Is whether a lawyer's courtroom testimony was a violation of the Canons a question the ethics committee will answer?
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This page answers the general question as of 1950. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The Committee was asked whether the giving of testimony by a lawyer was a violation of the Canons of Professional Ethics.
The Committee concluded that the question presented considerations concerning the admissibility of evidence and was not one of ethics. The answer, it said, was therefore for the courts and not for the committee, and it declined to opine.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1950, under the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics and decades before Oklahoma adopted the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct (1988) and the later Ethics 2000 revisions. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Did the Committee decide whether the testimony was improper?
A: No. It declined, finding the question one of evidence admissibility for the courts rather than an ethics question for the committee.
Q: Why did the Committee treat this as outside its province?
A: It characterized the issue as concerning the admissibility of evidence, which it said was for the courts to resolve, not the ethics committee.
Background and rules framework
The opinion turned on the scope of the ethics committee's role rather than on any numbered rule. The Committee distinguished questions of professional ethics, which it would address, from questions of the admissibility of evidence, which it left to the courts. It predates the Model Rules and made no Model Rule citation.
Citations and references
The opinion cited no rules, statutes, cases, or prior opinions.
See also
- Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 135: Board declines an executor's attorney-fee question
- Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 151: County judge finishing his old law practice
Source
- Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-149/
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Adopted October 11, 1950
QUERY
Was the giving of testimony by the lawyer a violation of the Canons of Professional Ethics?
ANSWER
It is the opinion of the committee that the question here involved is one presenting considerations concerning the admissibility of evidence and is not one of ethics. The answer is therefore for the courts and not for this committee.
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