Ethics panel okays two insurance opinions, tables one.

The Professional Ethics Committee has approved two controversial proposed advisory opinions on lawyers appointed by insurance companies to represent policyholders, and tabled a third opinion.

The votes came after Bar President Edith Osman, President-elect Herman Russomanno and Board of Governors member David Bianchi, chair of the Insurance Practices Special Study Committee, asked the committee to table all three opinions. Osman and Bianchi encouraged the ethics panel to defer a vote on the opinions until its March meeting so members would have an opportunity to review a newly created product of the special committee to see if it had any impact on the proposed opinions.

But PEC members said their committee opinions were independent of the special committee's actions.

The committee ultimately, after two other postponing motions failed, voted to table Proposed Advisory Opinion 99-2 to give the two committees a chance to compare notes. It next voted to approve PAOs 99-3 and 99-4.

The committee then voted to publish the two opinions in the February 15 Bar News "for comment" instead of publishing them "for appeal," essentially giving the delay sought by Osman. Publishing for comment means the full opinions will be printed in the Bar News for members' comments, which then will come back to the PEG for consideration. Publishing for appeal means anyone could appeal the opinions, with no further committee action, to the Board of Governors, which would receive the comments. The committee acted January 14 during the Bar's Midyear Meeting, one day after the special committee met.

After the meeting, Osman announced the formation of a conference committee, made up of members of the PEC, the special committee, and the Board of Governors Review Committee on Professional Ethics, to review a disclosure form being worked on by the special committee in light of the three proposed advisory opinions. (See story on page 1 on the disclosure form.)

PEC Chair Elizabeth Schwabedissen, commenting at the end of the PEC meeting, said the committees should compare notes following the tremendous amount of work the PEC and special committee have done.

Board of Governors member Jesse Diner, liaison from the board to the PEC, agreed. "Lessons can be learned from all sides," he said.

"The process should have worked more smoothly, but I think we are going in the right direction," Osman said after the meeting. "The two committees that have poured hundreds of hours into...