You are a member of the General Court. You are also a member of ABC Area Board.
You ask whether consistent with law, General Laws Chapter 268A, you may continue to serve on the area board if a law firm of which you are a partner represents a partnership clinic which contracts with the Department of Mental Health through the same area board.
We conclude that you may, but that your partners will be subject to the restrictions discussed below.
In rendering this opinion, the Commission has relied upon the facts as you have stated them and has made any independent investigation of those facts.
As a member of the General Court, you are a state employee as that term is defined in G. L. c. 268A, s.1 (q). A member of an area board is also considered a state employee. See EC-COI-80-12. The Commission has previously concluded that a state legislator may serve on an area board if he is not compensated for doing so. See EC-COI-79-125; EC-COI-80-4. Section 5(d) of Chapter 268A prohibits a partner of a state employee from acting as an attorney for anyone other than the Commonwealth in connection with any "particular matter" in which the Commonwealth or a state agency is a party or has a direct and substantial interest in which the state employee participated or has participated as a state employee, or which is the subject of his official responsibility. The term particular matter" is defined to include "any judicial or other proceeding, application, submission, request for ruling or other determination, contract, claim controversy, charge, accusation, arrest, decision, determination, finding . . ." See G.L. c. 268A, s.1(k).
As a member of the area board, you have official responsibility over any "particular matter" before the board. See G.L. c. 268A, s.1(i). Moreover, the board clearly has a direct and substantial interest in any such matter. Section 5(d) would thus prohibit your partners from representing the partnership clinic in connection with any application, proceeding, contract, or other “particular matter" before the board. This is so regardless of whether you participate in the matter as an area board member. Thus, you cannot merely abstain from voting on a contract which affects the partnership clinic and concerning which your firm represents the clinic. This restriction on your partners does not concern legal work of the clinic unrelated to its dealings with the area board. However, the restriction is not limited to personal appearances before the board but covers all activities as an attorney in connection with such matters. See EC-COI-80-50.
Accordingly, you are not prohibited from serving on the board but you if you continue to do so, your firm's legal work for the partnership clinic will be restricted. Whether any such legal work will be deemed in connection with a particular matter of direct and substantial interest to the state so as to be prohibited by s.5(d) will, of course, depend on the individual facts of the situation presented.
End Of Decision
