Kentucky Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Kentucky Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a lawyer mail tax information worksheets to clients to help them prepare their income tax returns?
Yes, but only to existing clients. The committee concluded an attorney may mail income-tax information worksheets to people with whom he already has an attorney-client relationship; sending them to…
When a lawyer sits on a state board, can his law partners represent clients before that board or appeal its decisions?
No. The committee concluded that when a partner sits on a state board or administrative body, the firm's other lawyers may not represent clients before it, and may not represent a party appealing…
Can a lawyer act as a surety company's bonding agent, and who has authority to discipline a lawyer for unethical conduct?
A lawyer in active practice cannot act as a surety company's bond-executing agent, because that business funnels legal work and amounts to improper solicitation, though he may personally go surety…
Can a lawyer who handles state tax work accept a seat on the State Board of Tax Appeals?
Not if he keeps a tax practice. The committee concluded that a lawyer who may reasonably expect to have to disqualify himself in matters before the Board should decline the appointment, or limit his…
Can a plaintiff's lawyer settle a pending suit directly with the defendant's insurer when defense counsel does not know or consent?
No. The committee concluded it is unethical under Canon 9 for a lawyer to discuss the subject of pending litigation with a represented party (here the defendant's insurance carrier) without the…
Can a lawyer or his firm practice before a court or agency whose members the lawyer has the power to appoint or approve?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer who holds an office with power to appoint or approve the appointment of a tribunal's members, and his partners and associates, should not practice before…
Can lawyers practice law through a professional service corporation they form and work for?
Yes. The committee concluded lawyers may practice through a professional service corporation under KRS Chapter 274, reasoning the corporation is not itself practicing law and the form does not…
Can a lawyer regularly employed by a title insurance company examine titles the company is required to insure, without aiding unauthorized practice?
Yes. The committee concluded a title insurance company, like a lender, may choose its own attorney to examine title, so a lawyer regularly employed by the company who renders that legal service is…
When a lender hires a lawyer to examine title and the borrower pays the fee, whom does the lawyer represent if the title turns out defective?
The lawyer is responsible primarily to the lender that hired him and secondarily to the borrower only insofar as the loan security is affected. The committee found no conflict-of-interest violation…
Can a lender's lawyer take a fee the borrower is required to pay, even though the borrower never hired that lawyer?
Yes. The committee concluded that a lawyer the lender employs to examine title is rendering a legal service to the lender, so requiring the borrower to pay that fee as a loan cost does not make the…
Can a lender insist on its own lawyer examining title instead of the borrower's lawyer, and is that aiding unauthorized practice?
No, it is not unauthorized practice. The committee concluded a building and loan association may insist that its own attorney examine the title to property it will take as security, and that the…
Can a former judge appear as a lawyer in a case that was pending in his court if he never ruled on its merits?
Yes. The committee concluded that a circuit judge who left office could appear as an attorney in a case filed in his court while he sat, provided he had not acted on the merits and ruled only on…
Can a lawyer who serves as a court's probate commissioner and occasional judge pro tem represent clients before that same court?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer whose office associates him in the public mind with presiding over a division of a court, here a probate commissioner who also sits as judge pro tem, should…
Can a lawyer buy a client's tax refund at a discount and split the profit with another client who fronts the money?
No. The committee held it improper for a lawyer to buy a client's income tax refund at ninety percent of face value, funded by another client who took sixty percent of the profit, finding the…
Can a Kentucky law firm keep a deceased partner's name in the firm name?
Yes. The committee concluded that continuing to use a deceased partner's name is not improper where local custom permits it and no deception results, here approving a name that showed the deceased…
Can a lawyer charge an attorney fee for an estate when a partner or relative is the administrator, and can a firm have its secretary serve as personal representative?
The committee approved all four arrangements under the former Canons: firm partners could share both commissions and attorney fees, while an attorney could not share the commission allowed to a lay…
Can lawyers form a professional service corporation and give its employees a profit-sharing or retirement plan without improperly splitting fees?
Yes. The committee concluded lawyers may organize and operate a professional service corporation under KRS Chapter 274, so long as the Act is carefully observed, and that a profit-sharing or…
Can a lawyer charge a workers' compensation claimant more than the fee fixed by statute?
No. The committee concluded that where a statute fixes the attorney fee for claims before the Workmen's Compensation Board and bars the Board from denying or reducing it except for solicitation, the…
Can a lawyer who serves as both administrator and attorney settle a wrongful-death claim the heirs have rejected because he thinks the case cannot be won?
No. The committee concluded that where a lawyer acting as both administrator and attorney believes a wrongful-death case cannot be proven but the heirs reject the settlement, he should, after due…
Can a lawyer who drafted and witnessed a will later represent heirs trying to defeat that will in probate?
No. The committee concluded under Canon 6 that a lawyer who prepared and witnessed a will may not represent the next of kin in opposing its probate, because a lawyer should not attempt to nullify…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Kentucky Bar Association interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are advisory, not binding like court discipline decisions, but courts and discipline boards treat formal opinions as substantial guidance on how the rules apply. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.