道德意见212

Representation by Law Firm Adverse to Former Client in a Substantially Related Matter After Lawyers Who Represented Former Client Have Left the Law Firm

*[注:参见 意见212 受到《澳门赌场官方软件》修订的实质影响.C. 2007年2月1日生效的《澳门赌场官网》

A law firm may undertake representation adverse to a former client in a matter substantially related to the matter for the former client, 但(i)在第一件事上代表前客户的所有澳门赌场官网均已离开本所, (二)事务所的所有澳门赌场官网都没有, 或者有机会, (三)原客户对第二客户的相关事项具有重大意义的保密事项. 新哥伦比亚特区规则1.第10(c)条在其1991年1月1日生效之日及其之后将强制产生相反的结果. 然而, 根据所呈现的事实, 并假设在1月1日之后代理将继续, 1991, 新规则1.10(c) should not be applied in this case to require the law firm to resign as counsel for the second client; the representation approved herein may continue after January 1, 1991.

适用的代码

• DR 4-101(保护客户的机密和秘密.)
• DR 5-105 (Refusing to 接受 or Continue Employment if the Interests of Another Client May Impair the Independent Professional Judgment of the Lawyer.)

适用的规则¹

• 规则1.10(c)(推定取消资格.)

调查

查询人是一间澳门赌场官网事务所(“该澳门赌场官网事务所”). Beginning in late 1983 和 continuing through November 1987 the Law Firm represented a client (“第一个 Client”) in connection with 第一个 Client’s negotiation of a billion dollar construction contract with the United States Government for a large military facility in a foreign country.

第一，委托人作为总施工经理和工程师，实质上是本工程的总承包商. 该项目正在进行中，预计要到90年代中期的某个时候才能完成.

1987年3月, one of the two partners of the Law Firm who had been principally involved in the representation of 第一个 Client resigned from the Law Firm 和 joined another law firm (“Second Law Firm”). The other partner remaining in the Law Firm who had been involved in the representation of 第一个 Client continued to h和le all matters for 第一个 Client, 偶尔会得到其他合伙人和助理的帮助. The Law Firm’s representation of 第一个 Client included several matters in addition to 和 unrelated to the military construction project.

1987年10月, as the Law Firm was nearing the end of the lengthy contract negotiation process 和 related matters on behalf of 第一个 Client with the U.S. 政府，律所的长期客户

(“第二客户”)成为该项目的主要分包商, 并请澳门赌场官网事务所代表其访问-à-vis该项目. At that time there were no disputes or anticipated disputes between 第一个 Client (the general contractor) 和 Second Client (the subcontractor).

1987年10月，澳门赌场官网事务所获得第一客户的书面同意，代表第二客户, 同意:包含以下条件的同意:

然而, 【澳门赌场官网】与【澳门赌场官网】之间发生任何争议或利益冲突 . . . we would expect [the Law Firm] to remove itself from any contact or distribution of any information to any of the parties.

该澳门赌场官网事务所随后承担了与该项目有关的第二个客户的代理工作. The representation of Second Client was undertaken by lawyers in the Law Firm other than the lawyers who had been involved in the representation of 第一个 Client. 一个月后(1987年11月), 显然是巧合, the other partner of the Law Firm who had been in charge of all matters for 第一个 Client resigned from the Law Firm 和 joined the same Second Law Firm that the first departing partner had joined eight months earlier. 第二个离开的合伙人带着第一客户的所有文件去了第二澳门赌场官网事务所.

因此, 1987年11月初, 律所完全停止代理第一客户, which thereupon 和 thereafter was represented by Second Law Firm on all continuing aspects of the construction project, 包括第一客户与美国澳门赌场官网事务所之间反复发生的纠纷.S. 政府，以及第一客户和各种分包商之间反复出现的纠纷.

1988年末，由第二澳门赌场官网事务所代理的第一客户之间开始发生纠纷, 与建设项目有关的第二客户. 该澳门赌场官网事务所代表第二客户处理这些纠纷.

随着第一客户和第二客户之间的纠纷越来越多，越来越严重, 第一个 Client in late 1989 asserted that the Law Firm must withdraw as counsel for Second Client on all disputes between 第一个 Client 和 Second client.

澳门赌场官网事务所的调查表明了这一点, when the partner who was in charge of 第一个 Client’s matters left the Law Firm in November 1987 和 took all of 第一个 Client’s files with him, 从那时起以及之后的所有相关时间,

(a) nobody remaining at the Law Firm had any “confidences” or “secrets” of 第一个 Client within the meaning of DR 4-104(A),
(b)留在澳门赌场官网事务所的任何人都没有任何受规则1保护的“[与第一客户有关的]信息”.6”，属于规则1的含义.10 (c),
(c) there were no files or other records of 第一个 Client remaining within the premises of the Law Firm containing any information described in the preceding clauses (a) 和 (b), 为澳门赌场官网事务所持续代理客户与第一客户之间的合同纠纷提供的材料.

讨论

It is clear that the lawyer-client relationship between the Law Firm 和 Second Client that is being challenged by 第一个 Client will continue well beyond January 1, 1991年在正常情况下. 因此，除其他事项外，这项调查提出了一个关于规则1适用性的新问题.自该规则于1991年1月1日在哥伦比亚特区生效之日起，第10(c)条适用于本案.

In responding to this inquiry we turn first to the “current” law; we then analyze the “new” law, 即, 规则1.10(c). 在考虑“法律”之前,，有必要提出一个警告, 和 to discuss the issue presented by 第一个 Client’s conditional consent (referred to above) to the Law Firm’s representation of Second Client.

第一个, the caveat: the Law Firm’s representation that it has no 第一客户的相关机密或秘密 appears to be consistent with the facts available to the Committee. 因此，我们假定该表述是准确的, 这是回答这个问题的一个基本前提. 本委员会的职能不是就这种事实密集的问题作出自己的决定.²

第二，委员会认为 这是法律道德问题 the conditions imposed on the Law Firm by 第一个 Client in October 1987 when it consented to the Law Firm’s representation of Second Client are no longer binding on the Law Firm. The reason is that those conditions were based on the assumption by all concerned that somebody at the Law Firm would continue to be in possession of, 或者有机会, 第一客户的相关机密或秘密, 律所接受这些条件就是基于这个假设. 因为这个假设已经不正确了, 我们认为，这些条件不再引起道德问题. 因此, 从严格的法律伦理的角度来看, this inquiry is analyzed without further reference to 第一个 Client’s conditional consent to the Law Firm’s representation of Second Client.³ 现在我们转向适用法律.

现行法律

委员会的结论是，澳门赌场官网事务所代表第二客户对第一客户有重大不利影响, 和 that the matter on which the Law Firm is representing Second Client is substantially related to the matter on which the Law Firm previously represented 第一个 Client. 看,e.g., 评论[2]根据新的哥伦比亚特区规则1.9, which makes it clear that the substantial relationship criterion is to be analyzed by reference to existing federal case law. 一个例子是 美国橄榄球联盟. 国家橄榄球联盟, 605 F. 增刊. 1448 (S.D.N.Y. 1985).

在这种情况下, 然而, 不利陈述和实质关系的结合并不是分析的终点. 没有哥伦比亚特区的案例或本委员会的意见是完全正确的, 但在《澳门赌场官方软件》中出现了一个共识，即, DR 4-101和DR 5-105, 在这种情况下，澳门赌场官网事务所对第二客户的代理是

允许的, 因为律所没人见过, 或者有机会, 第一客户的相关机密或秘密. 自1983年以来，这一原则已被编入现在的ABA示范规则1.10(b):

(b)澳门赌场官网终止与事务所的联系, 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 和 not currently represented by the firm, 除非:

(1) the matter is the same or substantially related to that in which the formerly associated lawyer represented the client; 和 
(2)任何留在事务所的澳门赌场官网都有受规则1保护的信息.6和1.9(c)对该事项至关重要的.⁴

因此，“现行”法律，如ABA示范规则1所证明和编纂的.第10(b)条规定(i)实质性关系被取消资格 和 (ii)拥有前客户的相关机密或秘密. 在这种情况下, 谓词(ii)不存在, 因此，根据现行法律，澳门赌场官网事务所代理第二客户是正当的.

新法律

哥伦比亚特区规则1.10(c)，对应于ABA模型规则1.10(b)，将取消澳门赌场官网事务所的资格(1991年1月1日生效)，因为D.C. Rule is drafted in the disjunctive: it predicates disqualification on (i) a substantial relationship or (ii)拥有前客户的相关机密或秘密:

(c)澳门赌场官网终止与事务所的联系, 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 during the association 除非:

 (1) the matter is the same or substantially related to that in which the formerly associated lawyer represented the client during such former association; or
(2)任何留在事务所的澳门赌场官网都有受规则1保护的信息.那是重要的.

哥伦比亚特区偏离ABA模型规则1.第10(b)条，导致更严格的哥伦比亚特区规则1.上面引用的第10(c)条既明确又深思熟虑. The original version of the District of Columbia rules was drafted by the District of Columbia 酒吧 Model 职业行为准则 Committee (commonly referred to as the “Jordan Committee” after the name of its Chair, 罗伯特E. Jordan, III, Esquire). 约旦委员会 in its September 1985 Report to the District of Columbia 酒吧 董事会 of Governors proposed the deviation from the ABA version. 澳门赌场官网协会理事会于11月19日通过了约旦委员会的建议, 1986年向哥伦比亚特区上诉法院提出申诉, 上诉法院将于9月1日开庭审理此案, 1988年建议规则, 3月1日, 1990年颁布新规则的命令.

约旦委员会, 承认这个问题很棘手, 解释了规则1的更严格版本.10(c)如下:

美国澳门赌场官网协会[规则1.10(b)] would disqualify the firm only if the matter were the same matter or substantially related to a matter in which the departing lawyer represented the client while with the firm 和 仍在公司工作的澳门赌场官网拥有客户对该案件的机密或机密材料. [原文重音].委员会认为应允许反向代表权是错误的, 在任何一种物质中, 客户对该事件的保密资料在公司的哪些地方. 因此建议将澳门赌场官网公会第(c)段的“及”改为“或”。. It is a closer question whether the possession by a remaining lawyer of confidences or secrets should not be the sole test for firm disqualification. 委员会认为, 然而, that it is appropriate to provide for disqualification in the same or related matter to avoid the unseemly spectacle of all the lawyers responsible for a particular piece of litigation leaving a firm 和 the firm turning up the next day as counsel for the opposing party. 除了一般情况下的不得体之外, 公司的档案里可能有, 或者澳门赌场官网助理或其他非法律人员, 前客户的重大机密或秘密. 而不是要求对机密或秘密的知识进行调查, (c)款只是禁止前公司在这种情况下代理. [原文粗体.]

与前述一致，根据哥伦比亚特区规则1的官方评论.第10条对规则1的解释如下.10(c):

[17]相反, 当澳门赌场官网终止与事务所的合作关系时, paragraph (c) provides that the old firm may not thereafter represent clients whose interests are materially adverse to those of the formerly associated lawyer’s client in respect to a matter which is the same or substantially related to a matter with respect to which the formerly associated lawyer represented the client during the former association. 例如, 如果澳门赌场官网在a律所任职期间代表客户进行诉讼，他就离开了a律所, 把诉讼交给澳门赌场官网的新事务所, 公司A可能不会, 尽管澳门赌场官网走了, 谁把案子和客户交给新公司, 在同一诉讼中对前客户进行不利陈述.

约旦委员会, 理事会, 和 the Court all were concerned about what the Jordan Committee described as the “unseemly spectacle” (not present in this case) of a law firm switching sides in a pending case immediately following the departure from the firm of all of the lawyers who had previously been involved on the other side of that case. 除了, the Jordan Committee expressed its concern about a key issue identified above: the difficulty of determining as a matter of fact exactly what information the lawyers remaining in a firm have in their heads or in their files following the departure of a lawyer or group of lawyers who had represented a former client.

The “effective date” or “retroactivity” issue presented by this inquiry appears to have been anticipated at least to some extent by the Court of Appeals in its March 1, 1990订单, 其中载有以下段落:

进一步的命令, 1月1日之前发生的行为, 1991, the provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility in effect on the date of the conduct in question are the governing rules of decision for this court, 专业责任委员会, 其听证委员会, 和澳门赌场官网澳门赌场官网.

在我们看来，上述生效日期规定鼓励在适用新的规则1时保持克制.10(c)在本调查提出的情况下. We therefore conclude that in this case the Law Firm’s representation of Second Client should be permitted to continue on 和 after January 1, 1991.

这项调查提出的问题可能不是唯一的, 因此，为其他处境类似的人提供澄清和指导是适当的. 我们观察到我们的结论可能是, 但不是, 因为本案的交涉是在3月1日之前开始的, 1990, 上诉法院颁布新规则的最后命令的日期. 不言而喻的是, 因为法院在1月1日大肆宣传, 1991年生效日期, many members of the 酒吧 (including many of the most conscientious 和 best-informed members) will not read 和 analyze the new 规则 until toward the end of the year. 法院在新规则的序言中明确承认，新规则是“复杂和全面的”,” 和 urged 酒吧 members to attend “educational workshops” to be sponsored by the 酒吧 “[o]ver the course of the next year.“那些工作坊, 哪些正在计划中, 将于今年十月开始，预计最早要到十一月中旬才能完成.

It is therefore unrealistic 和 unreasonable to assume that members of the 酒吧 have actual knowledge or to charge them with constructive knowledge of the content of the new 规则 as of March 1, 1990年或1月1日之前的任何其他日期, 1991. 相应的, 我们认为, 1月1日前成立的澳门赌场官网与委托人关系, 1991年开始时是适当的，并且根据1月1日之前适用的道德原则继续是适当的, 1991, 新的《澳门赌场官网》在1月1日之后将不再适用, 1991年要求突然终止任何这种先前适当的关系.

调查没有. 89-12-43
批准:1990年5月15日

1.职业行为准则和相关评论(1月1日生效), 1991), 由哥伦比亚特区上诉法院于3月1日颁布的命令, 1990.
2. It appears from the material submitted to the committee by the Law Firm 和 第一个 Client that the only matter relating to this construction project that any current partner or employee of the Law Firm was involved in prior to the transfer by 第一个 Client of its business 和 its fields to Second Law Firm in November 1987 was this: in late 1985 和 early 1986, an associate (who is now a partner) of the Law Firm logged eight hours of time researching the question of what remedies might be available to 第一个 Client if the U.S. 政府声称终止了与第一客户公司当时存在的书面协议. The Law Firm has advised the Committee that the person involved has no present recollection of that research (which he turned over to one of the partners who left the Law Firm in 1987), 和 that in any event he did not obtain in connection with that research any “confidences” or “secrets” of 第一个 Client material to the later contractual disputes between 第一个 Client 和 Second Client.
3. 委员会对是否, 根据合同法, 或者在其他基础上, 第一客户可以对澳门赌场官网事务所执行1987年10月的条件.
4. 这条ABA示范规则的字母是1.10(c) when it was originally promulgated in 1983; it was relettered 1.作为美国澳门赌场官网协会1989年2月修订的《澳门赌场官方软件》的一部分，没有作出实质性修改.