Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, Another lawyer from our firm and I made a pitch to represent company A, which our firm had not previously represented, in a new matter. We discussed with A the strategy that we would employ if hired, based on the facts from their perspective that they provided to us at the time. Unfortunately, we did not get the work. Six months later, I have been asked to take on a different matter for an existing client B who is now adverse to A, one that is not the same or substantially related to the matter that we discussed with A. May the firm or I take the new matter? Do we need any kind of a waiver to do so?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I have a good friend who is a lawyer at a small firm. Unfortunately, she recently has become the subject of a malpractice claim by a former client. She’s told me a little about it, and based on my knowledge of her professionalism, I’m sure it’s a claim without merit.

She has asked me to defend her and her firm in trying to get rid of this claim, and says that her insurer has agreed to defer to her choice since the amount of the claim is fully within her firm’s deductible. We don’t have any conflicts that would be a problem. We do have some unrelated cases where lawyers in her firm are on the other side of lawyers in our firm representing their clients, but no adversity to her firm itself. This isn’t a problem, is it?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I am in-house counsel for a corporation dealing primarily with Mr. P, who is president and a substantial shareholder. Mr. P has asked me to prepare a legal analysis that would lay out the tax ramifications of a proposed compensation and benefits package for all corporate officers, and make recommendations about how to optimize it.

Because part of the motivation in considering the new package is the recruitment and retention of corporate officers, he asks that the memo address ramifications to both the corporation and to affected individuals, including himself, who would be subject to the new package. He provides his relevant tax information (as do other existing corporate officers). What are the ethical considerations?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I am a lawyer with a small firm. Recently, one of our partners (Betty) left the firm to join another firm, and Betty took with her a significant client that she had brought to the firm. She took all the client files (paper and electronic) and also took with her the only associate who had worked on any of that client’s matters. Now, a month later, a dispute has erupted between one of my clients and Betty’s client, and they want me to represent them in a suit against Betty’s client. I am worried that Betty’s client was also a client of our firm only a month ago. Does this create a conflict issue for us either under the former client rule 1.9, or the imputation of conflicts rule 1.10?

Q: Dear Ethics Lawyer, I am an attorney for a company desiring to complete a relatively small real estate transaction with an individual to facilitate a larger development. In order to complete the transaction, the individual needs to document an agreement she has with a third party by which the third party will release their interest. In order to make this happen, she asked me if I could draft a writing to reflect the agreement between her and the third party, that she can then get signed. My client company doesn’t mind. Can I do it and if so under what circumstances?