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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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