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MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, INC.
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
ETHICS DOCKET NO. 1989-51
Attorney Conflicts from position on City Board of Zoning Appeals
In your letter you state that you are an attorney practicing in the Town of Ocean City and reside in the Town of Berlin. You have been requested to serve as a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the Town of Berlin. The Mayor and Council of Berlin are represented by an attorney not affiliated with your law firm.
You have indicated that you wish to be able to represent private clients before the Mayor and Council of Berlin and the Planning Commission for the Town of Berlin, both of whom are represented by the other attorney. You also wish to represent clients before the Board of Zoning Appeals in the Town of Ocean City and the Board of Zoning Appeals in Worcester County, which Boards are also represented by other attorneys. You have inquired whether your position as a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the Town of Berlin would preclude your representation of clients before the Mayor and Council of Berlin and/or your representation of clients before other Boards of Zoning Appeals not affiliated with the Berlin Board of Zoning Appeals.
In reverse order, the Committee determines that your service as a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the Town of Berlin would not ptr se constitute any impediment to representing other clients before other boards of zoning appeals in other jurisdictions. The mere fact that you may serve as a public official in the Town of Berlin does not preclude you from representing other clients before similar agencies in other jurisdictions.
With respect to your request regarding representing other c lients before the Mayor and Council of Berlin and its Planning Commission, reference is made to Rule 1.11 which is entitled ""Successive Government and Private Employment."" Subsections (c) and (d) provide certain limitations with respect to your ability to undertake such representation. That Section provides as follows:
""(c) Except as law may otherwise expressly permit, a lawyer serving as a public officer or employee shall not:
(1) participate in a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and substantially while in private practice or nongovernmental employment, unless under applicable law no one is, or by lawful delegation may be, authorized to act in the lawyer's stead in the matter; or
(2) negotiate for private employment with any person who is involved as a party or as attorney for a party in a matter in which the lawyer is participating personally and substantially.
(d) As used in this Rule, the term 'matter' includes:
(1) any judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other determination, contract, claim controversy, investigation, charge, accusation, arrest or other particular matter involving a specific party or parties; and
(2) any other matter covered by the conflict of interest rules of the appropriate government agency.""
In addition to the provisions of Rule 1.11, there may be other ethics laws enacted by the Town of Berlin with which we have no familiarity. However, you should check to determine whether or not the local legislative body has enacted any such ethical standards which would preclude your representation of other clients.
Aside from the afore-referenced areas of concern, we are aware of no provision contained in the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct which would expressly prohibit you from serving as a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals of the Town of Berlin and representing other clients subject to the restrictions outlined above. In that connection, I am enclosing a copy of the Committee's earlier opinion in Docket Number 79-59. There, the Committee found no conflict as to an attorney serving on the Board of Appeals for a town and representing a client before the County's Board of Zoning Appeals.
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