Opinion 1248

The Committee considered your inquiry regarding whether it would violate any ethical obligations for a lawyer to call his or her spouse as a witness to testify for the benefit of the lawyer's client in a law suit. The Committee was of the opinion that RPC 2.1 requires a lawyer to exercise independent professional judgment on behalf of a client. The Committee viewed the relationship between a lawyer and spouse as possibly impairing the lawyer's ability to critically evaluate the testimony and demeanor of the spouse/witness. Further, it appeared that the relationship between the lawyer and spouse would doubtless be used to attempt to impeach the testimony of the witness. Therefore, the Committee was of the opinion that where calling a lawyer's spouse as a witness might affect the independent judgment of the lawyer, and possibly have an adverse effect upon the client's case, in that situation the lawyer would have to comply with RPC 1.7(b) regarding disclosure of these facts to the client and have the client's written consent to the continued representation.

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.