道德意见280
代表客户的靠谱的滚球平台与当地政府委员会成员之间的直接沟通
根据规则4.2(d)，在d面前代表客户的靠谱的滚球平台.C. 专业许可委员会可以适当地联系个别董事会成员，讨论董事会对靠谱的滚球平台客户采取的行动. The lawyer also can discuss the board member's alleged dissatisfaction with the board staff and internal operations as they affect the lawyer's client.
适用的规则
•规则4.2(d)(靠谱的滚球平台与政府官员的通信)
调查
询问者是一名私人开业医生，他要求根据规则4就是否.2(d), an attorney may communicate directly with 政府官员 on a licensing board without first obtaining consent of the board's lawyer. 询问者代表一名取得不令人满意的D级同意令的客户.C. 健康专业执照委员会关于客户的脊椎按摩执照. The inquirer believes that the administrative and legal staff assigned to support the licensing board both determined the outcome and acted improperly in his client's case. 除了, it is his understanding that many members of the licensing board are unhappy about the staff imposing its will on the board with respect to a number of matters. 因此, the inquirer is interested in contacting the individual board members to discuss two topics: (1) his client's consent order; and (2) board member's alleged dissatisfaction with the board staff and with other internal operational matters affecting both his client and other clients' matters. 规则4.第2条一般禁止靠谱的滚球平台与对方当事人接触, 除非靠谱的滚球平台事先得到对方靠谱的滚球平台的同意或法律授权进行接触. 规则4 (d)款.2, 然而, provides that the Rule "does not prohibit communication by a lawyer with 政府官员 who have the authority to redress the grievances of the lawyer's client, 无论这些不满或靠谱的滚球平台的沟通是否与代理的主题有关, provided that in the event of such communications the disclosures specified in (b) are made to the government official when the communication is made.1 调查要求我们界定本节的范围.
讨论
规则4.2(d)授权私人当事人的靠谱的滚球平台与政府官员之间进行广泛的实质性通信. 基于立法历史及对规则4的评析[7].2[d]，我们的结论是，提议的两种来文都不违反规则4.2.
在制定规则4时.2、哥伦比亚特区靠谱的滚球平台协会理事会得出的结论是，ABA示范规则4.应修改第2条，将靠谱的滚球平台和政府官员之间的通信完全排除在“不接触”规则之外.2 The drafters recognized that contacts with governmental parties should be treated differently from contacts with non-governmental parties. 与D一致.C. 酒吧Op. No. 80, the drafters rationalized that many considerations different from those found in private litigation apply where the government is the opposing party.3
例如，规则4.《靠谱的足球滚球平台》的核心是社会对靠谱的滚球平台处于更有利地位的担忧, 通过教育和培训, 在与外行直接沟通的过程中，压倒外行并利用他或她缺乏法律知识. Such a concern is not fully applicable in the governmental context because 政府官员 generally are presumed to be sufficiently capable of resisting legal or policy arguments that are not proper and genuinely persuasive. 此外, 政府官员, 凭借他们的经验和专业知识, should be competent to decide whether to engage in such discussions with opposing counsel without seeking legal advice or having a lawyer present.
起草者还认识到，在涉及政府一方的诉讼中, 做决定的权力却不是, 比如私人诉讼, entirely that of the client; rather, 政府和靠谱的滚球平台可以共同作出决定, 在某些情况下可以完全由靠谱的滚球平台决定. 在这种情况下, 负责任的政府官员可能不知道政府靠谱的滚球平台所持的立场. 禁止与政府政党直接联系, 因此, 可能会阻碍而不是推进委托人控制诉讼程序的目标.
起草者指出，私人政党和政府政党之间的另一个区别是，政府代表公众. 因此, 公共利益不仅仅是政府胜诉，而是政府促进公共利益. Permitting direct communication with 政府官员 - ''those who are best versed in the competing policy considerations and most experienced in analyzing, 之间的选择, 调和“各种各样的公共利益”有助于实现这样的结果. 188年的立法史.
除了适用于政府各方的不同考虑之外, 规则4的起草者.2 acknowledged that prohibitions on contacting 政府官员 may infringe upon the freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances guaranteed by the First Amendment. Id At 188-189. 对第一修正案的关注最近导致美国靠谱的滚球平台协会道德委员会最近改变了立场，并根据示范规则4发表了意见.2 (which does not contain an explicit exception for government contacts) that permits a lawyer representing a private party in a controversy with the government to communicate about the matter with 政府官员 who have authority to take or to recommend action in the matter, 前提是靠谱的滚球平台沟通的唯一目的是解决政策问题 ...."
ABA正式意见97-408 (8/2/97).4
注释[7]我们的规则4.2, 然而, 表明私人代理人与政府官员直接沟通的权利不是绝对的. The commentary notes: “[p]aragraph (d) does not permit a lawyer to bypass counsel representing the government on every issue that may arise in the course of disputes with the government." The comment further clarifies that the rule "is not intended to provide direct access on routine disputes such as ordinary discovery disputes, 延长时间或其他安排事项, 或者类似的解决纠纷的常规方面." The examples provided by Comment [7] indicate that the drafters excluded only communications about procedural matters from the range of direct contact permitted with 政府官员, presumably to allow government counsel full control over the day-to-day conduct of litigation without preventing substantive communications between the public and 政府官员.5
在即时情况下, both types of communications proposed by the inquirer appear to fall within the scope of permissible communications under paragraph (d). 事实上, contact with members of the licensing board about the conclusion reached in a particular matter as well as the alleged improper conduct of governmental personnel, i.e.(d)段的注释直接提到了董事会的靠谱的滚球平台和工作人员。. 具体来说，对规则的评论[7]解释了(d)款:
是为了让靠谱的滚球平台有机会接触到政府的决策者，就真正的不满进行申诉, 比如提出政府对某一争端的基本政策立场是错误的观点, 或者政府人员在争议的各个方面行为不当.
We 因此 conclude that the proposed communications are consistent with the broad scope of direct communications with adverse 政府官员 permitted by 规则4.2(d).
调查没有. 97-9-43
通过:1998年3月18日
1. 规则4.2(b) allows an attorney to contact lowerlevel employees of an adverse organizational party without the consent of the organization's attorney. The rule requires that a lawyer disclose his or her identity and identify his or her adversary position against the employee's organization prior to communicating with any nonparty employee of the opposing party.
2. 规则4的明确政府例外.第2条与以前的规定DC 7-104(A)(1)有很大的不同，见第2号意见. 80(根据DR 7-104(A)(1)限制接触政府官员), 以及大多数州靠谱的滚球平台公会的规则. 加州是唯一一个为政府当事人提供不接触规则例外的司法管辖区, 参见《靠谱的足球滚球平台》第7-103条, although a number of jurisdictions have interpreted their rules barring contacts between a lawyer and an opposing party to allow some contacts with adverse 政府官员 so as not to infringe the First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances. 参见A.B.A. 意见没有. 97-408 (1997) at n. 7.
3. 见《靠谱的滚球平台》及相关评论, 展示由美国靠谱的滚球平台协会提出的语言, 由哥伦比亚特区专业行为示范规则委员会建议修改, 以及哥伦比亚特区靠谱的滚球平台协会理事会建议的变更, 11月. 1986年第19页(“黄页立法史”)，第186-188页.
4. 美国靠谱的滚球平台协会的意见要求靠谱的滚球平台“合理地提前通知政府靠谱的滚球平台沟通的意图”,这是我们不接受的限制. 我们特别不打算在本意见中讨论我们的规则4是否以及在多大程度上.第2条禁止政府靠谱的滚球平台接触被代理的个人. 看到Cmt. [8] D.C. 规则4.2.
5. 我们注意到D.C. 规则3.S(b)规定禁止靠谱的滚球平台单方面与法官通信, 陪审员, 准陪审员或其他官员”，法律允许的除外,“重申根据我们的规则，必须遵守禁止单方面接触的适用规定. See generally Rule I 06(b) of the 规则 of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (prohibiting letters directly to court unless so directed by a judge). 我们不知道有任何这种规则适用于本意见所审议的情况.
