When Sherrie Smith approached her lawyer, Robert Stubblefield, desiring to place her then-unborn child for adoption, he agreed to help her find adoptive parents for the child. He found them in his own home-he and his wife, without telling the mother until after she signed an irrevocable consent, adopted the child. 1 If Stubblefield had tried to buy her house under those circumstances, it would have been a clear violation of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (the" Model Rules")-when it comes to business transactions with clients, the Model Rules recognize that a lawyer's legal training, together with the trusting relationship between the lawyer and potentially less powerful client," create the possibility of overreaching." 2 A lawyer cannot enter into business transactions with a client unless the terms are fair and reasonable to the client and disclosed in a writing transmitting those terms in a manner that can be understood by the client. 3 The client must also be advised in writing that they should seek the advice of independent legal counsel and be given a reasonable opportunity to do so. 4 Finally, the client must give informed consent in a writing signed by the client that outlines the transaction terms and the role of the lawyer in the transaction. 5 Stubblefield took none of these steps necessary to protect a client from an overreaching attorney in a business transaction when adopting his client's child