California's bar association has already adopted a rule barring sex between lawyers and their clients, which has language similar to the proposed rule in Texas.
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Oct 01, 2017 · States have been divided on whether to adopt new ABA Model Rule 8.4 (g), which prohibits lawyers from engaging in harassing or discriminatory conduct. The Vermont Supreme Court has adopted the ...
May 01, 2017 · The current California rule provides that an attorney shall not: 1. Require or demand sexual relations with a client incident to or as a condition of any professional relationship. 2. Employ ...
Nov 28, 2016 · The ABA Model Rule states: A lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the client-lawyer relationship commenced. However, it is left to the individual states to decide whether to adopt the ABA recommendations. As of May 2015, an ABA committee found at least 17 states had …
Virginia and Tennessee are among 14 states that do not specifically address the topic in their rules and guidelines. Two experts on Virginia legal ethics consulted by the Bristol Herald Courier...
The proposal reads: “A lawyer shall not engage in sexual relations with a current client who is not the lawyer’s spouse or registered domestic partner, unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the lawyer-client relationship commenced.”
Last year, lawyers faced sanctions for violating state rules regulating sex with clients:
The ABA Model Rule 1.8 (j) In 2002, following growing recognition of a “lawyer’s gone wild” problem, the ABA adopted Model Rule 1.8 (j), which imposes a per se ban on attorney-client sex. The ban carves out only sexual relationships that predate the attorney-client relationship – after all, lawyers should be free to represent their spouses.
Nonetheless, lawyers continue to flout precedent and are frequently disciplined for engaging in sexual relations with their clients. Some cases of impermissible attorney-client sex are no brainers–such as the attorney who insists on a “legal services-for-sexual services” fee arrangement. Still, many attorneys believe that ...
Moreover, lawyers are prohibited from engaging in conduct that involves dishonesty, deceit, or misrepresentation, and engaging in a sexual relationship with a client—with all of the trappings that come along with such a relationship—could raise a substantial question as to the lawyer’s honesty or fitness to practice.
A sexual or intimate relationship started after the commencement of the legal representation has at least the reasonable possibility of adversely influencing the lawyer’s judgment, creating a personal conflict of interest, and allowing the lawyer to use client confidential information for the lawyer’s personal advantage.
Rule 1.8 (j)’s comments add further gloss when the “client” is an organization, in which case the rule “prohibits a lawyer for the organization whether inside counsel or outside counsel) from having a sexual relationship with a constituent of the organization who supervises, directs or regularly consults with that lawyer concerning the organization’s legal matters.