Court Opinion

ID: 9585080
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:55:47.327427+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:27:30.289760
License: Public Domain

Clarke, Justice,
dissenting.
In my view, the holding of the majority will deteriorate the professional nature of the law practice. It offends the public interest because it moves the relationship of the lawyer and his client a step away from being a personal relationship to being one which is purely commercial. “House counsel” in this case is undoubtedly acting “in and about” the insurance company’s “own immediate affairs.” The problem arises in that he is supposedly also acting in and about the insured’s own immediate affairs. It is here that the possible seeds of conflict are sown and the prohibition against corporate practice of the law has been transgressed. We have repeatedly held that a lawyer can have only one master when he becomes involved in a legal matter. He is the trustee of his client’s interest. It is my view that the majority holding in this case weakens the solemnity of this trust and I therefore dissent.
I am authorized to state that Justice Bell joins in this dissent.