Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Maryland

Re: Dating clients

It's not a criminal offense ("illegal"), but it can be unethical (subject to professional discipline) under certain circumstances. It would to a near certainty be unethical in the divorce context, as it is a clear conflict of interest. At the other end of the spectrum would be a civil matter where the personal relationship pre-dates the attorney-client relationship (i.e., if a lawyer's boyfriend gets sued, the lawyer can represent him). In other words, the answer is... it depends.