Tax Lawyer's Blog

A twitterer friend named Bill Yates alerted me to an interesting article titled 10 Things Your Lawyer Won’t Tell You by Brigid McMenamin of SmartMoney.

Here’s number 7:

Since 2002, when the ABA . . . stated that lawyer-client sex is generally unethical but that it’s up to each state whether to adopt a ban on the practice, 29 states including Arizona, Colorado, and Connecticut have either added or proposed adding a new provision prohibiting lawyers from having sexual relations with their clients unless a consensual relationship existed before the lawyer-client relationship began.

So what’s the big deal if it’s two consenting adults?

Lawyer-client flings, especially in divorce and family law cases, can warp the lawyer’s judgment, prompting him either to prolong a dispute or sacrifice the client’s interests to end it faster, says Texas Wesleyan University law professor Malinda L. Seymore.

Florida has a no-client-sex rule.

Section 4-8.4(i) of the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar states that it is misconduct for a lawyer to,

[E]ngage in sexual conduct with a client or a representative of a client that exploits or adversely affects the interests of the client or the lawyer-client relationship including, but not limited to:

(1) requiring or demanding sexual relations with a client or a representative of a client incident to or as a condition of a legal representation;

(2) employing coercion, intimidation, or undue influence in entering into sexual relations with a client or a representative of a client; or

(3) continuing to represent a client if the lawyer’s sexual relations with the client or a representative of the client cause the lawyer to render incompetent representation.

The comment to the rule states,

The lawyer-client relationship is grounded on mutual trust. A sexual relationship that exploits that trust compromises the lawyer-client relationship.

McMenamin reports that a Florida lawyer was recently suspended for violating this rule:

The client may also submit to a lawyer’s sexual advances in the belief that if she does, he’ll do more to help her keep her home and children.

That’s what Plantation, Fla., lawyer Steven W. Effman [allegedly] told two female clients to entice them to engage in sexual activity in his office, according to the women’s sworn testimony. Not only did Effman fail to deliver on his promises, these clients say, but he actually had the nerve to bill at least one for their trysts.

The Florida bar filed a complaint against Effman in 2002, and a court suspended his license for 91 days.

Effman insists his affairs were consensual and denies making promises or billing for sex.

Lucky for me Jessica Alba was my client before Florida added the no-sex-with-clients rule.

All joking aside, I understand and agree with the rule.

People who hire lawyers are often in a very precarious emotional state. They are vulnerable, insecure and frightened. On the other hand, the lawyer is in a position of authority. Consequently, the relationship between the parties is not equal and, therefore, lends itself to abuse.

If it’s wrong for licensed therapists to have sexual relations with their patients it is likewise wrong for an attorney to have sexual relations with his clients.

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