I am a young lawyer who participated in a program through my church to provide legal advice to low-income clients who were not able to afford a lawyer. This was done through a program with the church on a Saturday afternoon in the church basement. Later in the week, when talking to my partners, I discovered that my law firm represents the spouse of one of the persons I gave advice to. I was not aware of it at the time. Will my firm have to disqualify itself?
The answer is no. Although normally if one gives advice and gets confidential information from a client, he or she is precluded from representing someone directly adverse, there is an exception under the rule for limited representation through bar association programs or through programs developed by nonprofit corporations.
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