Attorney Conflict of Interest Case Brief (Essay Sample)

Unit 8 Assignment:Conflicts of InterestPA305: Law Office ManagementProfessor DATE \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" \* MERGEFORMAT October 16, 2016 Attorney Conflict of Interest Case Brief Title QUINTERO v. UNITED STATES Facts Manuel Quintero, who was convicted on possession of cocaine charges with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, motioned the trial court to vacate his sentence on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel attributed to a potential conflict of interest involving his attorney. Quintero, an indigent defendant, cited prejudicial errors made by his attorney during trial which may have been the result of disloyalty due to the fact that Quintero’s attorney’s fees were paid by an undisclosed third party. The trial court denied the motion and Quintero appealed the decision before the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. Issue The government contended that Perez had to demonstrate "an actual conflict of interest adversely affects his lawyer’s performance. As such, the main issues were: 1 Whether or not defense counsel’s failure to comply with MRPC Rules 1.7(b) and1.8(f)(1-2) constituted a conflict of interest effectively denying defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. 2 Whether such a conflict of interest affected counsel’s performance when he repeatedly insisted defendant not accept a plea agreement. Rule Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.7(a)(2): (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), a lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest. A concurrent conflict of interest exists if: (2) there is a significant risk that the representation of one or more clients will be materially limited by the lawyer's responsibilities to another client, a former client or a third person or by a personal interest of the lawyer (American Bar Association, 2003). Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.8(f)(1-2):A lawyer shall not accept compensation for representing a client from one other than the client unless:(1) the client gives informed consent;(2) there is no interference with the lawyer's independence of professional judgment or with the client-lawyer relationship; and Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 5.4(c): (Center for professional responsibility, 2006) (c) A lawyer shall not permit a person who recommends, employs, or pays the lawyer to render legal services for another to direct or regulate the lawyer's professional judgment in rendering such legal services (Burns, 2016). Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 8.4(a)(c): It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to:(a) violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, knowingly assist or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another;(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation;(d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice (Schneeman, 2000) Decision The United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded Quintero’s conviction after an evidentiary hearing was conducted to determine whether or not conflict of interest in violation of ethical rules was a primary motivating factor behind the attorney’s repeated insistence that the defendant not accept a plea agreement. The court noted that the attorney’s misconduct may have also obstructed justice because defendant’s guilty plea and cooperation with authorities could have led to the prosecution of unindicted coconspirators. The court also found that the outcome for the defendant was adversely affected by the counsel’s ineffective assistance because defendant would have received a lighter sentence had the attorney recommended he accept the plea agreement. Reasoning The right to effective assistance of counsel is a fundamental right guaranteed to all criminal defendants by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct, as adopted by the American Bar Association, clearly define the obligation of attorneys to refrain from any conduct that adversely affects the attorney’s duty of loyalty and independent judgment to the client. The standard for proving ineffective assistance of counsel was established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) where the court held that, "With regard to the required showing of ...