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[textbook]Traversing the Ethical Minefield Problems, Law, and Professional Responsibility by Susan R. Martyn (z-lib.org)(1) (1)

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required by the law or court order. 5

The third sphere of authority (the middle column) includes all other decisions not

reserved solely to clients or lawyers. Here, authority is shared, and lawyers and clients can

bargain for broad delegation of authority to a lawyer, close continuing consultation with a

client, or some measure of each. 6

All three spheres of authority place affirmative duties of communication on lawyers

during a representation. When a decision reserved to a client arises, the lawyer must

promptly inform and consult with the client about the decision. 7 When a client insists on

illegal conduct, the lawyer must promptly inform the client that the conduct is not

permitted and must explain why. 8 In all other aspects of the representation, the lawyer

must consult with the client regarding the means to accomplish the client’s objectives, keep

the client reasonably informed, and promptly respond to client inquiries.

2. Authority of Lawyer to Act for Client

The outcome of this consultation creates terms of the engagement or, in agency

terminology, authority, which obligates lawyers to obey the client’s lawful instructions and

empowers lawyers to act on behalf of the client. 9 The law of agency recognizes two basic

kinds of authority that will bind the client-principal to third parties for acts taken by the

client’s lawyer-agent.

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