Opinion 23
Question Presented
One member of a law co-partnership being at the time the qualified and acting county attorney of the county of the firm's domicile, is it ethically permissible for another member of such firm to accept retainer from and defend a person then being prosecuted for felony in another Texas county?
18 Baylor L. Rev. 206 (1966)
CONFLICTING INTERESTS - ATTORNEY IN PUBLIC EMPLOY - EMPLOYMENT
A member of a law firm who is county attorney in the county of the firm's domicile, or his partner, may not defend a person then being prosecuted for a crime in another Texas county.
Canon 6.
It would be unethical for either the county attorney or his partner to accept employment under the stated circumstances. In reaching the foregoing conclusion, we considered Opinions 30, 118, 192 and 262 of the Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association. (9-0)
Bluebook Citation
Tex. Comm. On Professional Ethics, Op. 23 (1949)