I was reading a novel the other day, when some issues relating to the above came up, and I was wondering how closely the author’s vision related to the real world.
In particular, is it legally and ethically inappropriate for a lawyer involved with a criminal case to have sex with his client?
How about his client’s mother?
Is there anything legally or ethically that says that a person should not act as a defense attorney in criminal court for one’s girlfriend’s son? (The son in the book is eighteen–legally an adult, but practically not quite there yet).
Or more generally, are there standards regarding practicing law on behalf of those closely related to the lawyer?
You should select an ethical code that is current and in force, which “New York Lawyer’s Code of Professional Responsibility” is not (the only code I am aware of that numbers in the way noted above).
More relevantly, the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, accepted in 40 states (including New York), forbids sexual relationships with clients, unless the sexual relationship predates the lawyer-client relationship.
The Rules 1.8(j)-(k)New York Rules of Professional Responsibility (pdf) govern sexual relationships between lawyer and client. They provide:
(j) (1) A lawyer shall not:
(i) as a condition of entering into or continuing any professional representation by the lawyer or the lawyer’s firm, require or demand sexual relations with any person;
(ii) employ coercion, intimidation or undue influence in entering into sexual relations incident to any professional representation by the lawyer or the lawyer’s firm; or
(iii) in domestic relations matters, enter into sexual relations with a client during the course of the lawyer’s representation of the client.
(2) Rule 1.8(j)(1) shall not apply to sexual relations between lawyers and their spouses or to ongoing consensual sexual relationships that predate the initiation of the client-lawyer relationship.
(k) Where a lawyer in a firm has sexual relations with a client but does not participate in the representation of that client, the lawyers in the firm shall not be subject to discipline under this Rule solely because of the occurrence of such sexual relations.
More generally, under Rule 1.7(a)(2):
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) [with regard to informed consent, where the conflict is not sufficiently serious to be non-waivable], a lawyer shall
not represent a client if a reasonable lawyer would conclude that either:
(1) the representation will involve the lawyer in representing differing interests; or
(2) there is a significant risk that the lawyer’s professional judgment on behalf of a client will be adversely affected by the lawyer’s own financial, business, property or other personal interests.
Under this rule, representation of a family member would be considered, usually on a case-by-case basis under the facts of the situation.
What if you have someone as a client, do your legal work for them and once the legal work is finished, start a relationship with them?
What if it’s a situation like this: I draft a contract for a client. Once I’ve finished drafting the contract and that work is over, I ask her out and begin a personal relationship. Then, while the personal relationship is ongoing, I do more legal work for her. Trouble?