New SOG Bulletin: “Ethical Dilemmas in Client Representation for DSS Attorneys in North Carolina”

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An attorney who represents a department of social services (DSS) in North Carolina faces a variety of unique ethical challenges when it comes to client representation. Who is the attorney’s client? How should the attorney report malfeasance within the agency? A number of factors make these determinations particularly challenging in North Carolina.

First, North Carolina counties use a number of different models to provide legal services to county social services agencies. DSS attorneys in North Carolina may be staff attorneys employed directly by the county DSS or a consolidated human services agency (CHSA), county or assistant county attorneys, special county attorneys for social services (G.S 108A-16), or attorneys in private practice under contract to represent the county DSS or CHSA. The direction and supervision a DSS attorney receives may vary depending on which type of arrangement a county uses to provide legal services.

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