I am a lawyer and also the real estate broker for a client. May I serve as the attorney for a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction in which I am also that person's broker?

Plain-English summary

The inquiring attorney was the president and principal real estate broker of a real estate company and also a title attorney. He asked whether he could serve as the attorney for an individual (either a buyer or a seller) in a real estate transaction in which he was also the real estate broker acting on behalf of that same individual.

The Panel answered no. It explained that the Rules of Professional Conduct permit a practicing lawyer to engage simultaneously in other businesses or professions, but in all such cases the Rules relating to transacting business with clients, advertising, soliciting legal employment, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality must be observed. The Panel found that the arrangement the inquiring attorney proposed could not be reconciled with those Rules.

The Panel grounded its conclusion in its recent Opinion 96-26, in which it had advised an attorney who was also an insurance broker that the Rules did not permit him to provide estate-planning legal services to his insurance customers. The Panel held that the rationale of Op. 96-26 applied here as well, and referred the inquiring attorney to that opinion. Accordingly, it responded in the negative.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996 (Opinion 96-29, issued November 14, 1996), after the Rhode Island Supreme Court adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct effective November 15, 1988, and it applies the Rules governing outside businesses, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality as they stood at the time. The Rhode Island Supreme Court later revised the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2007 as part of the nationwide Ethics 2000 process, and the conflict-of-interest rules have been amended since. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Can a Rhode Island lawyer also work as a real estate broker?

A: The opinion did not bar practicing law and brokering real estate as such. It said a lawyer may simultaneously engage in another business, but must observe the Rules on business transactions with clients, advertising, solicitation, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality.

Q: Why can't the lawyer be both the broker and the attorney for the same buyer or seller?

A: The Panel concluded that dual role could not be reconciled with the Rules of Professional Conduct, applying the rationale of Op. 96-26, which had barred an attorney-insurance-broker from providing legal services to his insurance customers.

Q: Does the opinion point to a specific prior ruling?

A: Yes. It expressly relied on and referred the inquiring attorney to Op. 96-26, treating that opinion's reasoning as controlling on the same question.

Background and rules framework

The opinion did not cite a numbered rule. It enumerated the categories of Rules that govern a lawyer who simultaneously engages in another business (those relating to transacting business with clients, Model Rule 1.8 / RI RPC 1.8; advertising and solicitation, Model Rules 7.1 to 7.3 / RI RPC 7.1 to 7.3; conflicts of interest, Model Rule 1.7 / RI RPC 1.7; and confidentiality, Model Rule 1.6 / RI RPC 1.6) and concluded the proposed broker-and-attorney arrangement could not be reconciled with them. It adopted the reasoning of Op. 96-26, which had turned on the conflict and business-transaction rules.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 1.7 / RI RPC 1.7 (conflicts of interest)
• MR 1.8 / RI RPC 1.8 (transacting business with clients)
• MR 1.6 / RI RPC 1.6 (confidentiality)

Other opinions cited:

• RI EAP Opinion 96-26 (1996): a lawyer who is also an insurance broker may not provide estate-planning legal services to his insurance customers; its rationale controls the analogous broker-attorney question

See also

• RI EAP Opinion 96-26: an estate-planning lawyer may not sell insurance to law clients under Rules 1.7 and 1.8

Source

• Landing page: https://www.courts.ri.gov/attorney-resources/Pages/Ethics-Advisory-Panel-default.aspx
• Original PDF: https://www.courts.ri.gov/Opinions/EAP%2096-29.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

ETHICS ADVISORY PANEL
OPINION NO. 96-29, REQUEST NO. 690
Issued November 14, 1996

FACTS:

The inquiring attorney is the president and principal real estate broker of a real estate company. He is also a title attorney,

ISSUE PRESENTED:

The inquiring attorney asks whether he/she may serve as the attorney for an individual, either a buyer or a seller, in a real estate transaction in which he/she is the real estate broker on behalf of the individual.

OPINION:

The Rhode Island Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct do not permit the arrangement that the inquiring attorney proposes.

REASONING:

The Rules of Professional Conduct permit practicing lawyers to simultaneously engage in other businesses or professions. In all such cases, the Rules relating to transacting business with clients, advertising, soliciting legal employment, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality must be observed. See R.I. Sup. Ct. Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 96-26. However, the arrangement proposed by the inquiring attorney cannot be reconciled with the Rules of Professional Conduct.

In Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 96-26, the Panel recently advised an attorney who is an insurance broker of life, health, and accident insurance that the Rules of Professional Conduct do not permit him/her to provide estate planning legal services to his/her insurance customers. The rationale set forth in Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 96-26 is applicable to the instant request, and the Panel refers the inquiring attorney to that opinion.

Accordingly, the Panel responds to this inquiry in the negative, concluding that the Rules of Professional Conduct do not permit the inquiring attorney to serve as the attorney for an individual in a real estate transaction in which he/she is the real estate broker on behalf of the individual.