7 Comments

it goes to show you that quid pro quo sexual harrassment really has a much simpler name: solicitation of prostitution.

and you have to love the fact that the disbarrment is not necessarily permanent.

You know, the profession says it should encourage alternative billing arrangements, and then the bar does this…

But it’s still OK for me to charge them more, right?

Walter, I don’t think your headline is accurate.

For this guy, perhaps better warnings/prohibitions would be to not (i) alter evidence; (ii) suborn perjury; (iii) steal clients’ money; (iv) ignore trust account requirements; or (v) misrepresent facts to the courts (by, say, editing a videotape to remove scenes that would be harmful to your case).

The “couch fee” in this case is problematic but not the most egregious lapse in ethics. Sex with your client — minus the quid pro quo — isn’t a violation of ethical standards in most jurisdictions anyway and, alone, can’t be a basis for suspension.

That said, isn’t the joke that sex with your client is tantamount to double billing?

So… you’re saying they don’t have to agree?

Consensual sex, Ron. I am not personally acquainted with another variety but I recognize your concern and/or validate your experience.

As I read the concern expressed by the ABA when opining on the topic, it is the abuse of the fiduciary relationship that is problematic — that the qpp is a means of taking advantage of the relationship of trust and confidence that the a/c relationhip should represent. In that context, perhaps you (and the ABA) are suggesting there can be no informed consent, even between adults, in an a/c context.

Still, in the instant case, it looks like the sexual relationship was icing — a salacious detail — rather than the basis for the sanction, which was my initial point.

I think the ABA’s objection is that people should pay to be s***wed by a lawyer, not the other way around.

Bob