The four neighbors (Ables, Barges, Coons and Delaney) live in an older neighborhood with large oak trees. Due to Los Angeles city regulations none of the neighbors can touch the oak trees. Only the city can trim, move, or otherwise maintain these oak trees anywhere in Los Angeles including on a homeowner's private property. Each of the four neighbors have oak trees in their back yards which are decades old. They are beautiful, but messy! They city does their best to maintain all the oak trees, but it's a huge job and it does not always get done as timely as they would like. The oak trees require regular water, but otherwise are easy to maintain. They can grow over 100 feet tall.

As a rule, this is the city's maintenance schedule:

• All oak trees are trimmed every two years. The trimming includes cutting branches away from power lines.
• Homeowners are required to water on a regular basis all oak trees on their private property to help maintain the trees in a healthy condition.
• Individuals are required to inform the city within 48 hours of notice of any dangerous conditions or any condition requiring 'immediate maintenance' via an app on their phone or to call 311 if any oak trees are dry, dying, or if any branches are touching power lines so the city can come out as soon as possible to either cut the branch or remove the tree completely.

The next tree trimming for Ventura Boulevard is set for January 2022.

About 4 months ago Sam was in the Barges' backyard and noticed that one of their oak trees was dry at the top and was starting to lean into the local power line. He pointed this out to Barbara who also saw the dry branches and said, "I'll keep an eye out for it." Over the next couple of months Barbara would notice that the branch was becoming increasingly dry and starting to lean more into the power line. She decided to double the watering time to that area of her back yard for a few weeks to see if that would help. Unfortunately, it did not help and the dryness continued and became worse and the branch continued to get closer to the power line. At this point the dryness had become so obvious that John Coon could see it from his backyard. One day John saw Jeff in his front yard and, even though he hated the idea of it, he went over and told him about the tree and that Jeff needed to get the city out to "take care of it immediately!"

What John didn't know is that Jeff had picked up Sam's habit of smoking marijuana and Jeff was high during the conversation and he did not remember what they discussed. Jeff had actually become a drug addict at this point and was using numerous drugs. Barbara had filed for divorce from Jeff the week before and Jeff had moved out into an apartment. Jeff was only there that afternoon when John saw him to pick up a few things from the house.

Around this same time, the Delaneys continued to unpack and get settled into their new home. Being incredibly homesick, the Delaneys did a video chat with their church community back home so the community could be a part of a blessing ceremony for the new house. Part of the ceremony was to release three white doves for good luck and prosperity for the family in their new home. With the community watching via video, the Delaney's went into the backyard and released the doves. One of the doves suddenly became spooked when cheers and clapping could be heard from the video feed, and it crashed into the power line! The crash caused a spark reaction that traveled from the Delaney's home to the Barges' home. Because the dry oak tree branch was so close to the power line, the spark immediately ignited the tree into an explosion of flames! Fire traveled from tree to tree and then also from house to house. The fire cause massive damage to not only the four neighbors' homes, but also to 153 other homes in the neighborhood. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. Estimated damages from the fire is $150,000,000.

The city of Los Angeles is now suing the Ables, Barges, Coons, and Delaneys for the damages. The Ables hire lawyer Larry Lavine. Larry represented the Ables many years before when Elliott Able was sued for personal injuries from a car accident case. He has handled a few property damage cases before, and this is something he can take on. The Barges decide to also sign on with Larry after the Ables' recommend him.

Hearing there are two other defendants, Larry decides he wants to represent all four defendants. He does the following:

• He knocks on the Coons' door, but there is no answer. He leaves his business card. He then goes to the hospital where both of the Coons as doctors work to sign them on as clients. They are both in surgery and Larry needs to go try to track down the Delaneys, so he leaves his associate, Sanjay, there. He tells Sanjay to sign the Coons no matter what! Sanjay tracks down the Coons and tells them, "Mr. Lavine has defended these kinds of cases thousands of times! This is no problem for him and he will win this for you. Besides, you really do not have the time to think about this. You have been sued and you need to respond to the complaint, or you will be in jail. What will happen to your kids?" In between a busy schedule, the Coons do not have time to think about what to do and sign on with Larry and Sanjay.
• By this time, Larry has barged his way into the Delaney's home and is telling them to sign on with him. He does not know that the Coons have signed on with his firm, but he tells the Delaneys that they have and that they have, "no choice, but to sign on with my firm. Who else will help you out here in Los Angeles?" The Delaneys are confused, scared, and have never made a decision like this. They video call their church elder to talk with them and Larry. Larry is annoyed and cannot understand why these two adults need another adult to help them make this simple decision! It is clear the church elder has no idea what a lawsuit even is or how Larry is supposed to help here, but one thing Larry does know is that the church has a lot of money and will be paying his bill! Larry lies and tells the church elder that, "I am here to protect Debi and Al from the horrible thing that the city of Los Angeles is trying to do here. Let me be here to hold their hand and to make this right so that they can concentrate on church matters." The elder is overjoyed and tells the Delaneys to sign on with Larry which they do immediately. The Delaneys and the elder tell Larry that he must only communicate from this point forward to the elder who will relay all information to the Delaneys. He says, "Sure, whatever," as he heads out the door.

Larry and Sanjay sign engagement letters with all the clients and start work. As the case progresses and information begins to come out, Larry and Sanjay try their best to field calls from all four sets of clients, but keeping them apprised of information has been hard. The case is busy, and the media coverage is relentless. Firefighters' and investigators' report on their initial findings begin to come out about dry tree branches, doves, each of the neighbors, etc. The neighbors are mad, other homeowners who lost their homes are mad, the city of Los Angeles is mad! Larry and Sanjay are now faced with the following:

• The Ables want to file a cross-complaint for damage to their home, and emotional distress against the Barges, Coones, and Delaneys.
• Barbara and Jeff Barges, who are now completely divorced, want to file a cross-complaint for damage to their home and emotional distress against the Delaneys. Even though they signed on as clients with Larry together, they now want Larry to file individual lawsuits on their behalf. Their divorce was still not final when they first signed on with Larry. Part of the divorce was that Barbara would get the house, but that Larry would get 30% of any sales profits from the house at any time when Barbara would decide to sell the house.
• The Coons want Larry to file a lawsuit against the Barges for damage to their home and emotional distress. They also want Larry to file a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles for allowing power lines anywhere in the city. They believe the power lines contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle and high electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere which will cause kids to have excessive limbs (arms and legs) in 50 to 100 years. They are doing research on this issue now although they really do not have much information.
• The church elder wants Larry to attend a special 6 hour prayer session this evening with Debi and Al in their home and the entire church community via video conference. This is an important session that the community uses to help during times of conflict. The church elder is flying out tomorrow to Los Angeles to better advise Debi and Al. The church elder wants Larry to file "whatever papers he has to" to have the Delaneys dismissed from the lawsuit. What Larry and Delaneys do not yet know is that the church community back in Pennsylvania took a vote and decided that the church will only pay for Larry's services if they are for an immediate dismissal of the lawsuit. The church elder will deliver the news to Larry and the Delaneys when he lands in Los Angeles. If Larry insists he cannot just get a dismissal of the lawsuit against the Delaneys then the Delaneys will have to find another way to pay for Larry's services.

Answer the following questions:

1. What ethical violations, if any, has Sanjay committed. Answer according to ABA authorities.
2. What ethical violations, if any, has Larry committed. Answer according to ABA authorities.

Reference: ABA Model Rules

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/model_rules_of_professional_conduct_table_of_contents/