Can a lawyer who sits as an unpaid member of a municipal board of health represent private clients before the town's other agencies and its municipal court?
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This page answers the general question as of 1964. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The inquiry asked whether an attorney who serves, without salary, as a commissioner on a municipal board of health, and maintains his law office in that municipality, may appear for private clients before municipal agencies other than the board of health, such as the zoning board of adjustment, the municipal court, the governing body, the alcoholic beverage control board, and the planning board.
The Committee noted that the basic issue had been raised in a number of recent inquiries from members of the bar who serve on municipal bodies, with or without pay, or as counsel for the municipality or one of its agencies. As to this inquiry, the Committee's opinion was that it would not be proper for the attorney-board of health member to appear before the other municipal agencies or the municipal court of the municipality in which he holds office, citing a line of its prior opinions.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in March 1964, before New Jersey's September 13, 1971 adoption of the Disciplinary Rules (Code of Professional Responsibility), and well before the 1984 Rules of Professional Conduct and all later revisions. It applied the conflict principle of the former Canons of Professional Ethics (Canon 6) to a lawyer holding municipal office; such conflicts are now analyzed under RPC 1.7. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Could the unpaid board-of-health member appear for private clients before the town's zoning or planning boards?
A: No. The Committee held it would not be proper for him to appear before the municipality's other agencies, including the zoning board, planning board, governing body, and alcoholic beverage control board.
Q: Did serving without salary change the result?
A: No. The Committee treated the question the same whether the member served with or without pay, consistent with its other recent opinions on lawyers holding municipal office.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied the conflict principle of the former Canons of Professional Ethics (Canon 6) developed in the Committee's earlier municipal-office opinions, treating a board-of-health member as disabled from appearing for private clients before the same municipality's other agencies. The question is now analyzed under RPC 1.7.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct (as in effect at the time):
- Canon of Professional Ethics 6 (adverse influences and conflicting interests)
Other opinions cited:
- N.J. ACPE Opinions 4, 5, 11, 15, 19, 22, and 24: conflicts of lawyers holding municipal office or representing municipal bodies
See also
- NJ ACPE Op. 141: Health Board Attorney Suing the Municipality
- NJ ACPE Op. 300: Attorney for Both the Planning Board and the Board of Health
- NJ ACPE Op. 52: Attorney to a Municipal Parking Authority
Source
- Landing page: https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/advisory-committee-on-professional-ethics/2004/acp37-1.html
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
87 N.J.L.J. 190
March 26, 1964
OPINION 37
Conflict of Interest
Board of Health Member
May an attorney-at-law who serves as a commissioner on the board of health of a municipality, without salary, and maintains his law office in such municipality, appear on behalf of private clients before municipal agencies other than the board of health, such as the zoning board of adjustment, municipal court, the governing body, alcoholic beverage control board and planning board?
The basic issue raised in this question has been raised by members of the bar who serve as members of municipal bodies, with or without pay, or as counsel for the municipality or one of its agencies, in a number of inquiries submitted to this Committee in recent months.
Our opinion as to the instant inquiry is that it would not be proper for the attorney-board of health member to appear before the other municipal agencies or the municipal court of the municipality in which he holds office. See Opinions 24, 87 N.J.L.J. 19 (1964); 22, 87 N.J.L.J. 13 (1964); 19, 86 N.J.L.J. 734 (1963); 15, 86 N.J.L.J. 734 (1963); 11, 86 N.J.L.J. 621 (1963); 5, 86 N.J.L.J. 361 (1963); and 4, 86 N.J.L.J. 357 (1963).
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