Explanation
From time to time, when it is in the best interest of the City to do so, the City Attorney exercises the authority of the City Attorney’s Office to enter into Special Counsel Agreements to allow for the legal representation by outside counsel of the City or City employees in a variety of legal actions. Where the value of the contract requires, City Council approval is sought to enter into these agreements.
The Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct are a set of regulations adopted and enforced by the Supreme Court of Ohio that define an attorney’s ethical responsibilities. Rules 1.7 through 1.11 prescribe rules regarding conflict of interest and specifically require that a lawyer “shall not accept or continue the representation of a client if a conflict of interest would be created…” unless “each affected client gives informed consent, confirmed in writing.” Rule 1.7(b)(2). A conflict of interest, in this context, pertains to an attorney’s acceptance or continued representation of a client where that representation would be directly adverse to another current client. Further, this conflict analysis extends to all members of that attorney’s law firm.
On occasion, Special Counsel that has been retained by the City Attorney to represent the City or a City employee has a conflict of interest arise. Most often this occurs when another member of the attorney’s law firm seeks to represent a client in an action adverse to the City. For instance, the City may have retained an attorney from a local law firm to assist the City with local income tax matters and months later another member of that same firm may be approached to represent a developer in an unrelated development agreement. Even though the matters are not related, a conflict of interest under the Rules of Professional Conduct would exist unless the City consents, in writing, to the firm representing both clients.
The City Attorney is uniquely situated to determine whether or not it is in the...
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