Can an Assistant Attorney General who handles tax matters for the State accept court appointments to represent defendants in criminal cases?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1978. Ask about yours and see what the current West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
As recorded in the Committee's minutes, the question was whether an Assistant Attorney General who handled tax matters for the State could also accept court appointments to represent defendants in criminal cases. The minutes reflect that the Committee felt it was not ethical for an Assistant Attorney General to accept such court appointments in criminal cases while handling tax matters for the State.
The entry is a brief disposition drawn from the Committee's minutes. It does not cite a particular disciplinary rule or elaborate the reasoning.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1978, before West Virginia replaced its Code of Professional Responsibility with the Rules of Professional Conduct, effective January 1, 1989, and before later rule revisions, including the comprehensive 2015 amendments. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Could an Assistant Attorney General take appointed criminal defense work?
A: No. The opinion concluded it was not ethical for an Assistant Attorney General to accept court appointments in criminal cases while handling tax matters for the State.
Q: Did the conclusion turn on the lawyer's State tax work?
A: The recorded disposition ties the conclusion to the Assistant Attorney General's handling of tax matters for the State, finding the criminal appointments incompatible with that role.
Background and rules framework
The disposition does not cite a specific disciplinary rule. It addresses a conflict between a government lawyer's role representing the State (here, in tax matters) and accepting appointments to defend criminal defendants, and the Committee resolved that the dual role was not ethical.
See also
- WVSB Ethics Op. 80-4: State-employee attorney suing the State for a private client
- WVSB Ethics Op. 81-3: City attorney's appointment to defend juveniles
- WVSB Ethics Op. 78-18: No conflict for a prosecutor on a B&O tax board
Source
- Landing page: https://wvodc.org/Legal-Ethics-Opinion
- Original PDF: https://storage.googleapis.com/msgsndr/Rgd68xOkcVdteTsBkf6O/media/66a7ea7e688d5e264016162b.pdf
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.
LEGAL ETHICS INQUIRY 78-14
No response to request in file. Minutes reflect that Committee felt that it was not ethical for an Assistant Attorney General to accept court appointments in criminal cases while handling tax matters for the State.
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