Legal Ethics Opinion No. 1379

   Conflict of Interest--Multiple Clients: Attorney Persuading
Finance Company to Loan Funds to Client; Client Executing
Lender's Documents in Attorney's Office 

You have directed the committee's attention to the conclusions of
prior Legal Ethics Opinion #ll55 indicating that it would not be
improper for an attorney to persuade a finance company to loan
funds to the attorney's personal injury client, or to honor the
finance company's lien on the client's settlement proceeds, so
long as the attorney does not guarantee or co-sign the loan. 
Based upon those conclusions, you have requested that the
committee opine as to the propriety of the attorney receiving the
completed but unsigned loan documents from the finance company,
having the client execute the documents in the attorney's office,
and then returning the documents to the finance company so long
as the attorney undertakes no legal services for the finance
company.

The committee is of the opinion that, since the attorney is
providing no legal services or advice to the lender, no
attorney-client relationship with the lender arises out of the
circumstances you describe since the committee is of the opinion
that the tasks you describe, when performed by the attorney for
the lender, are merely those of a ministerial nature.  The
committee cautions that, although the attorney is providing no
legal services to the lender, the circumstances of the
transaction and the attorney's performance of ministerial tasks
for the lender may give rise to certain contractual obligations
owed by the attorney to the finance company.  Thus, the committee
is of the opinion that it would not be improper for the attorney
to supervise his client's execution of the documents and then
return the documents to the finance company.

Committee Opinion
November 30, 1990