Advisory Opinion: 1711

Year Issued: 1997

RPC(s): RPC 3.7

Subject: Former law partner will be necessary witness at trial

[The inquiry concerned] whether RPC 3.7 prohibits a law firm from representing a client in litigation, where the client was, and possibly still is, represented by a former partner of the law firm, who is likely to be a necessary witness at trial. The Committee is of the opinion that assuming that your former partner continues not to be "in the same firm" as you and the other attorneys of your firm and will not rejoin your firm prior to his ultimate retirement, and assuming that no other attorneys of your firm (e.g., any who might have worked with [the former partner] in his representation of [the client]) are likely to be necessary witnesses at trial, RPC 3.7 does not prohibit your firm from representing [the client].

Your inquiry does raise possible conflict of interest issues other than RPC 3.7. The Committee expresses no opinion about whether this representation may be in violation of RPC 1.4 and 1.7(b).

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.