Do Ethics Commissions Have Jurisdiction Over Officials' Practice of Law?
Lawyer-legislators are extremely creative people. The latest use of
their creativity is to argue that ethics boards cannot require
disclosure of a conflict of interest that arises from legal
representation because they have no jurisdiction over the practice of
law. Only the state Supreme Court has that jurisdiction.<br>
<br>
The lawyer-legislator in this matter is state senator Rob Marionneaux
of Louisiana, a state whose ethics code applies to local governments.
According to <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/100320789.html?index=1&c=y" target="”_blank”">an
article in the Baton Rouge <i>Advocate</i></a>, he said that "the reporting
requirement in state law does not apply to lawyers who are legislators.
'The practice of law is regulated by the Supreme Court.'" According to <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/101702933.html" target="”_blank”">a more recent
Advocate article</a>, the senator's lawyer, his law partner, said that
"the ethics board is trying to inject itself into the practice of law."
For background on this matter, see <a href="http://www.postsouth.com/highlight/x1652682682/Marionneaux-faces-ethics…; target="”_blank”">this
article in the <i>Post South</i></a>.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/messagetopic.asp?p=20828752&pg=1" target="”_blank”">an
article in the <i>Baton Rouge Business Report</i></a>, "on June 10, nearly two months before the ethics
charges were made public, Marionneaux co-sponsored an amendment to an
ethics bill that would have removed the disclosure requirement. The
amendment had not been debated in legislative committees. It was
adopted without debate or objection, and the bill passed the Senate by
a unanimous vote. The bill later failed when the House did not approve
changes made by a joint legislative conference committee."<br>
<br>
So, without any debate, the disclosure requirement was almost taken out
of the state ethics code. This issue certainly requires debate. What is
the argument that would justify lawyers being excluded from disclosing
to the ethics board their representation of clients in a suit against
the state or a local government, when such suits are public
information? In this case, for instance, the client sought to sue not
only a state university, but also the state, which apparently would
have required senate approval of funds to which the senator would have
a cut, pursuant to a contingency fee arrangement. This is exactly the
sort of situation that requires full public disclosure at the time the
representation begins, so that the situation can be questioned before
it goes any further.<br>
<br>
Nothing is more important in government ethics than dealing responsibly
with conflicts of interest. Oversight of how officials deal with their
conflicts cannot occur if there is no disclosure. There is no rational
argument for lawyers to be excluded from this disclosure, any more than
there is for lawyers to be excluded from having to deal responsibly
with their conflicts of interest.<br>
<br>
Legal rules of professional conduct do not deal with conflicts between
a legislator's obligations to the public and a client's interests. This
is true, as well, of other professions.<br>
<br>
For a professional of any sort to insist that his profession is
excluded from ethics disclosure requirements, he better have a host of
reasons why his profession's disciplinary process is more important
than representing the public and dealing responsibly with conflicts of
interest. He also should be able to argue that his profession stands above all others,
just because its limited ethics laws are overseen by the court system.<br>
<br>
If Marionneaux truly believed he had a good case, he wouldn't have
tried to get rid of the requirement in such a sneaky fashion. He should
admit that the state ethics program has the right to require disclosure
in matters such as this, and allow the process to move forward. He is
only adding insult to injury, and seriously undermining citizen trust
in its lawyer-legislators.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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