Opinion 1818

The Committee researched and reviewed your inquiry concerning a lawyer converting a security interest in real property for a fee into an ownership interest, while an appeal regarding the property is pending and determined the following:

The RPC Committee has considered whether a law firm may convert a one-third contingency fee security interest in real property into an ownership interest in conjunction with the law firm's client while a defendant is appealing the underlying judgment and whether that might allow a defendant to remove a law firm as an attorney from a case as a witness in the event the appeal is successful.

The Committee is of the opinion that the transaction you described may be undertaken without necessarily being in violation of the rules, but care should be taken to comply with RPC 1.8(a) for each transaction, as well as RPC 1.5(c). RPC 1.8(j) would be of concern if the property involved were the subject of the underlying litigation.

Whether RPC 3.7 may create a problem for you as a potential witness depends on how the business venture is structured, and to more fully answer that question would involve providing legal advice which is beyond the scope of this Committee's role.

Advisory Opinions are provided for the education of the Bar and reflect the opinion of the Committee on Professional Ethics (CPE) or its predecessors. Advisory Opinions are provided pursuant to the authorization granted by the Board of Governors, but are not individually approved by the Board and do not reflect the official position of the Bar association. Laws other than the Washington State Rules of Professional Conduct may apply to the inquiry. The Committee's answer does not include or opine about any other applicable law other than the meaning of the Rules of Professional Conduct.