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Fees and Fee Sharing

Fees and Fee Sharing

Q Instructions Michelle is a well known family lawyer with a reputation for aggressive tactics toward opposing lawyers and their clients. If you want to make your spouse regret the day that you two ever met, much less left you, contact Michelle and hope that your spouse hasn’t hired her first. In return for making your former mate wretched, Michelle will charge you an exorbitant sum. Afterward, you decide to never remarry, just to be certain you’ll never need Michelle again. Because of her reputation and results, Michelle charges $350 an hour, and requires a $10,000 advance payment. She has cases throughout the state, and, while driving, Michelle is constantly makes cell phone calls and uses her cell phone at red lights and highway construction delays, etc. Michelle's clients know that she charges for travel time, but they don’t know that she engages in billable activities while traveling. Can Michelle bill the clients for whom she is traveling, and simultaneously bill the other clients for whom she is making phone calls and other communication? If not, whose bill should get cut? In addition, Michelle was referred to your case by your best friend, Michael, who is a criminal defense attorney. Michael is looking to get a referral fee from Michelle. Can Michelle give Michael a piece of the fee tat she is charging you? Please write a 2 page paper discussing the ethical issues in the above scenario. Be sure to address the specific rules within the Model Rules of Professional Conduct that concern setting fees and fee sharing. Make sure that you support your thoughts and opinions with legal terminology and reasoning, as well as support them with references as needed. Your paper should include a title page and reference page. Make sure you properly format and reference your paper, following the Bluebook (if you are a Legal Studies student) or the APA guidelines (if you are not a Legal Studies student).

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A well-known family lawyer, Michelle is notorious for using aggressive strategies when dealing with rival attorneys and their clients. Michelle was assigned to a case with a new client by her closest friend Michael, a criminal defense lawyer; however, Michael wants a referral fee from Michelle. Since Michelle cannot pay Michael a portion of the money she is charging customers for sending the case to him, this is improper from a legal standpoint and breaches the client's right to privacy. The legal profession in the United States is self-governing, although members are not permitted to oppress customers (Gillers et al., 2018).