The Albuquerque Journal has been covering the Town of Edgewood’s legal issues over the last few months. In an article, “Town of Edgewood’s attorney defies own law firm’s advice,” dated December 22, 2020, Journal Staff Writer Isabella Alves uncovers how the actions of Edgewood’s legal council, Marcus J. Rael, Jr. were earlier deemed a potential conflict of interest in an opinion written by his own firm.
From Alves’ article:
“Going against the legal opinion of his own law firm – which raised conflict of interest concerns – Edgewood town attorney Marcus J. Rael Jr. continued to represent the town in a lawsuit filed against the town and then-Mayor John Bassett.
Rael is a partner in the Robles, Rael & Anaya law firm, which wrote the opinion at the request of the town clerk in March [2020] after the lawsuit was filed against the town and mayor. The firm has provided legal services to the Town of Edgewood under contract for the past 15 years.
The legal opinion, obtained by the Journal through a public records request, states that since the town and Bassett have competing interests in the lawsuit, the firm shouldn’t represent either of them in the lawsuit.”
Yes, despite his firm’s legal opinion, and over the objections of two Edgewood elected officials, Rael has continued to represent the town in court proceedings related to the lawsuit throughout 2020, including numerous appearances in Santa Fe County District Court and a filing with New Mexico Supreme Court. This certainly casts doubt on the adequacy of legal representation of the town and citizens’ best interests. No doubt the taxpayers will be billed for this as well. But perhaps that was the plan all along, to create a question as to representation so there would be grounds for appeal and add to the timeline of the case. That would certainly not be an ethical approach were that the game at hand.
