In Re the Disciplinary Proceeding Against McGlothlen

This attorney disciplinary proceeding presents us with a question of how broadly CPR DR 5-104, the rule governing attorneys' business dealings with clients, should sweep. We must focus on whether to limit the rule's applicability solely to present and clearly defined attorney-client relationships or whether to include less well defined relationships where the attorney's status gives him disproportionate influence. To more effectively protect the public, we choose to paint with the broader brush. In so broadening the rule, we hold that the transaction in this case, an attorney's purchase of…