THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
An attorney who led the charge in forcing large increases in public school spending talked privately at least four times during the past seven years with some of the same people he was suing.
Schools for Fair Funding attorney Alan Rupe said the conversations with members of the Kansas State Board of Education were innocent and didn’t breach any attorney ethical rules.
But the scenario troubled school board attorney Dan Biles, who said he wasn’t aware of the conversations until he was asked about them last week by a Capital-Journal reporter.
“I’ll have to admit, I’m not real excited about opposing counsel talking to my clients,” he said.
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According to attorney billing information obtained by The Topeka Capital-Journal, Rupe spoke with or e-mailed on four occasions members of the Kansas State Board of Education, which was a defendant in the school finance lawsuit. Rupe said he didn’t seek permission from Biles.
For his part, Biles noted state attorney ethical rules that prohibit lawyers on one side of a lawsuit from talking with the clients on the other, unless the opposing attorney grants permission.
“It’s not my place to pass judgment,” Biles said. “I’ll let you know that’s the rule, and you can read it.”
But Rupe said the ethical rule doesn’t apply to public officials.
“The First Amendment guarantees that our clients, acting through us, have access to their elected government officials,” Rupe said.
