These summaries were prepared by McGuireWoods LLP lawyer Thomas E. Spahn. They are based on the letter opinions issued by the Virginia State Bar. Any editorial comments reflect Mr. Spahn's current personal views, and not the opinions of the Virginia State Bar, McGuireWoods or its clients. 
 
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  Topic: 20 - Government Official Conflicts
LEO NumTopicsSummaryDate
1718

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20-Government Official Conflicts

"[I]t is not ethically permissible for a law firm to represent a client in a matter before a governing body when one of the law firm's lawyers is a member of the governing body even if he/she discloses the conflict and abstains from participation and voting in the matter." [This rule was expanded in LEO 1763 to include any "public body" and to include any communication with the public body, not just a personal appearance before it.]12/2/1998
0713

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A city attorney may serve as a hearing officer in other jurisdictions as long as the lawyer complies with the ethics rules. 8/20/1985
1439

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

73-Family Law Lawyers

A Commissioner in Chancery involved in a divorce proceeding left a firm to become a judge. The client may hire another lawyer in the firm to represent the client in a child custody dispute. 10/21/1991
1538

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2-Adversity to Former Clients

9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

51-Government Attorneys

A Commonwealth's Attorney may not act in a quasi-judicial capacity involving a grievance when ten years earlier the lawyer (while in private practice) worked with the grievant in a related matter. 6/22/1993
0205

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20-Government Official Conflicts

51-Government Attorneys

A Commonwealth's Attorney who advised a Board of Supervisors about a permit may participate as a member of a Commission deciding whether to revoke the permit. 5/18/1970
0893

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A law firm may give Christmas cookies valued at less than $10 to Circuit Court Clerk employees. 4/1/1987
0343

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A law firm may not represent a water and sanitation authority when one of its partners is the authority's chairman. 10/1/1979
0206

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20-Government Official Conflicts

55-Firm Names and Letterhead

A law firm's name may not include the name of a lawyer/legislator who is not actively practicing in the firm. 5/28/1970
1824

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer acting as a Commissioner in Chancery in a lawsuit brought by a homeowners' association to enforce its lien for unpaid assessments may not be involved in the lawsuit if he participated "personally and substantially" in the assessment matter while in private practice. Work performed by the lawyer's partner in private practice is not imputed to the lawyer for this analysis -- the "conflict is personal to him."1/10/2006
1763

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer cannot "appear" (either in person, by submission, letter, etc.) before any public board, or "other public body," upon which another lawyer in the firm sits. The disqualification cannot be cured by the lawyer's recusal from pertinent decisions on the board or other public body (expanding the reach of earlier LEO 1718 beyond "governing bodies" and beyond in-person "appearance" before public bodies).1/6/2002
0683

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer holding public office may represent clients on charges of violating laws or ordinances as long as the lawyer complies with all of the ethics rules (modifying LEO 564). 6/17/1985
1291

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7-Family Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may appear before a Board of Zoning Appeals of which the lawyer's spouse/partner is a member, as long as the spouse abstains from participation in the matter. [This LEO was presumably overruled by LEO 1718.]10/19/1989
1360

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may appear before an elected official or a governing body of which an elected official is a member after making legal contributions to the official's election campaign (although the lawyer may not violate contribution laws nor imply that the lawyer has influence with the official as a result of the contribution). 6/13/1990
1502

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20-Government Official Conflicts

28-Law Firm Staff

32-Lawyers Acting in Other Roles (Miscellaneous)

A lawyer may continue to appear before the Virginia General Assembly (not on behalf of any particular client, but rather on behalf of certain positions) even though one of the lawyer's employees now serves in the Virginia General Assembly. The Bar apparently made this approval contingent on the lawyer not acting as a "lobbyist" as that term is statutorily defined. The lawyer may also serve as a part-time litigation assistant to an employee who is serving in the Virginia General Assembly, because the lawyer will not receive any fee or cost reimbursement from the state. 12/14/1992
1054

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

28-Law Firm Staff

48-Criminal Defense Lawyers

A lawyer may continue to represent criminal clients (but must act cautiously) if the lawyer's secretary was a part-time magistrate in the same jurisdiction.3/29/1988
0279

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20-Government Official Conflicts

39-Miscellaneous

A lawyer may not give a gift to a public official for the official's performance of a public duty. 2/10/1976
0537

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may not lobby before any state legislative body when a partner is a member of that body. 1/18/1984
0419

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may not lobby the legislature if the lawyer's partner is a member of the legislature, even if there is disclosure by the lobbyist and disclosure and abstention by the legislator. 7/21/1981
0826

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may not represent a client before a local health department if it is merely an extension of a state health department or health regulatory board for which the lawyer sits as a part-time hearing officer. 10/15/1986
0617

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may not represent a party in a special education due process hearing when the lawyer's partner is the presiding hearing officer, although the lawyer may do so if the partner was a presiding hearing officer on other cases. 10/24/1984
0737

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

73-Family Law Lawyers

A lawyer may not serve as a Commissioner in Chancery in a divorce action in which the defendant is a sitting judge in that circuit. 11/1/1985
0981

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may not serve as a hearing officer for special education cases when 60% of the lawyer's practice involves representation in special education hearings against local school divisions. 10/12/1987
0653

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7-Family Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may participate in litigation in which the lawyer might move before the Department of Social Services to conduct investigation, even though the lawyer's wife is an employee of the Department (but who does not perform such investigations). 12/29/1984
0592

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7-Family Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may represent a lawyer's spouse in a partition suit or serve as a special commissioner even though the spouse may purchase the property. 7/5/1984
0830

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may represent a school board on which the lawyer's partner sits as long as there is full disclosure and consent. 9/23/1986
0520

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

73-Family Law Lawyers

A lawyer may represent a wife in a personal injury case against her husband even though the lawyer's partner (sitting as a substitute judge) found the husband guilty of a traffic violation. 5/16/1983
0500

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer may serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals while acting as a General District Court substitute judge, because the court has no jurisdiction over Board of Zoning Appeals matters. 11/8/1982
0193

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16-Lawyer's Personal Interests

20-Government Official Conflicts

55-Firm Names and Letterhead

A lawyer may use firm letterhead in soliciting support for a public office that must be held by a lawyer.9/28/1965
0632

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer occasionally serving as a hearing officer may not represent a client before a state agency in a proceeding involving the same subject matter on which the lawyer serves as a hearing officer for the agency. 12/3/1984
0216

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer representing a client in a zoning appeal must make disclosure and withdraw from representing the client upon receiving notice of appointment as town attorney. 7/28/1972
0476

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer serving on a county's Board of Supervisors may not sit as a substitute judge. 10/4/1982
0269

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20-Government Official Conflicts

32-Lawyers Acting in Other Roles (Miscellaneous)

76-Trust and Estate Lawyers

A lawyer who acted as Commissioner in Chancery in overseeing an estate may not then file an action on behalf of the beneficiaries of the estate. 9/15/1975
0319

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20-Government Official Conflicts

48-Criminal Defense Lawyers

A lawyer who acts as a magistrate may not practice criminal law in the same jurisdiction.3/27/1979
1698

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who formerly served on a county's Planning Commission may represent clients before the Planning Commission as long as the lawyer does not use the former membership to state or imply that the lawyer may improperly influence the Commission. The lawyer may also represent clients before the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors although the lawyer served as a campaign treasurer for one of the supervisors and the lawyer's spouse volunteered as a campaign worker, as long as the lawyer does not use these facts to state or imply that the lawyer can improperly influence the officials. The Bar warns that "the potential for the appearance of impropriety is significant and should be scrupulously guarded against." 6/24/1997
0564

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who is a City Council member may not represent a defendant on a charge of violating a city ordinance. [This Opinion was later modified to permit the lawyer to represent clients on charges of violating ordinances as long as the lawyer complies with all ethical duties; LEO 683.]4/10/1984
0461

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who is a member of a Board of Equalization may not represent the City Assessor in a private action, even when the matter occurs in another locality. 7/21/1982
0245

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who is a member of a Board of Supervisors may not represent applicants for loans from an authority appointed by the Board (an Industrial Development Authority) (unlike the lawyer in LEO 243, the lawyer-Board member had appointive power over the Authority). 6/17/1974
0259

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who is a member of a city civil service commission may represent the union over which the commission has no jurisdiction even if the representation might include a lawsuit against the city. 4/28/1975
0208

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who is a member of a City Council may not preside over a hearing into a zoning matter in which the lawyer had earlier (before being elected) represented a party in front of the Council. 11/5/1970
0761

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20-Government Official Conflicts

30-Disclosing Confidences Under Court Order

31-Protecting and Disclosing Confidences and Secrets

A lawyer who is a member of a local governing body may disclose clients' identity if required by law. 1/19/1986
0670

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20-Government Official Conflicts

32-Lawyers Acting in Other Roles (Miscellaneous)

A lawyer who serves as a Commissioner in Chancery or a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee may represent clients before the court. 3/15/1985
0583

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who serves as a hearing officer in special education due process proceedings may not appear as an advocate in such hearings. [This LEO was superseded by LEO 847.]5/31/1984
0883

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19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who serves as a Virginia special education hearing officer may also serve as a consultant to a private association in Maryland as long as there is no overlap between their jurisdictions. 4/1/1987
0740

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who serves as Commissioner in Chancery may represent clients before the Circuit Court that appointed the lawyer to that post, as long as the lawyer does not attempt to utilize the status to advance the clients' interests. 11/18/1985
1841

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer who voted as a member of a town's governing body in favor of adopting a statute must consider various factors if asked to challenge the statute's constitutionality. The lawyer may not forgo a constitutional challenge if doing so would fall short of diligent representation of the new client challenging the law. Because the lawyer participated "personally and substantially" in adopting the statute, the lawyer may not challenge its constitutionality unless the new client and the government consent after full disclosure. The lawyer must also consider his own personal interest, and determine whether he will be able to provide a diligent representation of the new client (if that representation will be "materially limited" by the lawyer's public service and role on the town's governing body, he may proceed only with the new client's consent after full disclosure). For instance, any public statements the lawyer might have made supporting the statute "could undermine the lawyer's credibility and weaken his effectiveness as an advocate" in challenging its constitutionality.6/27/2008
0243

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer whose partner acts as counsel to a County Board of Supervisors may represent clients before an authority appointed by the Board (an Industrial Development Authority) because it is a statutory entity independent of the Board. 4/16/1974
0375

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20-Government Official Conflicts

50-Lawyer-Owned Businesses

A lawyer whose partner is on the City Council may not seek a franchise for a corporation in which both the lawyer and the partner are shareholders. 7/15/1980
0759

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7-Family Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer whose spouse is employed by the local Department of Social Services may appear in matters before the Department as long as the spouse has no involvement in the case. 1/13/1986
1253

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer working for a state agency involved in providing legal services to parents and children in special education matters may not represent a parent or child in a matter on which the lawyer formerly acted as a part-time administrative hearing officer while in private practice. 6/5/1989
0324

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7-Family Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A lawyer's father is a commissioner in a state regulatory agency. As long as the father-commissioner does not participate, one of the lawyer's partners may represent a client before the agency. 6/6/1979
0247

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20-Government Official Conflicts

28-Law Firm Staff

A lawyer/legislator may employ a law firm assistant as a part-time legislative assistant to be paid with state funds. 8/19/1974
1195

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A legal services lawyer was appointed to the local Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Given the appearance of impropriety, the lawyer must not participate in cases on which anyone in the legal services office is involved. The Bar recommends that the lawyer decline the appointment. 2/13/1989
0643

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7-Family Conflicts

9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

51-Government Attorneys

A part-time Commonwealth's Attorney may represent a Board of Zoning Appeals on which the lawyer's wife sits. 4/5/1985
0633

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

51-Government Attorneys

A part-time Commonwealth's Attorney may represent parents or the school board in the lawyer's private practice as long as the lawyer has no involvement with the matter in the public role. A lawyer who is also a legislator may also represent parents or school boards with consent. 6/19/1985
0847

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A part-time hearing officer may represent parties before the board on which the lawyer serves, as long as the lawyer has had no involvement in the matter. The lawyer may not represent the party against the board or agency on which the lawyer currently serves as a part-time hearing officer, but may do so once the lawyer leaves the board or agency (provided the lawyer has no material confidential information). If the part-time hearing officer is disqualified from any matter, everyone in the lawyer's firm is disqualified. The hearing officer may not hear a case presented by the Attorney General's office when the lawyer is currently adverse to the Attorney General's office in another matter. [Rule 1.11 governs former government lawyers and judges, and recognizes the efficacy of "ethics screens" in some situations.]4/1/1987
1773

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20-Government Official Conflicts

A partner of a lawyer serving in the General Assembly may appear before local governing bodies, despite the prohibition in LEO 1763 on such activities by partners of a lawyer serving on the local governing body itself. 2/10/2003
1123

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7-Family Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

A wife who practices law with her husband is a member of the County Board of Zoning Appeals. The relationship should be disclosed to the husband's clients and the wife should disqualify herself if her husband's clients are before the Board. [This LEO was overruled by LEO 1718.]11/16/1988
1611

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20-Government Official Conflicts

Although a member of a law firm may not lobby the General Assembly if one of the firm's associates serves in the General Assembly, lawyers in the firm may draft proposed legislation and the associate who serves in the General Assembly may vote on the legislation -- "unless some special benefit would accrue to the firm's client which would be beyond whatever benefit (or detriment) would accrue to the public at large." The Bar did not address statutory or General Assembly restrictions. 11/29/1994
0237

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20-Government Official Conflicts

Commissioners of Accounts may not use their government office as a private law office. 1/3/1974
0549

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20-Government Official Conflicts

Given the appearance of impropriety, a part-time Virginia Employment Commission appeals examiner may not represent private parties in cases involving the Virginia Employment Commission, even in a different geographical location. [This Opinion was superseded by LEO 847.]3/1/1984
1682

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

31-Protecting and Disclosing Confidences and Secrets

48-Criminal Defense Lawyers

51-Government Attorneys

It is not per se impermissible for a Commonwealth's Attorney or criminal defense lawyer to participate on a Community Criminal Justice Board, which develops and evaluates community corrections programs (but does not make any findings or recommendations in individual cases), as long as the lawyers do not reveal client confidences, do not seek any special advantages for themselves or their clients, and do not advise their clients that they can improperly influence any Board members.5/16/1996
1421

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20-Government Official Conflicts

It is not per se unethical for a lawyer or a firm to contribute to the re-election campaign of an official with whom the lawyer deals. However, it would be unethical for a lawyer to make a gift to a public official for the "past or future performance of any public act or duty." 10/3/1991
1884

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20-Government Official Conflicts

32-Lawyers Acting in Other Roles (Miscellaneous)

50-Lawyer-Owned Businesses

Lawyers in a law firm or in a consulting firm that the law firm owns "may not represent clients or otherwise lobby before the General Assembly" or any other public body on which lawyer's colleague sits – even if that colleague recuses herself. This prohibition applies to all lawyers in the law firm and the consulting firm, and also extends to non-lawyers in the consulting firm, "regardless of whether the lawyers have any managerial or supervisory authority over the non-lawyer employees."9/30/2016
1268

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9-Government Lawyer Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

48-Criminal Defense Lawyers

Neither a prosecutor nor a practicing criminal defense lawyer may serve on an adjudicatory board that may pass on the matter on which the lawyers had been involved, but may sit on policy-making bodies.10/3/1989
1278

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11-"Of Counsel" Relationship

20-Government Official Conflicts

No lawyer in a firm (even those who are "of counsel" to the firm) may lobby before the General Assembly or other legislative body when another lawyer in the firm is an elected member of that body. 9/21/1989
1034

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11-"Of Counsel" Relationship

19-Judge Conflicts

20-Government Official Conflicts

55-Firm Names and Letterhead

The Canons of Judicial Conduct govern the permissibility of a lawyer appearing before a judge who was formerly a partner in the law firm (reaffirming LEO 552). It is improper to list a Congressman (who is precluded from the practice of law) as "of counsel" to a law firm. 2/9/1988
0409

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20-Government Official Conflicts

Unless all parties consent, a lawyer who serves on an education committee (established to advise a school board) and who will review material that could be used against the school board in litigation may not represent a plaintiff in an action against the school board involving the same issues. 4/6/1981

Copyright 2000, Thomas E. Spahn