Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I represent co-defendants in a suit for misappropriation of trade secrets. The plaintiff has offered to settle for a total sum of $1 million. Although both defendants were involved, it appears from the evidence that the plaintiff has a very good case on damages against one but not the other. What are my obligations in presenting the settlement demand to the clients? Should I have thought of this in the engagement process? What do I do now?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, Last year, I negotiated a complex and lengthy contract for a client. The client has now been sued for breach of the contract. The case will turn on a pivotal issue of contract interpretation and the intent of the parties. The client will likely want me to be a witness as I was part of all the dealings with the other side. Can our firm defend the suit? What if my recollection of the negotiations differs substantially from our client’s on a critical issue? 

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, My no-good brother-in-law has been fired, again. I know this because after downing his customary six-pack of Old Milwaukee at a family barbecue, he gave me all the excruciating details, including his view that he was fired because of his age and some younger workers brought in, although he did concede that he might not have worked very hard.

I listened as politely as I could to this tale of woe. When at the end of it all, he asked what he should do about a discrimination claim, I told him somewhat absent-mindedly that his recourse would be to file a discrimination charge against his employer with the EEOC. I never discussed representing him. Now, months later, I see a conflicts check request at our firm showing his former employer as an existing client of the firm, and my brother-in-law as the adverse party. The nature of the matter? Defend an age discrimination charge, of course. I would not be involved in the matter, but does my firm have a conflict here?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, You successfully represent a client in the sale of her Company for some serious money. It is a stock sale and the Company will continue to operate, but as a free-standing subsidiary of the Buyer. The stock purchase agreement contains an earn-out provision and representations and warranties that may or may not give rise to issues between the Seller client and the Buyer down the road. The Seller client will want your assistance on those matters if they arise. Meanwhile, because you are familiar with the Company and impressed Buyer in the sale, Buyer wants you to continue to represent the Company going forward. May you do both?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, The name of a client in an unrelated matter is identified as a potential trial witness in litigation by an opposing party. Based on the general description of the nature of her testimony, it appears that she will be a material adverse witness and should be deposed. Would it be a conflict for me to take her deposition in the litigation given that our representation of her is unrelated? What about simply having an informal conversation with her about her anticipated testimony?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I have contacts with a trade association which has asked me to present two seminars a year and to prepare a monthly summary of significant legal developments for its members. In exchange, the association will endorse and recommend my firm to its members on its website and in member communications. May I enter into such an agreement?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, A lawyer is representing the plaintiffs, six people injured to various extents in an industrial accident. Is it unethical for a defendant’s lawyer to extend an aggregate settlement offer to settle all the cases on an all or nothing basis? Must the plaintiffs’ lawyer withdraw from representing the multiple plaintiffs when an aggregate settlement offer is received if it would be difficult to obtain agreement of the amounts that each should receive?  

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, Our firm is currently advising Client A on whether a product it is developing would infringe a patent held by Competitor B. B has now asked a lawyer with the firm to represent it in an unrelated breach of contract lawsuit brought by one of its distributors. Can this conflict be waived?