MPRE PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Applicant Boaz was an outstanding candidate for the bar who came from an excellent family. He had
outstanding academic credentials in both undergraduate school and in law school, as well as an
absolutely impeccable previous work experience. However, Boaz did have a little problem with
speeding. In fact, his past driving record indicates that since obtaining a driver's license (10 years
ago), Boaz has received 20 different speeding tickets (on average, about two per year) including two
within the year immediately preceding the date of his application for admission to the bar. When
filling out the sworn bar application, Boaz inadvertently omitted two of the total twenty prior
speeding tickets (i.e., he simply had so many tickets to locate and report that somehow two tickets
from his earliest driving years were inadvertently misplaced by Boaz and not included in the list).
Would the bar committee be justified in denying -✔✔b. Yes, if the committee determines that,
despite his unintentional omission of the two earliest speeding tickets on his bar application, Boaz's
application (showing a total of 18 speeding tickets, two of which were received in the current year)
nevertheless indicates Boaz's present disrespect for the authority of the law.
Attorney Hobbs practices with several other lawyers in a small firm. He also owns a company that
collects bad checks for local businesses. The check collection business is completely unrelated to
Attorney Hobbs's practice of law. In the check collection business, Attorney Hobbs was convicted of a
misdemeanor violation of the applicable wage and hour law. Based on the foregoing fact, is Attorney
Hobbs subject to discipline?
a. Attorney Hobbs is not subject to discipline because his conduct occurred in connection with his
check collection business and not while engaging in the practice of law.
b. Attorney Hobbs is not subject to discipline because lawyers can only be disciplined for felonious
criminal acts.
c. Attorney Hobbs may be subject to discipline if it is determined that he engaged in dishonesty or
deceit.
d. None of the above answers is correct. -✔✔c. Attorney Hobbs may be subject to discipline if it is
determined that he engaged in dishonesty or deceit.
Attorney Johnson represented Cliff who had been charged with the crime "cable theft" against the
local television cable company. During the course of this representation, Johnson learned how Cliff
was able to use a fairly simple technique to remove an electronic filter from inside the cable box that
blocked certain portions of the cable signal, thus allowing the user to receive the full cable signal
,(including all premium channels and high-speed internet). Unable to secure tickets to the biggest
football game of the year between the two in-state rival teams, Johnson decided to watch the game
at home on his new high-definition television. Since he also subscribed to "basic" cable service,
Johnson decided to test out his new television by temporarily removing the electronic filter from his
cable box in order to receive an HD-quality digital signal just for the game. Johnson had actually
intended to sign up with the cab -✔✔a. Johnson is subject to discipline because he was engaged in
conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Ms. Hicks is an attorney who tried without success to destroy evidence in a bitter divorce case. Ms.
Hicks "erased" and "deleted" a number of incriminating e-mails that her client had sent, for the
purpose of making sure those messages would not be available to her client's husband at trial.
Unbeknownst to Ms. Hicks, however, it is extremely difficult to "erase" e-mails, and a forensic
computer specialist was able to retrieve the messages and testify about Ms. Hick's attempts to
destroy them. Because she failed, Ms. Hicks did not violate the state obstruction of justice statute.
Which of the following statements most accurately describes the propriety of Ms. Hick's conduct
under the Model Rules?
a. Ms. Hicks didn't commit misconduct because she failed to destroy the evidence.
b. Ms. Hicks didn't commit misconduct because she did not commit a crime.
c. Ms. Hicks committed misconduct because she attempted an act, th -✔✔c. Ms. Hicks committed
misconduct because she attempted an act, that if successful, would have violated a rule of
professional conduct.
Grace Patton is an associate in a law firm. Her firm bills clients by the hour. When she began working
for the firm, she signed a statement in which she agreed to abide by firm policy. The firm policy
stated in part: "All misconduct shall be reported promptly to the managing partner and shall not be
revealed to anyone else in the firm or outside the firm."Grace discovers that Arthur, the partner who
supervises her work, always alters her time sheets by multiplying the number of hours she reported
working by 1.2, thereby claiming to clients that she spent 20% more time on each project than she
actually spent, and billing the clients accordingly. Grace reports the misconduct to the managing
partner, who tells her not to concern herself with the conduct of her superiors. He takes no action.
Would Grace be subject to discipline if she failed to report Arthur's conduct to the disciplinary
authorities?
a. Yes, because oth -✔✔b. Yes, because Arthur's conduct involves a violation of the rules that raises a
substantial question as to his honesty.
, Donald is a partner at a law firm. He supervises the work of a junior associate, Ms. Cantrell. They are
representing Whitney in her divorce proceedings. The divorce involves a heated battle over the
custody of Anna, who is the biological daughter of Whitney and her husband, Cody. Donald asks
Whitney whether she knows the password for her husband's e-mail. Whitney gives it to him. The
Donald gives the password to Ms. Cantrell and instructs her to copy all the e-mails in Cody's account
and read them to see whether Cody is having an affair. Ms. Cantrell objects. Donald says that this
investigative work could win the case for Whitney and threatens to fire Ms. Cantrell if she does not
comply. Ms. Cantrell complies. They learn that Cody really is having an affair, and Whitney wins
custody. When Cody discovers what happened, he files a disciplinary complaint against Donald and
Ms. Cantrell. Assuming that Ms. Cantrell's revi -✔✔c. Both Donald and Ms. Cantrell are subject to
discipline.
Attorney is a 5th-year associate at a large national law firm. As a 5th-year associate, Attorney can
attend business meetings of the firm, but cannot vote on any decisions. Attorney is aware that the
firm has no measures in effect that would give reasonable assurance that the paralegals are
observing the confidentiality and conflict of interest rules that are part of the professional obligations
of lawyers. When a paralegal in a separate practice group from Attorney violates the rules and the
state disciplinary authority investigates the firm's ethical compliance measures, will Attorney be
subject to discipline?
a. Yes, because any attorney with enough seniority to attend firm business meetings with the
partners has shared responsibility to ensure that measures are in effect to keep the paralegals in
compliance with the rules.
b. No, because Attorney is not a partner nor in a comparable managerial position to imple -✔✔b. No,
because Attorney is not a partner nor in a comparable managerial position to implement such
measures, nor does it appear that the paralegal was under Attorney's direct supervision.
Ms. Pugh was recently admitted to the Bar and began to work for Senior Attorney, whose practice
solely focuses on landlord-tenant issues, specifically trailer park and mobile home law. Her cousin
Julie, who also is a lawyer, recommended her to Senior Attorney for employment. Ms. Pugh had
interned for free during law school for her cousin Julie. Julie has been in practice for the past 25
years defending white collar criminals. Ms. Pugh has no other legal experience and does not know
anything about landlord-tenant issues.
Ms. Pugh was directed by Senior Attorney to prepare, draft, and sign all new leases for the next
month while Senior went on vacation, even though Senior was aware that she did not have any
experience in drafting leases. Upon Senior's departure, Senior said to Ms. Pugh, "I know that you
haven't drafted contracts before, but here is a stack of recent lease agreements to use as samples.
Your cousin spe -✔✔a. No, because Senior knows that Ms. Pugh is not competent to draft lease
agreements and Senior did not adequately supervise her work even though Senior provided sample
lease agreements.
Applicant Boaz was an outstanding candidate for the bar who came from an excellent family. He had
outstanding academic credentials in both undergraduate school and in law school, as well as an
absolutely impeccable previous work experience. However, Boaz did have a little problem with
speeding. In fact, his past driving record indicates that since obtaining a driver's license (10 years
ago), Boaz has received 20 different speeding tickets (on average, about two per year) including two
within the year immediately preceding the date of his application for admission to the bar. When
filling out the sworn bar application, Boaz inadvertently omitted two of the total twenty prior
speeding tickets (i.e., he simply had so many tickets to locate and report that somehow two tickets
from his earliest driving years were inadvertently misplaced by Boaz and not included in the list).
Would the bar committee be justified in denying -✔✔b. Yes, if the committee determines that,
despite his unintentional omission of the two earliest speeding tickets on his bar application, Boaz's
application (showing a total of 18 speeding tickets, two of which were received in the current year)
nevertheless indicates Boaz's present disrespect for the authority of the law.
Attorney Hobbs practices with several other lawyers in a small firm. He also owns a company that
collects bad checks for local businesses. The check collection business is completely unrelated to
Attorney Hobbs's practice of law. In the check collection business, Attorney Hobbs was convicted of a
misdemeanor violation of the applicable wage and hour law. Based on the foregoing fact, is Attorney
Hobbs subject to discipline?
a. Attorney Hobbs is not subject to discipline because his conduct occurred in connection with his
check collection business and not while engaging in the practice of law.
b. Attorney Hobbs is not subject to discipline because lawyers can only be disciplined for felonious
criminal acts.
c. Attorney Hobbs may be subject to discipline if it is determined that he engaged in dishonesty or
deceit.
d. None of the above answers is correct. -✔✔c. Attorney Hobbs may be subject to discipline if it is
determined that he engaged in dishonesty or deceit.
Attorney Johnson represented Cliff who had been charged with the crime "cable theft" against the
local television cable company. During the course of this representation, Johnson learned how Cliff
was able to use a fairly simple technique to remove an electronic filter from inside the cable box that
blocked certain portions of the cable signal, thus allowing the user to receive the full cable signal
,(including all premium channels and high-speed internet). Unable to secure tickets to the biggest
football game of the year between the two in-state rival teams, Johnson decided to watch the game
at home on his new high-definition television. Since he also subscribed to "basic" cable service,
Johnson decided to test out his new television by temporarily removing the electronic filter from his
cable box in order to receive an HD-quality digital signal just for the game. Johnson had actually
intended to sign up with the cab -✔✔a. Johnson is subject to discipline because he was engaged in
conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Ms. Hicks is an attorney who tried without success to destroy evidence in a bitter divorce case. Ms.
Hicks "erased" and "deleted" a number of incriminating e-mails that her client had sent, for the
purpose of making sure those messages would not be available to her client's husband at trial.
Unbeknownst to Ms. Hicks, however, it is extremely difficult to "erase" e-mails, and a forensic
computer specialist was able to retrieve the messages and testify about Ms. Hick's attempts to
destroy them. Because she failed, Ms. Hicks did not violate the state obstruction of justice statute.
Which of the following statements most accurately describes the propriety of Ms. Hick's conduct
under the Model Rules?
a. Ms. Hicks didn't commit misconduct because she failed to destroy the evidence.
b. Ms. Hicks didn't commit misconduct because she did not commit a crime.
c. Ms. Hicks committed misconduct because she attempted an act, th -✔✔c. Ms. Hicks committed
misconduct because she attempted an act, that if successful, would have violated a rule of
professional conduct.
Grace Patton is an associate in a law firm. Her firm bills clients by the hour. When she began working
for the firm, she signed a statement in which she agreed to abide by firm policy. The firm policy
stated in part: "All misconduct shall be reported promptly to the managing partner and shall not be
revealed to anyone else in the firm or outside the firm."Grace discovers that Arthur, the partner who
supervises her work, always alters her time sheets by multiplying the number of hours she reported
working by 1.2, thereby claiming to clients that she spent 20% more time on each project than she
actually spent, and billing the clients accordingly. Grace reports the misconduct to the managing
partner, who tells her not to concern herself with the conduct of her superiors. He takes no action.
Would Grace be subject to discipline if she failed to report Arthur's conduct to the disciplinary
authorities?
a. Yes, because oth -✔✔b. Yes, because Arthur's conduct involves a violation of the rules that raises a
substantial question as to his honesty.
, Donald is a partner at a law firm. He supervises the work of a junior associate, Ms. Cantrell. They are
representing Whitney in her divorce proceedings. The divorce involves a heated battle over the
custody of Anna, who is the biological daughter of Whitney and her husband, Cody. Donald asks
Whitney whether she knows the password for her husband's e-mail. Whitney gives it to him. The
Donald gives the password to Ms. Cantrell and instructs her to copy all the e-mails in Cody's account
and read them to see whether Cody is having an affair. Ms. Cantrell objects. Donald says that this
investigative work could win the case for Whitney and threatens to fire Ms. Cantrell if she does not
comply. Ms. Cantrell complies. They learn that Cody really is having an affair, and Whitney wins
custody. When Cody discovers what happened, he files a disciplinary complaint against Donald and
Ms. Cantrell. Assuming that Ms. Cantrell's revi -✔✔c. Both Donald and Ms. Cantrell are subject to
discipline.
Attorney is a 5th-year associate at a large national law firm. As a 5th-year associate, Attorney can
attend business meetings of the firm, but cannot vote on any decisions. Attorney is aware that the
firm has no measures in effect that would give reasonable assurance that the paralegals are
observing the confidentiality and conflict of interest rules that are part of the professional obligations
of lawyers. When a paralegal in a separate practice group from Attorney violates the rules and the
state disciplinary authority investigates the firm's ethical compliance measures, will Attorney be
subject to discipline?
a. Yes, because any attorney with enough seniority to attend firm business meetings with the
partners has shared responsibility to ensure that measures are in effect to keep the paralegals in
compliance with the rules.
b. No, because Attorney is not a partner nor in a comparable managerial position to imple -✔✔b. No,
because Attorney is not a partner nor in a comparable managerial position to implement such
measures, nor does it appear that the paralegal was under Attorney's direct supervision.
Ms. Pugh was recently admitted to the Bar and began to work for Senior Attorney, whose practice
solely focuses on landlord-tenant issues, specifically trailer park and mobile home law. Her cousin
Julie, who also is a lawyer, recommended her to Senior Attorney for employment. Ms. Pugh had
interned for free during law school for her cousin Julie. Julie has been in practice for the past 25
years defending white collar criminals. Ms. Pugh has no other legal experience and does not know
anything about landlord-tenant issues.
Ms. Pugh was directed by Senior Attorney to prepare, draft, and sign all new leases for the next
month while Senior went on vacation, even though Senior was aware that she did not have any
experience in drafting leases. Upon Senior's departure, Senior said to Ms. Pugh, "I know that you
haven't drafted contracts before, but here is a stack of recent lease agreements to use as samples.
Your cousin spe -✔✔a. No, because Senior knows that Ms. Pugh is not competent to draft lease
agreements and Senior did not adequately supervise her work even though Senior provided sample
lease agreements.
