New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can the counsel to a city housing authority appear for private clients before that city's board of adjustment, planning board, or other agencies?
The Committee concluded they cannot. Counsel to a city housing authority has the entire municipality as his client, so he may not appear for private clients before the city's board of adjustment,…
Can a New Jersey lawyer list other-state bar memberships or professional certificates in a yellow-pages telephone directory listing?
No. The Committee concluded that any yellow-pages listing that departs from the plain, uniform listing of lawyers, including one showing other bar memberships or certificates, is improper advertising.
Can a lawyer who sits on a municipal zoning board of adjustment, or a member of that lawyer's firm, represent private clients before the same town's boards and governing body?
No. The Committee concluded that neither the zoning-board member nor any member of the lawyer's firm may appear for private clients before the municipality's planning board, zoning board, or…
Can a lawyer accept retainers from a group of homeowners who were solicited as a class, when only one of them originally sought the lawyer's advice?
No. The Committee concluded the lawyer should not accept retainers from the solicited claimants, because soliciting strangers in the same class as an existing client improperly stirs up litigation;…
Can a municipal prosecutor who was excused from a disorderly-persons case involving a client and the client's wife later prepare a separation agreement for that client?
Yes. The Committee concluded the later representation was not a violation, because the prosecutor had no personal connection with the investigation or prosecution of the disorderly-persons case and…
Can a lawyer who approved a sales agreement for a buyer later represent the seller in suing that buyer for default under the same agreement?
No. The Committee concluded it is improper, because the representation might require the lawyer to assert a claim under the very agreement he approved for the former client, and a lawyer should not…
Can a lawyer who works for a state agency be assigned to represent an indigent criminal defendant, or must he be excused because he is a state employee?
He may serve. The Committee concluded there is no impropriety or conflict merely because the assigned attorney is a state employee, except where the charged crime involves the State itself, in which…
Can members of a law firm jointly donate to a community hospital and have their names placed on a donor plaque without it being improper advertising?
Yes. The Committee concluded a joint gift with the donors' names on a plaque is not improper, because they give as individual members of the community, not as attorneys, where the plaque does not…
Can a lawyer give a former client's information and a substitution of attorney to another lawyer without the former client's consent?
No. The Committee concluded the former lawyer may not furnish the requested information or give the substitution without informing the former client and obtaining his consent, because the matters…
Can a lawyer let his name or his firm's name be printed on the business card of an investigator who works on the firm's cases?
No. The Committee concluded it is improper, because the card could lead to abuses and could be taken as a representation that a layman is associated in the practice of law.
Can a lawyer keep a percentage or rebate paid by a title insurance company on the client's transaction?
Only with the client's consent after full disclosure. The Committee concluded the lawyer may keep a title-insurance rebate if the client consents after full disclosure; if the client refuses, the…
Can an attorney who also serves as a municipal clerk represent defendants in that municipality's municipal court?
No. The Committee concluded it is improper, applying the same principle that bars a member of a municipal governing body from practicing before its municipal court, because the clerk is identified…
May a seller's or lender's attorney close title for a development home advertised with 'No Closing Fees'?
The Committee concluded that the attorney appearing at the closing under the circumstances inquired about acts improperly. It also found a clandestine conflict when the seller's lawyer closes title…
Can a new attorney take over a client's civil case when the prior attorney, who filed nothing, refuses to sign a substitution of attorney over an unpaid fee?
Yes. The Committee concluded the new attorney may proceed to defend the client without a substitution, because the client's right to counsel of his own choice is paramount to any fee dispute, and…
In New Jersey, can a lawyer who is a State Police officer also serve as a municipal prosecutor?
No. The Committee concluded that serving simultaneously as a New Jersey State Police officer and as a municipal prosecutor created an appearance of impropriety under the then-existing RPC 1.7(c)(2)…
Can a New Jersey law firm hire a second firm to do legal work for its clients, and must it tell the client about the arrangement?
Yes, a firm may retain a second firm to perform legal services much as it would use a temporary or contract lawyer, provided there are no conflicts of interest and no improper exposure of one firm's…
If a lawyer accepts an unpaid county appointment (planning board, park commission, county college), how is it decided which client matters the firm must then decline?
The opinion concluded the Committee would not create a formula and that whether the appointment is paid is irrelevant; under the Supreme Court's Perillo standard, the lawyer must decide, case by…
Can a municipal court judge share a law practice with a municipal prosecutor from another town, and may the judge's firm handle a criminal appeal arising from his own court's county?
The supplement concluded a municipal court judge may associate with a municipal prosecutor of another municipality only if the other lawyers refrain from all criminal-defense work within the county…
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Legal ethics opinions from the New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. The Supreme Court of New Jersey has held that the Advisory Committee's published opinions are binding on the ethics committees that decide grievances (R. 1:19-6), and that a lawyer who does not follow one "does so at his peril" (Higgins v. Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, 73 N.J. 123 (1977)). The Court can modify or vacate an opinion. Source. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.