Advisory Opinion: 1704

Year Issued: 1997

RPC(s): RPC 1.7

Subject: Conflict of interest; representation of membership organization and individual member of organization

I have been instructed by the Rules of Professional Conduct Committee to respond to your ethics inquiry regarding legal representation of a statewide, voluntary association of independent wholesale distributors ("the Association"), and concurrent representation of individual members of the Association as follows:
(1) Whether or not the Successor Distributor is your client is a legal question which the RPC Committee cannot answer.
(2) There is a potential conflict of interest in representing both the Current Distributor (a member of the Association] and the Association, but the conflict of interest may be waivable.
[3] The Committee cannot answer your question regarding the extent of your obligations to the Successor Distributor because the answer to this question depends on the answer to your question number one.

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.