I read your article about the independence of outside counsel versus in-house corporate counsel. I have seen more and more litigations are being handled in-house by insurance companies either through staff counsel or through “captured law firms,” even though those firms might have the appearance of a private firm but they are owned by the insurance company. Is this ethical or does it create issues?
As noted in the article written several weeks ago, there is great concern as to whether or not either in-house counsel or outside counsel have the independence to represent insureds. As noted in that earlier article under Rule 1.8(f), a lawyer cannot accept compensation for representing a client if someone else is paying the bill unless the client consents, there is no interference with the lawyer’s independence and professional judgment, and confidentiality is respected.
