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9 Pass It On: Newsl. Gov't & Pub. Sector Law. Div. 1 (1999-2000)

handle is hein.journals/passit9 and id is 1 raw text is: Volume 9, Number 1

G t II L i
GPSLD
Government end Public Sector Lawyers Division

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION'S GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR LAWYERS DIVISION

E-THICS CHECK
Competing Layers of Loyalty:
Government Client vs. The Public Interest
By Katherine Mikkelson

Editor's Note: Te following
hypothetical and discussion are
indicative of the issues that are
addressed in the Division's
Ethics CLEprogram, Ethical
Considerations in Public Sector
Law Sea p 8for a listing of
when this program will be pre-
sented in the upcoming bar
year                               4
M      ane Gonzalez is the
unty Attorney for
Catalina County. Gonzalez re-
cently began a series of con-
demnation proceedings so that
Catalina County can start
work on a new stadium and
sports complex that will house two profes-
sional sports franchises scheduled to move
to Catalina County in a few years.
One key parcel from among the list of
condemned properties remains at issue. A
negotiator in the County Attorney's office
proposed a settlement offer for the property
on Salem Road owned by Carl and Mar-
garet Evans. The proposed offer ($160,000)
is far below the property's value ($307,000),
which was assessed by a county appraiser
a year ago.
A few days after the offer is made, Gon-
zalez gets a call from Margaret Evans. Dur-
ing the course of the conversation, Gonza-
lez learns that the Evanses bought the
property in 1957 and that both are retired
and in their early seventies. Evans explains
that on their fixed income, she and her hus-
band cannot afford to hire their own lawyer.
Evans says that she needs advice as to
whether she and her husband should ac-

P- P P-

WLM  mlI

cept the county's offer. Gonzalezs heart
goes out to the woman, as she surmises
that the Evanses have no idea how their
land has appreciated over the years. Gonza-
lez tells Evans that she should think long
and hard about the offer because the land
may be worth much more. She also tells
Evans that they should definitely hire a
lawyer and that perhaps they could find
someone who will take the case on a contin-
gency fee basis.
Question: Did Gonzalez act ethically
in advising Evans that the land may
be worth more?
You might be scratching your head and-
thinking, Hey, Gonzalez is employed by
the county, which means that her duty
should be to the county, not Evans. She
should have told Evans she was not her at-
torney, urged her to find her own lawyer
and then hung up. Perhaps, but that seems

harsh, given the fact that the
county's offer seems far from
fair. And, as a county attor-
ney, doesn't Gonzalez have a
duty to see that Catalina
County's citizens (i.e., the pub-
lic interest) are treated justly?
The government lawyer is
a unique animal, confronted
with competing layers of loy-
alty. Not only must the gov-
ernment lawyer face multiple
layers of a client (the agency
head, an agency official or the
agency itself), the government
lawyer must also maintain a
duty to the public interest, not
continued on page 2

.by House of Degpts at AmniW
Meetig, p.4

P A 00

Fall 1999

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