalist knew that the
entrepreneur had sent the memorandum but did not know its contents. Eventually, the joint
representation ended. Two years later, the venture capitalist filed suit against the entrepreneur to
recover damages arising out of the failed business venture. Each hired a new lawyer for the litigation.
The venture capitalist then requested a copy of the memorandum during discovery, and the
entrepreneur responded that this was a privileged communication. The entrepreneur asserted that the
venture capitalist never knew the contents of the letter durin - ANSWER a) In this litigation, the
memorandum from the entrepreneur to his previous attorney is not privileged and is therefore
discoverable.
276. An attorney drafted a confidential email to a client offering legal advice on a tax matter. The client
had sought the attorney's legal opinion on the question. The attorney's answer relied partly on
information that the client had provided, partly on information the attorney himself obtained from third
parties, and partly on the attorney's own legal research on Westlaw. When the IRS later brought an
enforcement action against the client, the government lawyers sought discover of this email, hoping to
find useful evidence about the defendant's financial activities and whether the defendant had knowingly
violated the tax code. Can the government lawyers obtain the email through discovery?
a) The portions of the email relying on information from third parties is discoverable, but the parts
relying on the client's information or the attorney's own research are privileged.
b)Both the attorney and the client would h - ANSWER c)Neither the attorney nor the client would have
to disclose or testify about any of its contents.
277. A client kept in his files an old memorandum that the client had prepared for his attorney during an
earlier representation by the attorney. After some time, the client takes the memorandum to another
lawyer, in confidence, to obtain legal services on a different matter. The memorandum qualified as a
privileged communication in the earlier matter. While in the hands of the new lawyer, does the
memorandum remain under the protection of privilege?
,a) Yes, privilege still applies to the document due
to its originally privileged nature.
b) Yes, because once privilege attaches to a
document, it remains privileged permanently.
c) No, the client waived privilege by showing it to
another lawyer.
d) No, the privilege for the communication with the
first attorney ended when the client switched to another lawyer. - ANSWER a) Yes, privilege still applies
to the document due
to its originally privileged nature.
278. A client confidentially delivered his own business records to his attorney, who specializes in tax
matters, to obtain the attorney's legal adviceabout taxes. The business records were routine
bookkeeping files, not prepared for obtaining legal advice. When the IRS eventually brought an
enforcement action against the client and sought production of the business records that the client had
provided to the attorney, the attorney asserted that attorney-client privileged protected them from
disclosure. Is the attorney correct?
a)Yes, the records gain privileged status by the fact
that the client delivered them privately to the
attorney to obtain legal advice.
b) No, the records gain no privileged status by the
fact that the client delivered them to the attorney
to obtain legal advice.
c) Privilege applies to the records only if the client
was anticipating litigation at the time he gave them to the attorney, as oppos - ANSWER b) No, the
records gain no privileged status by the
fact that the client delivered them to the attorney
to obtain legal advice.
279. The police arrested Professor Stevenson and would not permit him to communicate directly with
his attorney. Professor Stevenson asked his longtime friend and confidant, Sisyphus, to convey to his
, attorney that the attorney should not permit the police to search Professor Stevenson's home. Later, the
prosecution calls the friend to testify about the contents of the message he related from Stevenson to
his attorney. The attorney claims this information is privileged. How should the court rule?
a) The contents of the message transmitted through
the friend are privileged and therefore both undiscoverable and inadmissible at trial, because the friend
was acting as an agent of the client.
b) The contents of the message are not privileged because the client disclosed them to a third party to
transmit the information to the attorney.
c) The attorney waived privilege for the information by receiving it from a third part - ANSWER a) The
contents of the message transmitted through
the friend are privileged and therefore both undiscoverable and inadmissible at trial, because the friend
was acting as an agent of the client.
280. A client who spoke only Spanish hired a local attorney who spoke English and no other languages.
The client used an interpreter to communicate an otherwise privileged message to the attorney. The
interpreter was an acquaintance of the client. The opposing party later tried to have the interpreter
testify at trial about the contents of the conversation he interpreted. The attorney objected that the
information falls under the protection of attorney- client privilege. Is the attorney correct?
a) Yes, but only if the interpreter signed a nondisclosure agreement and understood that the
conversation was privileged.
b) Yes, because the interpreter acted as an agent of the client in facilitating the provision of legal
services.
c) No, the interpreter was unnecessary, because a client could easily find another lawyer who speaks
Spanish.
d) No, because the client and attorney had the conversation in the presence of a th - ANSWER b) Yes,
because the interpreter acted as an agent of the client in facilitating the provision of legal services.
281. An attorney agreed to represent an underage client in a legal matter. The client was fifteen years
old, and the youth's parents were present at theconsultations and other meetings with the attorney.
Would the presence of the parents during confidential communications between the attorney and the
underage client waive the protection of attorney- client privilege for the conversation?
a) Yes, because the attorney is discussing confidential matters with a client in the presence of nonclients.