Self-dealing

Professional responsibility

Duties to the client

Confidentiality Avoiding conflict of interest Zealous representation Avoid commingling Avoid self-dealing Effective assistance Avoid fee-splitting Withdrawal from representation

Duties to the court

Disclosure of perjury Disclosure of adverse authority

Duties to the profession

Limitations on legal advertising Report misconduct

Sources of law

ABA Model Rules

Penalties for misconduct

Disbarment  · Judicial misconduct

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Self-dealing is the conduct of a trustee, an attorney, a corporate officer, or other fiduciary that consists of taking advantage of his position in a transaction and acting for his own interests rather than for the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust, corporate shareholders, or his clients. Self-dealing may involve misappropriation or usurpation of corporate assets or opportunities. Self-dealing is a form of conflict of interest.

One of the more current and widely agreed on definitions is from political scientists Ken Kernaghan and John Langford in their book “The Responsible Public Servant”. They define self-dealing as “a situation where one takes an action in an official capacity which involves dealing with oneself in a private capacity and which confers a benefit on oneself."

Michael McDonald, Ph.D, Chair of Applied Ethics at The University of British Columbia provides examples based from this book: “You work for government and use your official position to secure a contract for a private consulting company you own” or “using your government position to get a summer job for your daughter”.

Where a fiduciary has engaged in self-dealing, this constitutes a breach of the fiduciary relationship. The principal of that fiduciary (the person to whom duties are owed) may sue and both recover the principal's lost profits and disgorge the principal's wrongful profits.

External references

• Ethics and Conflicts of Interest

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