Lawyer’s Duty of Competence

MR 1.1 : A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation
If no harm from a breach, there is no malpractice claim
Strictness standard for inefficient conduct is stricter than Model Rules
Duty of Competence: Knowledge
- Generally, a lawyer should be familiar with well-settled principles of law relevant to that person’s case
- Also required to discover any additional rules of law that reasonably competent research would have found
- Procedural and court rules
Skill requires legal analysis, evaluation of evidence, drafting (sloppy or incoherent pleadings led to punishment In re Willis and In re Hogan)
The rules talk about what is minimally required
Thoroughness and Preparation
- closely related to duty of diligence, sufficient fact investigation and legal research to advance client claims
Factors to consider in taking on a case : how much time to learn, experience, relative complexity of the matter, etc.