Earlier this year, the State Bar of California approved an ethics rule prohibiting sexual relations between attorneys and clients. The new rule, which carves out limited exceptions, awaits a final determination by the California Supreme Court.

If adopted, the rule would outright ban sexual relations between a lawyer and current client, who is not the lawyer's spouse or domestic partner, unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them before the attorney-client relationship commenced.

In recent years, a majority of states, including California, have adopted rules that tie professional sanctions or disbarment to sexual contact with a client. Indeed, California's current rules, like Section 6106.9 of the Business and Professions Code and Rule of Professional Conduct 3-120, prohibit attorneys from coercing clients into sexual relationships or from demanding payment for legal representation via a physical relationship. The rules state an exception for ongoing sexual relationships that pre-date the attorney-client relationship. Consensual relationships are currently not banned per se, so long as attorneys can still competently represent the client.