Serving Two Masters

Can an in-house counsel for a corporation provide legal services to a sister corporation and can that corporation collect reimbursement for those services? Yes, according to a recent ethics opinion of the Virginia bar, so long as the lawyer is “mindful of his obligation to protect each client’s confidences and secrets, properly address[es] any conflicts issues between [the two corps] and any funds collected from Corporation B for the lawyer’s services [are] no more than reimbursement to Corporation A for the actual costs Corporation A incurs in employing that in-house counsel.” (Mike Frisch)