Attorney misconduct often makes the news of the local bar. However, when attorneys engage in accused misconduct with a client, such as an intimate romantic relationship that puts the attorney’s impartiality at risk, such stories may make the nonlegal media. News articles abound with scandalous stories describing, often in great detail, attorneys’ improper intimate relationships with their clients. This species of legal news can damage not only the reputation of the legal profession as a whole, but can also create risk for that lawyer and the firm’s partners and colleagues.

Across the country, both courts and state bar associations have taken action against attorneys who engage in inappropriate personal relationships with their clients. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the association, sanctions can vary from temporary suspension of the lawyer’s license to permanent disbarment. Public censure is another common penalty.