Proposed Amended Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7

The State Bar seeks public comment on Proposed Amended Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7.

Deadline: November 3, 2026, 11:59 p.m. (45 days)

Direct comments to

Comments should be submitted using the online Public Comment Form. The online form allows you to input your comments directly and can also be used to upload your comment letter and/or other attachments.

If you have any problems viewing information regarding public comment opportunities (e.g., links to documents are broken) or submitting a public comment via the online form, please let us know by sending an email to coprac@calbar.ca.gov. In addition to accepting comments via the online form, the State Bar accepts public comments via email; you may email your public comment to coprac@calbar.ca.gov.

Background

The State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC) is charged with addressing matters involving legal ethics to help California lawyers understand their ethical duties. The committee’s work includes studying and recommending changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct. (See State Bar Board Book, Section 4.12 and Appendix B.)

COPRAC received a request from the California Lawyers Association Ethics Committee to review and amend rule 1.7. Rule 1.7(c) requires a lawyer who has, or knows that another lawyer in the firm, has a personal relationship with or a responsibility to a party or a witness in the same matter make a written disclosure of the relationship or responsibility, even when there is no conflict and even when there is no significant risk of material limitation in the lawyer’s representation of a client. COPRAC developed two alternative proposals: Proposal 1 would eliminate this disclosure requirement and require client consent for close familial relationships, while Proposal 2 would retain the disclosure requirement for personal relationships but eliminate it for other responsibilities to a party or witness.

Discussion/proposal

Under Proposal 1, rule 1.7 would no longer require a lawyer to disclose a personal relationship with, or responsibility to, a party. The proposal would require written client consent in the context of conflicts involving close familiar relationships between attorneys. Specifically, the proposal would:

Delete current paragraph (c) in its entirety;
Delete Comment [5] and renumber the remaining comments;
Remove the reference to paragraph (c) in current Comment [7];
Make clarifying edits to current Comment [8] to align with the proposed changes to rule 1.7;
Add new Comment [11] providing that “When lawyers representing different clients in the same matter or in substantially related matters are closely related by blood or marriage, there may be a significant risk that client confidences will be revealed and that the lawyer’s family relationship will interfere with both loyalty and independent professional judgment. As a result, each client is entitled to know of the existence and implications of the relationship between the lawyers before the lawyer agrees to undertake the representation. Thus, a lawyer related to another lawyer, e.g., as parent, child, sibling, or spouse, ordinarily may not represent a client in a matter where that lawyer is representing another party, unless each client gives informed written consent. The disqualification arising from a close family relationship is personal and ordinarily is not imputed to members of firms with whom the lawyers are associated. See rule 1.10(a)(1).”

Under Proposal 2, rule 1.7 would continue to require a lawyer to disclose a personal relationship with a party or witness but would no longer require the lawyer to disclose other responsibilities to that person. Specifically, the proposal would:

Strike “or responsibility to” from paragraph (c), subparagraph (1), leaving the remainder of the rule and all comments unchanged.

At its September 11, 2026 meeting, and in accordance with its procedures, COPRAC approved the two alternative proposals to amend rule 1.7 for a 45-day public comment period.

Additional Searches