The California Bar Association is currently in the process reviewing and amending the state’s ethical rules for solicitors in the first full review of the rules since 1987. While around 70 rules have come under the scrutiny of the state bar, one in particular has caused particular division and controversy – namely, the rule that prohibits sex between lawyers at clients. As it stands, solicitors in California are forbidden from asking for sex in exchange for legal representation or coercing their clients into sex. However, the bar association is considering extending the rule to apply to all sexual activity between lawyers and clients, exposing those who breach the rule to potential disciplinary action.

Coercion concerns vs. privacy fears

There are currently 17 states in the US that have blanket bans on sexual relationships between lawyers and their clients. Advocates of the rule in California argue that the attorney-client relationship carries a fundamental imbalance of power, therefore throwing the ethics of any sexual exchange within the relationship into question. Supporters have noted that of the 205 sexual misconduct complaints received by the bar association between 1990 and 2010, only one lawyer was disciplined. However, others believe that an all-out ban would mark an unnecessary regulatory overreach into the private lives of lawyers. California Bar Commission member James Ham commented: ‘Proponents of a complete ban cannot articulate why a lawyer should be disciplined for sexual relations with a mature, intelligent, consenting adult, in the absence of any quid pro quo, coercion, intimidation or undue influence.’

The California Bar Association has until March 2017 to secure board approval for the ban, after which it will be sent to the California Supreme Court for a final decision.

Sources: Los Angeles Times; RT; Newser