It Is Unethical For Divorce Lawyer to Have Sex With Client

"We generally impose a public reprimand when a sexual relationship develops during an attorney-client relationship if the affair is legal and consensual and has not compromised client interests," the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, publicly reprimanding divorce lawyer David Engler. He had sex two times with the client, withdrew, and gave her all her money back. Source: Youngstown Vindicator.
Many states have such prohibitions: California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Washington to name a few.
The AAML Bounds of Advocacy prohibits sex with a client during the time of representation and comments, "Persons in need of a matrimonial lawyer are often in a highly vulnerable emotional state...an intimate relationship may endanger both the client's welfare and the lawyer's objectivity."
Same goes for sexual relationships with opposing counsel or a judicial officer in the case during the time of representation. "Attorneys...must be sensitive to the threat to independent judgment and the appearance of impropriety...."
This was the first Ohio Supreme Court decision I was interested in checking out after reading from the Kentucky Law Blog that Ohio had gone to RSS feeds. The update is that apparently not everything is going through the feed. Three disbarment decisions appeared through the feed, but it appears someone may be editing what is posted. Four stars to Ohio for trying RSS fees, the fifth star will come when all published decisions are posted.