Do lawyers violate their code of ethics by dating clients?

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Request for Question Clarification by answerfinder-ga on 20 Dec 2005 08:52 PST

Dear surfdog84-ga,

I would say it depends on which country and the rules of the law
association to which they belong.

For instance, the Law Society of Upper Canada has in its rules a
section on Conflicts of interest. In particular, section 2.04 (3). In
the commentary it states,

?If a lawyer has a sexual or intimate personal relationship with a
client, this may conflict with the lawyer?s duty to provide objective,
disinterested professional advice to the client. Before accepting a
retainer from or continuing a retainer with a person with whom the
lawyer has such a relationship, a lawyer should consider the following
factors:?
(see document for the full text)
http://www.lsuc.on.ca/regulation/a/profconduct/rule2/

In my experience it would probably apply to most lawyers. There will
always be a potential conflict of interest.

Does the example above answer you question or would you like ot
specifically state in which country the lawyer is based or the law
association they belong to?

answerfinder-ga