| LEO Num | Topics | Summary | Date |
0636
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| A Commonwealth's Attorney may not prosecute a traffic charge against someone who is or might be a defendant in a civil case in which the plaintiff is represented by the Commonwealth Attorney's wife. | 12/19/1984 |
0623
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| A judge cannot sit on a case in which a party is represented by lawyer from judge's son's or daughter-in-law's firm, unless the relationship is disclosed and parties consent. | 11/14/1984 |
0358
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| A law firm may represent clients being prosecuted for traffic or criminal cases even though the spouse of one of the firm's associates is an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney. The same is true when a firm employs a paralegal whose spouse is the Commonwealth's Attorney. In both cases, the firm must advise its clients and the court of the relationships. | 3/10/1980 |
1894
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| A lawyer faces several conflicts issues if she jointly represents multiple children who might have been abused at a childcare center, especially if there is only a limited insurance fund to pay all of the claimant clients. As “next friend” of each child, a parent can consent to such a joint representation. If there is only a limited fund available to settle all of the case, the settlement must comply with Rule 1.8(g)’s “aggregate settlement” rule - including a unanimous agreement among all the clients about “how the settlement is allocated and what amount shall be distributed to each.” In such an “aggregate settlement” situation, the lawyer may not participate in such an aggregate settlement if even one client disagrees with the settlement. To obtain court approval of the settlement, a guardian ad litem (GAL) must be appointed for the minor children. Such GALs are subject to the Virginia ethics rules “as they would be in any other case, except when the special duties of a GAL conflict with such rules.” If there is a limited fund for an aggregate settlement, the GAL must agree with that arrangement. A GAL “must be appointed to waive the lawyer’s conflict in representing multiple children.” A single GAL may represent all of the minor children, because a court has “[t]he final decision as to the division of the settlement proceeds or recovery.” A GAL must also be appointed if the efforts fail and litigation begins. | 4/20/2022 |
0608
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| A lawyer may act as a guardian ad litem in a mental health commitment hearing even if the lawyer's wife is the supervisor of a social worker-witness and even if the ward is not capable of giving informed consent. | 9/14/1984 |
1291
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| 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 |
0750
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| A lawyer may appear before a judge who has a relative (including in-laws) in the lawyer's firm, but the judge must disclose these facts to all parties, and obtain their consent. [The judge's possible disclosure duties would be found in the Canons of Judicial Conduct.] | 12/30/1985 |
0556
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| A lawyer may be employed as assistant county attorney although the lawyer's spouse and the spouse's law firm often litigate against the county, as long as (1) all clients consent; and (2) the lawyer has no contact with any litigation in which the spouse is involved. [Rule 1.8(j) permits related lawyers to be directly adverse to one another if the clients consent after full disclosure.] | 4/10/1984 |
0951
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| A lawyer may continue representing a party adverse to party represented by the spouse of another lawyer in the firm, as long as both clients consent. [Absent special circumstances, consent should not be required.] | 7/10/1987 |
0780
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| A lawyer may defend cases in courts in which the lawyer's spouse (an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney) is prosecuting cases, as long as they do not represent adversaries in the same case. [Rule 1.8(i) now allows related lawyers to be directly adverse to one another if the clients consent.] | 7/25/1986 |
0429
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| A lawyer may handle personal injury cases arising from accidents in which a partner's son is involved as a Commonwealth's Attorney, although the conflict should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. | 8/14/1981 |
0881
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| A lawyer may not appear before a judge (or take part in any case assigned to the judge) employing the lawyer's spouse as clerk if the spouse is involved in the matter or proceeding. | 5/1/1987 |
0276
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| A lawyer may not handle an adoption that has been investigated by the wife of another lawyer in the firm. | 12/5/1975 |
0619
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| A lawyer may not represent a wife in a child custody matter if the husband is represented by the lawyer's spouse; the lawyer's colleague may represent the wife as long as the husband consents. [Rule 1.8(i) now allows related lawyers to be directly adverse to one another if the clients consent.] | 11/13/1984 |
0653
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| 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 |
0185
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| A lawyer may practice criminal law in the jurisdiction where the lawyer's spouse is an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, as long as the clients consent and the spouse has had no contact with the matter at issue. [Rule 1.8(i) now allows related lawyers to be directly adverse to one another if the clients consent.] | 10/31/1980 |
0861
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| A lawyer may represent a client against a party represented by the lawyer's spouse's law firm, as long as there is disclosure and consent; disclosure and consent is required if the lawyer's employer (legal aid) represents a party against client of the spouse's law firm, even if neither spouse would work on the matter. [Absent special circumstances, consent should not be required if neither spouse, or only one spouse, would work on the matter.] | 12/23/1986 |
0793
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| A lawyer may represent a client when the lawyer's adversary is represented by a law firm employing the lawyer's fiancée as a secretary. If the lawyer feels that the relationship with the fiancée might affect the lawyer's judgment, the lawyer must make full disclosure to the client and obtain the client's consent. | 5/27/1986 |
0592
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| 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 |
0606
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| A lawyer may represent a personal injury plaintiff in an action against the defendant although the lawyer's law partner-spouse (a part-time Commonwealth's Attorney) prosecuted the defendant on a reckless driving charge arising from the same matter (the imputed disqualification rule did not apply to such disqualifications). | 9/27/1984 |
1398
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| A lawyer may represent both the buyer and seller in a real estate transaction if both consent. If the lawyer is related to the real estate agent and will be representing the buyer only, the buyer must consent (because of the relationship between the lawyer and the agent). | 2/15/1991 |
1345
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| A lawyer may use the lawyer's spouse as a court reporter if there is disclosure and consent. The disclosure must include a description of the fees received by the spouse. Another lawyer in the firm could use the spouse as a court reporter without disclosure and consent. Any lawyer in the firm could use another reporter at the spouse's reporting company without disclosure and consent unless the spouse is an owner of the reporting company. | 5/18/1990 |
1536
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| A lawyer represented an insurance company's insureds and also represented the company in coverage issues. The Bar affirmed that the insured is the client of an outside lawyer selected by the carrier to represent the insured (relying on LEO 598). Once the lawyer leaves the firm, the lawyer may represent plaintiffs against other insureds (because "there was no attorney-client relationship" between the lawyer and the insurance company) as long as the new representations are not the same or substantially related to the specific matters on which the lawyer represented the company's insureds at the lawyer's old firm. [The Bar's conclusion that there was "no attorney-client relationship" between the lawyer and the insurance company seems inconsistent with its earlier statement that the lawyer handled "coverage issues" for the insurance company.] The lawyer's "familiarity with the general operation of [the insurance company] does not constitute a confidence or secret." Although the lawyer's spouse is an insurance company employee with access to claim files, the lawyer will not be disqualified as long as the lawyer has not acquired any confidential information from the spouse. | 6/22/1993 |
1455
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| A lawyer wants to represent his wife in a child custody matter involving her former husband. Opposing counsel has moved to disqualify the lawyer because he must be a witness. Because the wife does not intend to call her lawyer-husband as a witness and it is not obvious that the lawyer "ought" to be called as a witness "simply by virtue of his status as husband of Client and stepfather of the child," the lawyer may continue to represent his wife -- even if opposing party calls him as a witness -- unless his testimony prejudices his wife. | 3/13/1992 |
0493
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| A lawyer who "usually" represents those insured by the defendant's insurance company may represent the plaintiff in a personal injury action against the defendant only if both parties consent. (The request for an opinion reveals that the lawyer's father, with whom the lawyer shared an office, was currently representing an insured of the insurance company on an unrelated matter). | 9/20/1982 |
1759
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| A lawyer who owns a mediation company is "of counsel" to a law firm in which his/her spouse is a partner. After mediation of a domestic dispute, one of the parties asks an associate in the law firm to file for divorce on behalf of that party. The Bar holds that lawyers/mediators may not represent either party after they handle a mediation, even with the clients' consent (overruling earlier LEOs 1684, 590, 544 and 511). Because this specific disqualification applies only to the lawyer/mediator, an associate in the firm would not be disqualified based on the mediator's disqualification. However, the lawyer/mediator's duty of confidentiality arising from the mediation also disqualifies that lawyer, and is imputed to the firm to which the lawyer/mediator is "of counsel" (although client consent can cure this conflict). If there were no connection between the lawyer/mediator and the law firm, lawyers practicing in the firm would not be disqualified from representing the party in the divorce as a result of the spousal relationship to the mediator. [Rule 1.10 now imputes the individual's disqualification to the entire law firm, as explained in Virginia LEO 1826.] | 2/4/2002 |
1551
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| A lawyer who represents companies that compete with a company employing the lawyer's non-lawyer fiancé may continue to represent the clients as long as they are only adverse "in a business setting" to the fiancé's employer and "unless and until any two or more clients become adverse to each other in legal matters." Any disqualification of the lawyer based on the engagement is not imputed to the other lawyers in the firm. | 10/20/1993 |
0845
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| A lawyer whose office administrator is married to a judge may appear before the judge, but may have to disclose these facts on the record. | 2/27/1989 |
0759
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| 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 |
0324
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| 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 |
1481
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| A lawyer's spouse worked in a crisis center, and received confidential information from a woman who called the crisis center. The spouse never revealed this information to the lawyer/spouse. The lawyer later began to represent (in a divorce case) the husband of the woman who had called the crisis center. Because the lawyer had not learned any of the confidences the spouse had acquired from the woman, and had never represented the woman, the lawyer may continue to represent the husband in the divorce matter. | 8/24/1992 |
0860
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| A legal aid lawyer may not represent a client against a party represented by the lawyer's spouse, although the spouse's law firm may defend case if there is disclosure and consent. [Rule 1.8(i) now allows related lawyers to be directly adverse to one another if the clients consent.] | 12/23/1986 |
0696
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| A part-time Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney may not continue representing a client in a civil matter after criminal charges are brought, even if the lawyer is not involved in the criminal prosecution. The lawyer's spouse and law partners are also disqualified. The part-time Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney or that lawyer's spouse or law partner may represent a civil client as long as there are no proceedings or investigations pending. | 5/10/1985 |
0643
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| A part-time Commonwealth's Attorney may represent a Board of Zoning Appeals on which the lawyer's wife sits. | 4/5/1985 |
1123
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| 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 |
0624
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| An Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney whose husband is a judge may not appear before her husband or have any role in any cases assigned to her husband. | 11/13/1984 |
0673
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| An Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney's spouse may not be involved in private litigation related to criminal matters in which the Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney has been involved. | 3/15/1985 |
0834
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| As long as the client consents, a lawyer may refer clients to the lawyer's spouse (a financial planner). The lawyer may not disclose the clients' identity to the spouse without the clients' consent. A lawyer may employ a collection agency to help collect past-due fees, but should not disclose any more information than the agency would need to collect the fee. | 9/23/1986 |
0190
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| General rules regarding family members practicing in law firms opposing each other; representation of opposing parties by different members of the same family is per se unethical; lawyers sharing "intimate or close relationships" may represent opposing parties only with consent. [This was overruled by Rule 1.8(i), which now allows related lawyers to be directly adverse to one another if the clients consent.] | 4/1/1985 |
0665
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| The spouse and law partner of a part-time Commonwealth's, city or county attorney may not represent a party in a real estate transaction involving a subdivision plat in which the lawyer rendered advice. If the client consents, the spouse/law partner may proceed as long as the lawyer had no role in the matter. | 3/15/1985 |
0685
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| When an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney is disqualified from representing a private litigant, the litigant may be represented by the Commonwealth's Attorney's spouse as long as there is "no nexus between the private matter for which the spouse is retained and the disqualified spouse's public responsibilities." | 4/10/1985 |