The rule is that an attorney may not do business with a client, may not accept loans or give loans.  There are exceptions, and with enough disclosure the transaction may not result in suspension, but in this particular story:

"A prominent Rochester personal-injury attorney has been suspended for 18 months for a series of disciplinary violations centering primarily on the 200-plus loans he made via intermediaries to his own clients.

A unanimous Appellate Division, Fourth Department, panel found that James J. Moran made more than 200 loans totaling more than $700,000. The panel said that the loans through third parties for non-litigation-related expenses did not "directly" violate the Code of Professional Responsibility, but that Mr. Moran’s actions nonetheless "circumvented" the code, which in itself is a violation.

According to the ruling, Mr. Moran conceded that he knew his conduct violated disciplinary rules, but "he stated that he provided the financial assistance so that his clients would not be required to borrow funds from lending companies at exorbitant rates of interest."

" The committee also claimed that Mr. Moran violated the disciplinary code by posting on his firm’s Web site information about a confidential disciplinary investigation of a rival personal-injury firm, and by failing to include a required disclaimer when referring to himself as a trial specialist on his Web site.