| Date: | 05/03/1979 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | State Ethics Commission |
A member of the General Court may not receive compensation on a contingency fee basis for legal services which will involve negotiations and a personal appearance before a state agency.
- This page, EC-COI-79-66, is offered by
- State Ethics Commission
Opinion
Opinion EC-COI-79-66
Table of Contents
Facts
You are a member of the General Court. You are also a partner in a private law firm which represents a client claiming damages arising out of an accident. Since your client is a recipient of certain state benefits the Commonwealth has placed a lien against the proceeds which your client may receive from her legal action.
Question
You ask whether it is a conflict of interest under General Laws Chapter 268A for you to negotiate personally with the Commonwealth to reduce the amount of its lien in connection with a settlement proposal by the defendant's insurance company.
Discussion
You are a state employee but as a member of the General Court you are exempt from the prohibitions of § 4(a) and 4(c) by the Fifth Paragraph of § 4, as amended by Chapter 210 of the Acts of 1978. Under that paragraph, however, you are prohibited from personally appearing for compensation other than your legislative salary in a matter before a state agency, except for ministerial matters, court appearances and quasi-judicial proceedings. It is evident that the negotiations you contemplate are not ministerial, nor will they take place before a court of the Commonwealth, nor are they a quasi-judicial proceeding as defined in § 4. Therefore, you are prohibited as a member of the General Court from personally appearing for compensation in such negotiations. Nothing in § 4 limits this prohibition to matters in which your client's interest is adverse to that of the Commonwealth.
Although the compensation you will receive for representing your client is on a contingency fee basis which is not dependent on the amount repaid to the Commonwealth, the Commission finds that the negotiations you contemplate would nonetheless be undertaken for compensation within the meaning of § 4. This is because any payment you may eventually receive will be in satisfaction off all legal services you perform in reference to this claim, including negotiations on the Commonwealth's lien.
End Of Decision