Office of Legal Ethics Counsel & Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Office of Legal Ethics Counsel & Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri, with full citations and source links on every page.
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What must a Missouri lawyer do after learning that client-supplied information filed with a court may be false?
The lawyer may investigate and consult the client to determine the truth. Once the lawyer knows the filing is false, Rule 4-3.3 requires efforts to correct it and, if necessary, limited disclosure…
What must a Missouri lawyer do after learning that a client gave material false deposition testimony?
The lawyer must seek the client's cooperation in correcting the testimony and, if necessary, disclose enough to the tribunal to remedy it despite confidentiality. Truthful testimony at a later…
How does a Missouri lawyer determine whether a bank is approved to hold a client trust account?
The institution must qualify as eligible under Rule 4-1.145(a)(5) and be approved by the Advisory Committee. The lawyer determines approval by consulting the Committee's published list on the Legal…
What may a Missouri lawyer disclose when disputing a client's credit-card chargeback for legal fees?
Without the client's informed consent, the lawyer may state only that professional services were provided and that professional duties prevent further disclosure. The self-defense exception does not…
How must a Missouri lawyer and two firms disclose the lawyer's of-counsel relationships in public materials?
Every advertisement, website, letterhead, business card, profile, or other public material identifying the lawyer must clearly disclose both of-counsel relationships. Each firm must disclose the…
Can screening prevent an of-counsel lawyer's current- or former-client conflict from being imputed to a Missouri firm?
No. An of-counsel lawyer is associated with the firm for Rule 4-1.10, so conflicts under Rules 4-1.7 and 4-1.9 are mutually imputed, and the rule does not permit screening to eliminate that…
May a nonlawyer sign or authorize electronic transfers from a Missouri lawyer's trust account?
Yes, but only when the nonlawyer acts under the lawyer's direct supervision. Access must be limited and closely monitored because the lawyer's duty to protect client trust funds cannot be delegated.
What must a Missouri lawyer do with trust-account funds whose owner cannot be identified?
The lawyer must make reasonable efforts to identify and pay the client or third person entitled to the funds. If those efforts fail after a reasonable time, the funds remain in a trust account and…
What must a Missouri lawyer do with trust-account funds belonging to a client who cannot be located?
The lawyer must continue reasonable efforts to locate the client. If those efforts fail after a reasonable time, the funds remain in an IOLTA or non-IOLTA trust account and are handled under…
What must a Missouri lawyer do when a client disputes an apparently valid lien against settlement funds?
The lawyer promptly distributes the undisputed amount, keeps the disputed amount in trust, and does not release it until the client-lienholder dispute is resolved. If necessary, the lawyer may ask a…
When may a Missouri lawyer disburse a deposited settlement check to the client and take the lawyer's fee?
The lawyer waits until there is reason to believe the deposit is actually collected, then pays the client promptly. The lawyer's fee is removed reasonably promptly only after good funds, billing,…
May a Missouri lawyer pay personal or firm expenses directly from earned funds still in the client trust account?
No. Once deposited funds are good funds and belong to the lawyer, they must be transferred reasonably promptly to a personal or business account before being used for expenses.
May a Missouri lawyer keep personal or firm money in a trust account as a cushion against mistakes or fraud?
No. The only permitted lawyer funds are the amount necessary to pay financial-institution service charges; keeping a cushion for any other purpose is prohibited commingling, and earned lawyer funds…
Does Missouri Rule 4-1.5(e) regulate fee division between a firm and a lawyer accurately designated of counsel?
No. Rule 4-1.5(e) does not govern a fee divided within a genuine of-counsel association, but the fee and every associated lawyer's charge must comply with the rest of Rule 4-1.5.
What elements make a Missouri lawyer's relationship with a firm an accurate of-counsel relationship?
The relationship must be close, regular, and personal, not a partner, associate, shareholder, referral-only, single-case, occasional, or outside-consultant role. The lawyer must remain actively…
May a Missouri lawyer interview a represented association's former member and director without organizational counsel's consent?
Former-constituent status alone does not bar contact, but Rule 4-4.2 does bar it if the lawyer knows the witness is individually represented in the matter. Any permitted interview must respect…
In what format must a Missouri lawyer provide an electronically maintained client file on request?
The file must be accessible with commonly used, relatively inexpensive technology or provided on paper unless an agreement says otherwise. If the client requests a format, the lawyer must take…
May a Missouri criminal-defense lawyer agree not to give discovery to the client in exchange for advantageous access?
The lawyer must consult the client and explain the proposed agreement enough for an informed decision. Whether law permits withholding discovery covered by the agreement is a factual and legal…
May a Missouri lawyer return or destroy client-file discovery under a protective order or settlement agreement?
A protective order may be obeyed after seeking permissible modification when the client refuses consent. A settlement may require return or destruction only with the client's informed written…
What duties do a Missouri lawyer and firm have after the lawyer departs, beyond client notice?
They must promptly correct public materials, end the lawyer's trust-account access, update court and bar contact information, and take any additional competent and diligent steps needed to protect clients.
May a Missouri lawyer disclose limited client information to check conflicts during employment negotiations?
Yes, after substantive employment discussions, but only if disclosure will not compromise privilege or prejudice the client. It is ordinarily limited to identities, general issues, and whether the…
Which clients must receive notice when a Missouri lawyer leaves a firm, and what must the notice cover?
All current clients materially represented by the lawyer receive prompt, professionally timed notice seeking their choice of departing lawyer, firm, or new counsel. The notice covers timing,…
What may a Missouri lawyer do when a client threatens suicide?
The lawyer may recommend professional help and may disclose only what is reasonably necessary to prevent death or substantial bodily harm reasonably certain to occur. Rule 4-1.6 permits but does not…
What Missouri license, fee, paralegal-work, and CLE rules apply when a lawyer retires from practice?
Missouri has no retired status; a lawyer may elect inactive status and may not practice law while inactive. Nonlawyer paralegal work is generally permitted, but whether particular work becomes…
May a Missouri firm represent a husband against a wife who previously consulted one of its lawyers about the related dissolution?
Not if the consulting lawyer received information that could significantly harm the wife, unless both parties give informed written consent or the consultation was properly limited and the lawyer is…
May a Missouri lawyer pass credit-card processing fees to a client?
Yes, if disclosed in advance, limited to actual processing cost, accepted with informed consent, and consistent with processor terms and law. If the lawyer pays the fee, it cannot be deducted from…
How are conflicts imputed when a Missouri firm's of-counsel lawyer provides case-by-case pro bono work at a nonprofit?
With case-by-case contract work and access only to assigned files, the nonprofit's other conflicts do not reach the firm, though the lawyer's own nonprofit matters do. Broader file access makes both…
What must a Missouri lawyer disclose after missing a client's filing deadline, and may negotiations continue?
The lawyer must explain the limitations failure and relevant facts, address independent advice for a possible malpractice claim, and satisfy Rule 4-1.8(h) before settlement. Negotiations may…
May a Missouri lawyer report a client's threats of bodily harm to law enforcement?
Only with informed consent or to the extent reasonably necessary to prevent death or substantial bodily harm reasonably certain to occur. Rule 4-1.6 permits but does not require a report, which must…
What duties apply when a Missouri firm and departing lawyer dispute compensation or division of client fees?
They must cooperate so the client promptly receives undisputed funds and should consider the Missouri Bar's lawyer dispute-resolution program. Rule 4-1.5(e) does not regulate future fees for work…
Who controls client files when a Missouri lawyer leaves a firm?
Each file belongs to the client, subject to limited unreimbursed-expense items. It remains at the firm until the client directs transfer, and the departing lawyer may not remove or copy it without…
May a Missouri lawyer threaten criminal prosecution or a disciplinary complaint to obtain civil settlement concessions?
A criminal referral threat avoids Rule 4-8.4(d) only under the opinion's stated intent, relationship, legality, good-faith, and substantial-purpose conditions. A threat to withhold a required…
What must a Missouri lawyer do with opposing-party emails a client accessed using the opposing party's login?
The opinion leaves wrongful acquisition to law, requires prompt notice if the material was inadvertently sent, and warns that use may violate third-person-rights and dishonesty rules. The lawyer…
Under Missouri's January 2019 rule, when could an advanced flat fee be deposited outside trust?
An advanced flat fee of $2,000 or less could be deposited outside trust if clearly identified as covering the entire matter; the exception was permissive. Larger flat fees, installments toward them,…
May a Missouri lawyer avoid a court appointment because the matter is in an unfamiliar area of law?
Not merely for unfamiliarity. The lawyer need not have prior experience if competence can be achieved through study and preparation; avoidance requires good cause, including inability to reach the…
May a Missouri lawyer offer discount certificates for legal services at an educational seminar?
No. Legal-service information may be available to inquirers, but the lawyer or a nonlawyer presenter may not initiate an in-person promotion or discount offer. A later mailed solicitation is…
When may a Missouri lawyer accept third-party payment of a client's fee, and who receives a refund?
The client must give informed consent, judgment and the relationship must remain independent, and confidentiality must be protected. Consent should address refund ownership, disputed-fund handling,…
How may a Missouri lawyer help wind up a deceased solo lawyer's practice and access confidential files?
Absent advance client consent, only a court-appointed Rule 5.26 trustee may handle files, confidential trust records, funds, and assets. A lawyer may seek or accept appointment, and may separately…
May a Missouri lawyer crowdfund a client's legal fees and expenses?
Yes, if third-party-payment consent, independence, confidentiality, trust-account, refund, processing-fee, truthfulness, and legal requirements are met. A platform may not hold client funds or…
May a Missouri lawyer use cloud computing for client information?
Yes, with technology competence and fact-specific reasonable safeguards. The lawyer evaluates provider terms, security, breach and subpoena notice, ownership and access, backup, termination…
May a Missouri lawyer answer a former client's negative online review using information the client already posted?
Generally no. An online review is ordinarily not a Rule 4-1.6(b)(3) controversy, and confidentiality covers all representation information regardless of source and facts that could lead to it; a…
Must a Missouri lawyer report opposing counsel who appears intoxicated and impaired?
Yes if the lawyer knows opposing counsel was intoxicated while representing a client and obtains the reporting lawyer's client consent for representation-related disclosure. Suspicion is…
May a Missouri lawyer report a bogus-check scam by someone posing as a prospective client?
It depends on relationship status. Client information remains confidential with no Missouri crime-fraud exception; prospective-client information receives Rule 4-1.18 protection. If neither…
May a Missouri lawyer pay an out-of-state lawyer a percentage of a contingent fee solely for referring the case?
No referral fee may be paid. A fee may be divided only under Rule 4-1.5(e): proportional services or joint responsibility, written-confirmed client agreement to the association, and a reasonable total fee.
May a Missouri lawyer hire a nonlawyer assistant from opposing counsel's firm without creating a conflict?
Yes, absent other facts, if the nonlawyer is properly screened from affected matters under Rule 4-1.0(k) and supervised under Rule 4-5.3. Nonlawyer involvement does not itself impute the former…
May a Missouri lawyer represent a parent when the lawyer's partner formerly served as guardian ad litem in related custody matters?
Only with all parties' informed written consent, or with a timely screen, no fee share for the former guardian ad litem, and prompt written notice to the parties and tribunal allowing verification…
May a Missouri lawyer advance the cost of a required medical affidavit and expert case evaluation?
Yes. Rule 4-1.8(e) permits the lawyer to advance both litigation costs, and repayment may be contingent on the outcome.
What must a Missouri lawyer do with trust-account funds belonging to a deceased client?
The lawyer holds the funds, reasonably monitors for an estate, and pays the estate. If lawful distribution or an estate is unavailable or unjustified, the opinion directs use of Missouri's…
May a Missouri lawyer join a firm adverse to a client the lawyer substantially represented at the old firm?
Not in the same or a substantially related matter without the former client's informed written consent. The conflict reaches the new firm, Missouri does not recognize screening under Rules 4-1.9 and…
May a Missouri firm defend County B criminal cases when one member is a part-time prosecutor in County A?
Only if the arrangement is lawful, the prosecutor is screened under Rule 4-1.11(b), and each material-limitation conflict satisfies every Rule 4-1.7(b) condition. Particular cases may create…
May a Missouri lawyer pay a deceased lawyer's lien when no estate has been opened?
No, unless the paying lawyer undertook to complete the deceased lawyer's unfinished work and pays a fair share to the estate under Rule 4-5.4(a)(2). Without an estate and that completion role,…
May a Missouri lawyer obey a court order requiring client information when the client refuses consent?
Yes, after asserting all nonfrivolous objections and consulting the current client about appeal after an adverse ruling. If review is not sought, the client is no longer current, or no good-faith…
May a lawyer represent a father's guardian while also serving as the father's guardian ad litem in a child abuse case?
The opinion identifies a nonconsentable direct adversity conflict if the guardian's stated interests for the father differ from those the lawyer asserts as guardian ad litem. It declines to decide…
What does a Missouri lawyer owe clients after a supervised nonlawyer assistant discloses their confidential information?
The opinion requires notice to every affected client and enough explanation for informed decisions about the representation. Rule 4-5.3 may also make the lawyer responsible for the assistant's…
May a Missouri lawyer hold advance expert witness fees and another lawyer's fee share in a trust account?
The opinion permits depositing advance expert witness fees in the lawyer's trust account subject to the cited deposit and disbursement procedures. It also requires a lawyer holding a co-counsel's…
May a firm give a departing lawyer a shared closed file at the request of only one jointly represented client?
The opinion permits the firm to send a copy to the departing lawyer at that client’s direction while retaining the original shared file under Rule 4-1.22. If the clients dispute the file, the firm…
May a lawyer appointed to federal office list former client names and fee amounts on a public financial disclosure form?
The opinion treats the names and fee threshold as confidential representation information. Disclosure requires informed consent or an applicable other-law or court-order exception, whose legal…
May a lawyer represent a father against a mother in custody matters after jointly representing both parents in estate and financial work?
If a custody matter is the same as or substantially related to the prior joint work, the opinion requires the mother’s informed consent confirmed in writing. It cannot determine substantial…
May a lawyer request public records from a represented state agency that is adverse to the lawyer’s client?
The opinion says Rule 4-4.2 governs a request directed to agency employees who work with counsel, bind the agency, or whose conduct is imputed to it. Contact without opposing counsel’s consent may…
May a lawyer advocate at trial when another lawyer in the firm who formerly represented the client may be a necessary witness?
On the facts presented, the opinion finds the advocating lawyer unlikely to be a necessary witness and therefore not barred by Rule 4-3.7. It reserves any decision if that lawyer is called to…
Browse Office of Legal Ethics Counsel & Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri opinions by topic
Legal ethics opinions from the Office of Legal Ethics Counsel & Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. Under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 5.30, formal opinions are binding; informal opinions are advisory. Source. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.