Rule Text (verbatim from The Florida Bar)
A lawyer may serve as a director, officer, or member of a legal
services organization, apart from the law firm in which the lawyer
practices, notwithstanding that the organization serves persons
having interests adverse to the client of the lawyer. The lawyer
shall not knowingly participate in a decision or action of the
organization:
(a) if participating in the decision would be incompatible with
the lawyer’s obligations to a client under rule 4-1.7; or
(b) where the decision could have a material adverse effect on
the representation of a client of the organization whose interests are
adverse to a client of the lawyer.
Educational reference. This page summarizes a Florida Rule of Professional Conduct for educational purposes. The rule text and Comment are mirrored from the Florida Bar's official publication and are public domain. The plain-English summary and any commentary are the opinion of Phillips, Hunt & Walker and are general information only — not legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you believe a Florida lawyer has violated this rule, you can file a complaint with The Florida Bar at floridabar.org. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What this rule means in plain English
A Florida lawyer can serve as a director, officer, or member of a legal services organization (legal aid, pro bono society, etc.) even if the organization’s clients have interests adverse to the lawyer’s regular clients. The rule recognizes a difference between board service and direct case work — the lawyer can help govern the organization without becoming personally conflicted by the organization’s case roster.
Florida Bar Ethics Opinions interpreting this rule
- Opinion 71-69 (1971)
<p>A group of Florida lawyers can form a nonprofit corporation to provide free legal services to people who cannot afford counsel but don't qualify for traditional Legal Aid. The structure must avoid any nonlawyer control over the legal services and any improper fee arrangements, but the basic concept — lawyers banding together to serve a gap population — has explicit Bar blessing.</p>
Read on floridabar.org → - Opinion 66-24 (1966)
<p>A Florida lawyer can participate in a legal aid program organized by a fraternal society (like the Elks or Masons) as long as the society doesn't interfere with the attorney-client relationship. The lawyer's first duty remains to each individual client, not to the sponsoring organization. The Bar permits sponsored legal aid; it doesn't permit sponsor influence over case decisions.</p>
Read on floridabar.org →
Comment (verbatim from The Florida Bar)
Lawyers should be encouraged to support and participate in
legal service organizations. A lawyer who is an officer or a member
of such an organization does not thereby have a client-lawyer
relationship with persons served by the organization. However,
there is potential conflict between the interests of such persons and
the interests of the lawyer’s clients. If the possibility of such
conflict disqualified a lawyer from serving on the board of a legal
services organization, the profession’s involvement in such
organizations would be severely curtailed.
It may be necessary in appropriate cases to reassure a client of
the organization that the representation will not be affected by
conflicting loyalties of a member of the board. Established, written
policies in this respect can enhance the credibility of such
assurances.
Amended July 23, 1992, effective January 1, 1993 (605 So.2d 252).