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

that alimony can be negotiated later, but we know that the law will bar such a claim? What
if the opposing lawyer is a best friend? Has not handled many divorces?
1-4. During negotiations, a lawyer for the buyer agrees on behalf of his client to pay an
extra $50,000 because, the lawyer observes, “the land is zoned for ten lots.” Martyn & Fox,
representing the seller, knows that the lawyer is mistaken. Should Martyn & Fox close the
deal without correcting the mistake?
B. Lawyers and Law Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 Restatement
(Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers §§ 5, 6
The Law Governing Lawyers:
Sources of Law
In this series of notes entitled “The Law Governing Lawyers,” we consider the substantive
standards, remedies, and sanctions embedded in the various strands of law that, taken as a
whole, constitute the law governing lawyers.
Professional responsibility or legal ethics is the study of what is required for a lawyer to
provide a professional service to a client. The law governing lawyers regulates this
relationship, creates obligations to the legal system, and provides for a variety of remedies
when lawyers violate professional norms. As we examine this law, we will encounter two
very interesting dimensions. First, this is a typical law school class, which requires you to
examine a wide variety of substantive law. Second, the “ethics” in legal ethics requires you
to address moral questions and decide how to exercise your own moral discretion.
Sources of Law
The law governing lawyers includes two sources of law: the applicable rules of professional
conduct 1 enacted by the highest court in each jurisdiction and general common law and
statutes applied to lawyers. The Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers
(2000) 2 brings most of these two bodies of law together. Although each set of rules imposes
its own legal consequences, they have developed in parallel paths and cross-fertilized each
other over the past century.
Rules of Professional Conduct Lawyers are the only professional group licensed and
regulated by the judicial rather than the legislative branch of government. The highest state
court in each jurisdiction and each federal court adopt Rules of Professional Conduct that
govern lawyer conduct after admission to the bar.
In the past century, the American Bar Association (ABA) has promulgated various
model rules and recommended them to the highest courts in each jurisdiction. 3 Each state
and federal court has relied on these models to enact its own version of an official set of
professional rules, usually in the form of court rules. Violation of a rule provision subjects a
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