Environmental consultants routinely engage in professional collaborations that have the potential to violate ethical, interpersonal, and legal boundaries if not properly managed. Consultants don't just manage projects - we manage people, often while environmental regulators and other stakeholders are simultaneously doing the same. Client employees can become acutely stressed by punitive regulatory enforcement, business financial losses, and job performance perceptions. Such personnel may act in ways that can both sabotage the consulting service, and jeopardize the consultant's integrity. By recognizing common warning signs and behavioral patterns, consultants can act preemptively to protect themselves, their work product, and their clients' interests. It is especially important that the boundary between technical services and legal services be recognized and respected, and this presentation will explore that distinction in detail.