ABA-AMRPC Rule 1

ABA-AMRPC Rule 1.10

Ann. Mod. Rules Prof. Cond. Rule 1.10

(Cite as: ABA-AMRPC Rule 1.10)

American Bar AssociationAnnotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Sixth

Edition

RULES

CLIENT-LAWYER RELATIONSHIP

2007

Rule 1.10 Imputation of Conflicts of Interest: General Rule

(a) While lawyers are associated in a firm, none of them shall knowingly

represent a client when any one of them practicing alone would be prohibited

from doing so by Rules 1.7 or 1.9, unless the prohibition is based on a

personal interest of the prohibited lawyer and does not present a significant

risk of materially limiting the representation of the client by the remaining

lawyers in the firm.

(b) When a lawyer has terminated an association with a firm, the firm is not

prohibited from thereafter representing a person with interests materially

adverse to those of a client represented by the formerly associated lawyer and

not currently represented by the firm, unless:

(1) the matter is the same or substantially related to that in which the

formerly associated lawyer represented the client; and

(2) any lawyer remaining in the firm has information protected by Rules 1.6

and 1.9(c) that is material to the matter.

client under the conditions stated in Rule 1.7.

(d) The disqualification of lawyers associated in a firm with former or

current government lawyers is governed by Rule 1.11.

Comment

Definition of "Firm"

[1] For purposes of the Rules of Professional Conduct, the term "firm"

denotes lawyers in a law partnership, professional corporation, sole

proprietorship or other association authorized to practice law; or lawyers

employed in a legal services organization or the legal department of a

corporation or other organization. See Rule 1.0(c). Whether two or more lawyers

constitute a firm within this definition can depend on the specific facts. See

Rule 1.0, Comments [2]-[4].

Principles of Imputed Disqualification

[2] The rule of imputed disqualification stated in paragraph (a) gives effect

to the principle of loyalty to the client as it applies to lawyers who practice

in a law firm. Such situations can be considered from the premise that a firm

of lawyers is essentially one lawyer for purposes of the rules governing

loyalty to the client, or from the premise that each lawyer is vicariously

bound by the obligation of loyalty owed by each lawyer with whom the lawyer is

associated. Paragraph (a) operates only among the lawyers currently associated

in a firm. When a lawyer moves from one firm to another, the situation is

governed by Rules 1.9(b) and 1.10(b).

[3] The rule in paragraph (a) does not prohibit representation where neither

questions of client loyalty nor protection of confidential information are

presented. Where one lawyer in a firm could not effectively represent a given

client because of strong political beliefs, for example, but that lawyer will

do no work on the case and the personal beliefs of the lawyer will not

materially limit the representation by others in the firm, the firm should not

be disqualified. On the other hand, if an opposing party in a case were owned

by a lawyer in the law firm, and others in the firm would be materially limited

in pursuing the matter because of loyalty to that lawyer, the personal

disqualification of the lawyer would be imputed to all others in the firm.

[4] The rule in paragraph (a) also does not prohibit representation by others

in the law firm where the person prohibited from involvement in a matter is a

nonlawyer, such as a paralegal or legal secretary. Nor does paragraph (a)

prohibit representation if the lawyer is prohibited from acting because of

events before the person became a lawyer, for example, work that the person did

while a law student. Such persons, however, ordinarily must be screened from

any personal participation in the matter to avoid communication to others in

the firm of confidential information that both the nonlawyers and the firm have

a legal duty to protect. See Rules 1.0(k) and 5.3.

[5] Rule 1.10(b) operates to permit a law firm, under certain circumstances,

to represent a person with interests directly adverse to those of a client

represented by a lawyer who formerly was associated with the firm. The Rule

applies regardless of when the formerly associated lawyer represented the

client. However, the law firm may not represent a person with interests adverse

to those of a present client of the firm, which would violate Rule 1.7.

Moreover, the firm may not represent the person where the matter is the same or

substantially related to that in which the formerly associated lawyer

represented the client and any other lawyer currently in the firm has material

information protected by Rules 1.6 and 1.9(c).

[6] Rule 1.10(c) removes imputation with the informed consent of the affected

client or former client under the conditions stated in Rule 1.7. The conditions

stated in Rule 1.7 require the lawyer to determine that the representation is

not prohibited by Rule 1.7(b) and that each affected client or former client

has given informed consent to the representation, confirmed in writing. In some

cases, the risk may be so severe that the conflict may not be cured by client

consent. For a discussion of the effectiveness of client waivers of conflicts

that might arise in the future, see Rule 1.7, Comment [22]. For a definition of

informed consent, see Rule 1.0(e).

[7] Where a lawyer has joined a private firm after having represented the

government, imputation is governed by Rule 1.11(b) and (c), not this Rule.

Under Rule 1.11(d), where a lawyer represents the government after having

served clients in private practice, nongovernmental employment or in another

government agency, former-client conflicts are not imputed to government

lawyers associated with the individually disqualified lawyer.

[8] Where a lawyer is prohibited from engaging in certain transactions under

Rule 1.8, paragraph (k) of that Rule, and not this Rule, determines whether

that prohibition also applies to other lawyers associated in a firm with the

personally prohibited lawyer.

Annotation

Imputed Disqualification: General Principles

Model Rule 1.10 explains the circumstances under which a conflict of interest

that disqualifies one lawyer will also compel the disqualification of lawyers

associated with her.

Whether a lawyer's disqualification will be imputed to other lawyers with

whom she is working depends first of all upon why she was disqualified. Only if

disqualification was compelled by Rule 1.7 (Conflict of Interest: Current

Clients) or Rule 1.9 (Duties to Former Clients) will it be imputed under Rule

1.10.

Amendments made to Model Rule 1.10 in 2000 eliminate the imputation of most

"personal-interests" conflicts. Pursuant to these amendments, a

disqualification attributable to the lawyer's own interests (rather than those

of, for example, other clients or former clients) will not be imputed absent a

significant threat to the representation. American Bar Association, A

Legislative History: The Development of the ABA Model Rules of Professional

Conduct, 1982-2005, at 254 (2006).

According to Comment [3], this exception recognizes that conflicts should not

be imputed "where neither questions of client loyalty nor protection of

confidential information are presented. Where one lawyer in a firm could not

effectively represent a given client because of strong political beliefs, for

example, but that lawyer will do no work on the case and the personal beliefs

of the lawyer will not materially limit the representation by others in the

firm, the firm should not be disqualified." If, however, the conflicts of the

disqualified lawyer would "affect others in the lawyer's firm"--for example, if

other firm members would feel constrained by their loyalty to that lawyer--the

exception does not apply, and the disqualification will be imputed. American

Bar Association, A Legislative History: The Development of the ABA Model Rules

of Professional Conduct, 1982-2005, at 253 (2006).

Rule 1.10 does not apply if the lawyer is disqualified because he or she is a

necessary trial witness, nor does it apply to the prohibitions of Model Rule

1.8. In those cases, disqualification of other firm lawyers is determined by

Model Rules 3.7(b) and 1.8(k), respectively.

"Associated in a Firm"

Once it has been determined that the individually disqualified lawyer's

conflict is the imputable kind, the next issue to consider is the nature of the

lawyer's relationship to the other lawyers involved. Only if the lawyers are

deemed "associated in a firm" is the disqualification imputed.

According to Model Rule 1.0(c), the term "firm" or "law firm" denotes "a

lawyer or lawyers in a law partnership, professional corporation, sole

proprietorship or other association authorized to practice law; or lawyers

employed in a legal services organization or the legal department of a

corporation or other organization." Even though this language comes from the

old Comment to Rule 1.10 (expanded in 2002 to include limited-liability

entities; see American Bar Association, A Legislative History: The Development

of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, 1982-2005, at 29 (2006)), the

definition is an odd fit with the broad array of relationships to which Rule

1.10 has been applied. See Erichson, Informal Aggregation: Procedural and

Ethical Implications of Coordination among Counsel in Related Lawsuits, 50 Duke

L.J. 381 n.222 (2000) (definition does not address types of lawyer-coordination

networks created by informal aggregation of claims); Morgan, Conflicts of

Interest and the New Forms of Professional Associations, 39 S. Tex. L. Rev. 215

(1998) (trying to define "firm" not as useful as trying to analyze expectations

of confidentiality and loyalty arising in particular working arrangement). See

generally Penegar, The Loss of Innocence: A Brief History of Law Firm

Disqualification in the Courts, 8 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 831 (1995).

* Government Law Offices

A government law office is ordinarily considered a firm for purposes of the

ethics rules. See Model Rule 1.0, cmt. [3]. However, Rule 1.10 does not apply

to the imputation of conflicts in government law offices. Amendments made to

Rule 1.10 in 2002 declare that when a lawyer leaves government employment (or

changes government jobs), Rule 1.11 rather than Rule 1.10 regulates the

imputation of her disqualification to her new colleagues. Likewise, the

imputation of one government lawyer's disqualification to others in the same

government law office is governed exclusively by Rule 1.11(d) and not by Rule

1.10. See Model Rule 1.10, cmt. [7]; see also American Bar Association, A

Legislative History: The Development of the ABA Model Rules of Professional

Conduct, 1982-2005, at 255 (2006) (before 2002 amendments, application of Rule

1.10 to current and former government lawyers was "unclear").

* "Of Counsel" Relationships

The "of counsel" designation denotes a relationship that is "close, regular

[and] personal." ABA Formal Ethics Op. 90-357 (1990). A relationship that

qualifies under that definition is probably going to be close enough to trigger

imputation. See Smith & Nephew, Inc. v. Ethicon, Inc., 98 F. Supp. 2d 106 (D.

Mass. 2000) (rejecting argument that relationship was too attenuated to come

within Rule 1.10); N.Y. State Ethics Op. 793 (2006) (if two firms share "of

counsel" relationship, conflicts of each imputed to other); accord Me. Ethics

Op. 175 (2001); Ohio Sup. Ct. Ethics Op. 2004-11 (2004); R.I. Ethics Op. 97-6

(1997).

However, the designation alone is not dispositive. A relationship that

qualifies as "of counsel" for purposes of, for example, Rule 7.5 (Firm Names

and Letterheads) will not inevitably warrant imputed disqualification under

Rule 1.10. See Regal Mktg. Inc. v. Sonny & Son Produce Corp., No. 01

Civ.1911(WK), 2002 WL 1788026 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 1, 2002) (lawyer's "of counsel"

relationship to firm that formerly represented defendant on other matters was

too attenuated to disqualify him from representing plaintiff; lawyer had

consistently been partner in own firm and handled only a few cases a year in

his "of counsel" capacity); Gray v. Mem'l Med. Ctr., Inc., 855 F. Supp. 377

(S.D. Ga. 1994) (looking beyond "of counsel" designation and refusing to impute

disqualification based upon lawyer's sporadic consultations with disqualified

firm; lawyer "actively employed" by another firm in another town, and court

could not "envision a more peripheral relationship"); see also N.Y. State

Ethics Op. 793 (2006) (lawyer from one firm who appears as local counsel in

litigation handled by another firm or who consults with another firm "on a

one-off basis" is not thereby associated with other firm for imputation

purposes).

* Temporary or Contract Lawyers

The primary source of guidance about how the conflicts rules apply to

temporary lawyers continues to be ABA Formal Ethics Opinion 88-356. The opinion

defines a temporary lawyer as "a lawyer engaged by a firm for a limited period,

either directly or through a lawyer placement agency"; it does not include a

lawyer working exclusively for the firm for an extended period, but without

contemplation of permanent employment. See also ABA Formal Ethics Op. 00-420

(2000) (contract lawyer is "any lawyer retained by a lawyer or law firm who is

not employed permanently for general assignment by the lawyer or law firm

engaged by the client").

Opinion 88-356 explains that whether a temporary lawyer is treated as being

"associated" with a firm depends upon the lawyer's access to information

relating to the representation of other firm clients

and the consequent risk of improper disclosure or misuse of information

relating to representation of other clients of the firm. For example, a

temporary lawyer who works for a firm, in the firm office, on a number of

matters for different clients, under circumstances where the temporary lawyer

is likely to have access to information relating to the representation of

other firm clients, may well be deemed to be "associated with" the firm

generally under Rule 1.10 as to all other clients of the firm, unless the

firm, through accurate records or otherwise, can demonstrate that the

temporary lawyer had access to information relating to the representation

only of certain other clients. If such limited access can be demonstrated,

then the temporary lawyer should not be deemed to be "associated with" the