Can a lawyer accept appointment as assistant county counsel when his law partner is an elected member of the county board of freeholders that makes the appointment?
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This page answers the general question as of 1976. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The inquirer's law partner was an elected member of the county board of chosen freeholders, and a position of assistant county counsel, to be filled by appointment of that board, was available. The inquirer asked whether his acceptance of the appointment would place him in a conflict of interest or violate the disciplinary rules on the appearance of impropriety.
The Committee answered that it would. It pointed to its Opinion 189, which reviewed in detail the principles that should guide attorneys in their relationships with governmental agencies, and to its Opinion 192. On that basis it concluded that the inquirer's acceptance of appointment as assistant county counsel by the freeholder board, of which his law partner was a member, would be improper.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1976, before New Jersey's adoption of the 2004 revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct, and predates the 1984 replacement of the Disciplinary Rules by the RPCs. Conflict and appearance-of-impropriety questions of this kind are now analyzed under RPC 1.7; New Jersey abolished the separate appearance-of-impropriety standard in 2004. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Can a lawyer take a county-counsel post his partner's board controls?
A: Under this opinion, no. The Committee held it improper for the lawyer to be appointed assistant county counsel by the freeholder board on which his partner serves.
Q: What did the Committee rely on?
A: Its Opinions 189 and 192, which set out the principles governing attorneys' relationships with governmental agencies.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied the governmental-relationship principles of its Opinions 189 and 192 to a lawyer being appointed by a board on which his partner sits. In current New Jersey terms, the conflict question is governed by RPC 1.7.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Appearance-of-impropriety and conflict principles as in effect 1976; now analyzed under MR 1.7 / NJ RPC 1.7
Other opinions cited:
- NJ ACPE Opinion 189, 93 N.J.L.J. 789 (1970); Opinion 192, 94 N.J.L.J. 44 (1971)
See also
- NJ ACPE Op. 530: Assistant County Counsel Serving as Mayor of a Municipality
- NJ ACPE Op. 501: Assistant County Counsel as Municipal Prosecutor or Partner of Municipal Counsel
- NJ ACPE Op. 524: Freeholder Practicing Law Within the County With a Prosecutor or Solicitor
Source
- Full text (Justia mirror): https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/advisory-committee-on-professional-ethics/2004/acp355-1.html
- Issuing authority: New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, via the NJ Courts Supreme Court Committees page
Original opinion text
Reproduced from a full-text mirror of the official opinion for research purposes. The linked official source controls.
99 N.J.L.J. 1017, November 18, 1976
OPINION 355
Conflict of Interest
Freeholder's Partner Assistant County Counsel
The inquirer's law partner is an elected member of the county board of chosen freeholders. A position of assistant county counsel is available and the appointment will be made by the board. This Committee's opinion is asked as to whether the inquirer would be "placed in conflict of interest or violate the Disciplinary Rules regarding appearance of impropriety" if he were appointed to the position.
We believe that N.J. Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, Opinion 189, 93 N.J.L.J. 789 (1970), answers the question. That opinion reviewed in detail the principles which should guide attorneys in their relationship with governmental agencies. See also N.J. Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, Opinion 192, 94 N.J.L.J. 44 (1971).
In our opinion the inquirer's acceptance of the appointment as an assistant county counsel by the board of chosen freeholders, of which his law partner is a member, would be improper.
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