About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2018 Op. S.C. Att'y Gen. 1 (2018)

handle is hein.sag/sagsc0160 and id is 1 raw text is: ALAN WILsoN ATTORNEY GENERAL January 2, 2018 Councilman Stephen W. Tumbleston and Councilman William Waters Town of Ravenel 5962 Highway 165, Suite 100 Ravenel, SC 29470 Dear Mr. Tumbleston and Mr. Waters: Attorney General Alan Wilson has referred your letter dated November 6. 2017 to the Opinions section for a response. The following is this Office's understanding of your question and our opinion based on that understanding. Issue (as quoted from your letter): -The Town of Ravenel has been paying our Attorney as a W-2 eployee since 2001. 7he Atorney also bills the town for aditiional services rendered that are perforned by his private law practice. The Arney works less thian 20 hours per eek and has a full-time law practice. ... The Town of Ravenel established a 20-hour per week thresho/l as fid/-tine status in order for emnploees to receive health insurance benefis. In February 2001 the Town of Ravenel submitted paper work classifying the Attorney as afdl- time employee. He has been receiving state beneis as affid/-ime employee since 2001 although he has a law practice and has never worked the required 20 hours per week. ... Can you please advise your opinion if this financial arrangement is legal and ethical, and if not please advise the proper procedures the town should be fiollowing with regards to his compensation? Our reply: First and foremost, let us direct you to a few sources for insight into your situation. As you may well be aware, the South Carolina Ethics Commission enforces the State Ethics Act and may initiate or receive complaints and make investigations of alleged violations. S.C. Code Ann. ( 8-13-310, 8-13- 320. Thus, we advise consulting the Ethics Commission if you think there may be a potential violation of the Ethics Act. Additionally, lawyers are subject to the South Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers which are found in Rule 407 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules. The Commission on Lawyer Conduct investigates complaints of lawyer misconduct pursuant to Rule 413 of the Appellate Court Rules. Moreover, the South Carolina Bar has a Risk Management Director and Counsel in addition to an ethics committee that issues ethics and advisory opinions. We advise pursuing these resources if you have questions regarding lawyer conduct. Questions regarding the State Health Plan and its legal requirements should be directed to the Public Employment Benefit Authority (PEBA). See S.C. Code Ann. § 9-1-10 et seq. Regarding the compensation and employment of an attorney, the Town should be following its procurement policy based on guidelines developed by the State Fiscal Accountability Authority and the Procurement Policy Committee. See S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-50. This Office has previously opined regarding a political subdivision's contractual employment of an attorney that it need only go follow its RMBERT C. DENNIS BUILDING * POST OFITCE Box i1549 * COLUM.A, SC29211-1549 * TELEPHIONE 803-734-3970 * FACSINitB 803-253-6283

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most