Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Before I was elected to town council, I consulted with someone about a property dispute, investigated it, and declined to take the case. Now that same matter is coming before the council for a vote. Do I have to recuse myself, even though I never formally represented that person?
Yes. The panel held Rule 1.11(d) bars the attorney from participating, including voting, as a council member in a matter the attorney personally and substantially investigated in private practice duri…
I've been retained as special counsel for a municipality on two lawsuits, working alongside the town solicitor. Can I also represent private clients before that same municipality's zoning board of review or town council?
No, absent consent. The panel held that representing private clients before a municipality's zoning board or town council while also serving as the municipality's special counsel is a conflict of inte…
My client's health insurer paid her medical bills after her personal injury settlement, but it never asserted a lien or told the other side's insurer about a claim, and my client wants the settlement money now. Do I have to hold back funds for the health insurer?
No, on these facts. The panel held that where the client insists the settlement proceeds be disbursed and the lawyer has received no notice of a claim from the health insurer, Rule 1.15(b) requires th…
I used to be the probate judge in my town but wasn't reappointed. Can I now represent clients in matters before that same probate court?
Yes, with a limit. The panel held a former municipal probate judge may represent clients before the same probate court, provided the lawyer does not represent anyone in connection with a matter the la…
I run an elder law practice and want to hire a nurse as a geriatric care manager to help identify clients' medical and care needs alongside the legal work. Can I employ this person, and what safeguards do I need?
Yes. The panel held the attorney may hire a nurse as a geriatric care manager employee, provided the attorney directly and effectively supervises the GCM, instructs the GCM on the Rules of Professiona…
I know a colleague delayed filing final judgments in several divorce cases, sometimes for well over a year past the ninety-day waiting period. Do I have to report that lawyer to the bar under Rule 8.3?
Not by itself. The panel held that failing to promptly file final divorce judgments does not, standing alone, raise the 'substantial question' about the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness t…
My client's ex-spouse is shortchanging her on stock options owed under their marital settlement agreement, and she wants me to sue him on a contingency-fee basis. Can I take that case on contingency, and does it matter if she also wants to reopen the divorce over concealment?
A contingent fee is proper for the post-divorce contract dispute over the stock option value under the settlement agreement, but not if the divorce action itself is reopened based on the claim that th…
I'm currently representing a client in matters pending before a state agency, and I've applied for a legal counsel position at that same agency. Is applying or interviewing a conflict, and if I'm hired, can I work on the matters I used to handle for my client?
Applying and interviewing are not a conflict. If hired, Rule 1.11(d)(1) bars the lawyer from personally participating in matters the lawyer handled personally and substantially in private practice, th…
I represent a passenger pursuing an underinsured-motorist claim against another driver's insurer. That same driver now wants me to represent him in an unrelated slip-and-fall case. Is that a conflict of interest?
No, according to this opinion. Because the passenger's underinsured claim is a contract claim against the driver's insurance company, not against the driver personally, and the driver isn't pursuing h…
My firm represented a company on permits for a real estate project. The company sold its assets to a new corporation with different owners, and some of the old company's disgruntled shareholders are threatening to challenge the sale. Can we now represent the new owner on the same permits?
Yes. The panel found no Rule 1.9 conflict because the new owner's interests in the permits are not adverse to the former corporate client's; the adversity over the sale runs between the former client'…
I'm a solo/small-firm lawyer running for city council, and I regularly represent clients before the city's planning and zoning boards. If I'm elected, can I keep representing those clients before the boards?
The panel held there is no per se bar. Under Rule 1.7(b) the lawyer may represent clients before the planning and zoning boards case by case, provided the lawyer reasonably believes the representation…
I drafted a will and trust for a now-deceased client and represent the trustee. The trust now needs a second co-trustee, a longtime friend I've also represented personally on unrelated matters and who belongs to my church, which may benefit from the trust. Both want me to continue as counsel. Can I, and does my proposed disclosure letter cover the ethics requirements?
Yes to both. The panel held there is no Rule 1.9 conflict representing the second trustee because the prior personal representations are not substantially related to the trust and foundation matters, …
I want to represent veterans before the Court of Veterans Claims. My brother-in-law is a supervising attorney on the opposing federal agency's litigation team (though he's promised my cases won't go to his team), and my sister is a staff attorney at the board whose decisions get appealed to that court. Do these family ties create a conflict?
The brother-in-law relationship isn't covered by Rule 1.8(i), which lists only parent, child, sibling, or spouse, so representation is permitted given the assurances his team won't handle the cases. T…
As a former assistant public defender, I once represented a murder defendant who later testified against a co-defendant under a plea deal. My future law partner currently represents that co-defendant. The co-defendant is willing to waive any conflict and have me screened. If I join the new firm, will my old conflict spread to the whole firm, and does screening fix it?
The conflict does impute to the new firm, and screening alone does not fix it. The panel held Rule 1.10(b) imputes the inquiring attorney's conflict to the new firm because the two defendants' interes…
My workers' comp client was convicted of a crime and served time, including home confinement, while collecting weekly benefits he wasn't entitled to during that period. He won't let me tell the employer or insurer. Do I have to disclose it myself, and can I keep representing him?
You can't disclose without consent, but you can't keep helping him either. The panel held Rule 1.6 bars disclosing the client's imprisonment to the employer or insurer absent consent, but if the clien…
An insurer assigned me to defend its insured in a car-accident lawsuit. The insured has refused to meet with me and now can't be located, even after hiring investigators here and abroad. Do I have to enter an appearance and answer the complaint anyway?
No, and you may not. The panel held no attorney-client relationship was ever established because the insured refused to meet with the lawyer and cannot be located, so the Rules neither require nor per…
My insurance-company client assigned me to defend Physician A in a malpractice suit; Physician A was later dismissed. Now the same insurer wants me to represent Physician C, a non-party witness in the same case who's worried about being added as a defendant, at a deposition. Can I represent Physician C when my former client Physician A was a co-defendant in the same lawsuit?
It depends on whether the two physicians' interests are actually adverse. The panel held the attorney must first determine whether Physician C's interests, or testimony, are materially adverse to form…
Years ago, before I became town solicitor, two residents consulted me about the town's plan to close a landfill and monitor groundwater there. I never took on their representation. Now, as solicitor, I'm handling a dispute over siting a new municipal facility on an adjacent lot, and those same two residents are opposing it as part of a citizens group. Do I have a conflict?
No. The panel held the current facility-siting controversy is not the same or substantially related to the earlier landfill-closure and groundwater consultation, so Rule 1.9 does not bar representing …
A website wants my firm to pay an annual membership fee to host a profile and get access to anonymous consumer requests for legal help, without the site ever recommending a specific attorney. Does that comply with the advertising and fee-sharing rules?
Yes. The panel held the flat annual membership fee is the reasonable cost of advertising permitted by Rule 7.2(c), the arrangement is not a referral service because the site never recommends a specifi…
I withdrew from a case and I'm holding a former client's arbitration award in an interest-bearing account in the client's name. The client keeps refusing the check based on a mistaken belief about a collateral matter. What am I supposed to do with the money?
Keep holding it in trust. The panel held the attorney is doing everything Rule 1.15 requires by holding the undisputed funds in a separate interest-bearing account for the client's benefit, and if the…
I used to represent a husband and wife together on the wife's immigration status. The applications were withdrawn and the marriage has now broken down. The wife wants me to represent her in a new application where she'll claim the husband subjected her to extreme cruelty. Can I take that case?
No, and the conflict can't be waived. The panel held Rule 1.9 bars the representation because the wife's new application is substantially related to the prior joint immigration applications and materi…
My law partner is married to the municipality's deputy police chief, who also handles some prosecutions. Our firm won't touch cases where the spouse investigated, and I take other police-department criminal cases after disclosing the relationship. Does this policy comply with the conflicts rules?
Mostly, but the firm's policy needs one addition. The panel held the policy complies with Rule 1.7(b) once the inquiring attorney and the law partner also satisfy Rule 1.7(b)'s waiver conditions, reas…
I serve as guardian for one individual. That person's mother, who has objected to some of my spending decisions in the past, now needs her own guardian, and her daughter wants me to represent her as guardian for her mother, or serve as guardian myself if the daughter can't. Is that a conflict?
No conflict of interest. The panel held the lawyer's responsibilities as guardian for the individual do not materially limit representing the individual's sister as guardian for their mother, or servi…
I prepared a will years ago for an elderly client whose mental health has since declined, with suspected Alzheimer's. One of the client's adult children wants me to represent them in a guardianship petition over my own client. Is that a conflict, and if not, who do I end up representing?
Not a conflict. The panel held Rule 1.14 permits the lawyer to represent the petitioner seeking guardianship over the lawyer's own client if the lawyer reasonably believes guardianship is in the clien…
The town solicitor and manager asked me to represent the municipality in a Superior Court lawsuit, but I already represent private clients in matters before the town's zoning and planning boards. Is that a conflict?
Yes. The panel held representing the municipality in the lawsuit would be a Rule 1.7 conflict because the attorney's existing zoning and planning board clients occupy a position adverse to the municip…
I represent a condominium association through its board of directors, and I want to withdraw because the board keeps rejecting my advice. Can I tell the individual unit owners why I'm withdrawing, since it might benefit the association?
No. The panel held disclosing the reasons for withdrawal to individual unit owners would violate Rule 1.6, because the attorney's client is the association acting through its board, not the individual…
I'm a part-time municipal court judge and a partner at my law firm. My municipality just did a property revaluation, taxpayers are asking my firm to handle their appeals, and I want to appeal my own valuation too. Any conflict?
No conflict in contesting your own valuation, and the firm can take the appeals with consent. The panel held nothing bars the judge from contesting a personal property revaluation, and the firm may re…
I'm a town solicitor and my office is prosecuting two juveniles for a fire that destroyed my neighbors' home. My office has recused itself from that prosecution. Can I represent my neighbors in a related civil suit against the juveniles' families?
Yes, but only with consent from both sides. The panel held Rule 1.11 does not bar the representation once the solicitor's office has stepped back from the prosecution, but Rule 1.7 still requires the …
A current client wants me to represent him against his ex-wife in post-divorce Family Court proceedings. My ex-wife's sister happens to be another current client of mine in her own divorce matter, and she says representing her ex-brother-in-law would be a conflict. Is she right?
No. The panel held there is no Rule 1.7 conflict, because the two clients' interests are not directly adverse to each other and the representation of one is not materially limited by responsibilities …
I represent several plaintiffs, including a survivor and the estates of decedents, in consolidated lawsuits arising from the same incident. Some clients' accounts of the facts contradict each other and each side's testimony could defeat the other's claim. Is that a conflict?
Yes, if the positions are truly opposed. The panel held Rule 1.7(b) creates a conflict of interest where the representatives of the decedents' estates and the survivor take diametrically opposed posit…
I represent clients before my town's council and planning and zoning boards. If I get elected town moderator, a role limited to running the financial town meeting, can I keep representing those clients before the council and boards?
Yes. The panel held the town moderator's duties, based on the town charter, are ministerial and ceremonial, so they do not present a material limitation under Rule 1.7(b) to representing clients befor…
A lawyer in my firm handled the closing and will testify at trial about what a disputed letter agreement meant. Can I still act as trial counsel for the same client in that case?
Yes, in most circumstances. The panel held Rule 3.7(b) lets the inquiring attorney continue as trial counsel while a law partner testifies, unless that partner's testimony is likely to substantially c…
A client fired me, hired new counsel, and asked me not to contact them, but I want to talk to them about the discharge and the file transfer. Does Rule 4.2 stop me?
Yes. The panel held Rule 4.2 prohibits the discharged attorney from communicating with the client about the discharge or the file transfer without successor counsel's consent, once the client's author…
I used to represent a school committee at a termination hearing. Now the committee is being sued over that termination and two individual members who voted against it want me to represent them personally. Can I, or can someone else at my firm?
No. The panel held the school committee is the attorney's former client under Rule 1.9, the pending lawsuit is the same or substantially related to the termination hearing, and the conflict is imputed…
I'm town counsel and the council changed its billing procedure. Can an individual council member who disagrees with that decision demand my unredacted, itemized billing statements from before the change?
No, not without the council's consent. The panel held the municipality, acting through its council, is the lawyer's client, so the lawyer must follow the council's direction on redaction and has no ob…
My former client retained a malpractice lawyer to sue me over a missed statute of limitations and told me not to contact them directly. Do I still owe them a duty to flag a separate viable claim, and can I reach out about it anyway?
No continuing duty and no direct contact. The panel held the attorney-client relationship ended once the client retained malpractice counsel, so Rule 1.3 and 1.4 no longer apply, and contacting the cl…
Years ago I helped a company get regulatory approval for one parcel of land. Now a different company wants me to represent it on an adjacent parcel before the same agency, and my former client objects. Is that a conflict?
It depends on whether the two representations are substantially related. The panel could not determine that connection from the facts given and held that if the matters are not substantially related, …
One of my law firm's named partners was just suspended from practice. Do we have to take his or her name off the firm name, and can we still pay out earned fees for work done before the suspension?
Yes, remove the name during the suspension: the panel held keeping a suspended, non-retired partner's name in the firm name is misleading under Rules 7.1 and 7.5(a). The firm may still pay the suspend…
Two of my former clients will testify against my current client in a boundary dispute. I represented those former clients in unrelated matters years ago. Is that a conflict?
No. The panel held Rule 1.9 does not bar the representation because the boundary dispute is unrelated to the earlier corporate and personal injury matters, so long as no confidential information from …
Can I represent new clients in a boundary dispute against a former client, when the disputed property is the same real estate I handled for that former client in an earlier divorce case?
No. The panel held Rule 1.9 barred the representation because the boundary dispute over the same real estate is substantially related to the earlier representation, so the former client's consent afte…
As a former state agency lawyer now in private practice, can I represent private clients bringing the same type of statutory claims against my old agency, as long as I wasn't personally involved in their specific cases?
Yes. The panel held Rule 1.11 bars a former government lawyer only from the particular matters they personally handled, so representing clients in the same kind of case is permitted, though Rule 1.9(b…
My client's predecessor counsel withdrew from a contingency case and is now claiming a lien for a third of a rejected settlement offer. Do I have to hold that amount in escrow while we dispute it?
Yes. The panel held predecessor counsel is entitled only to quantum meruit, not a share of the rejected offer, but Rule 1.15 requires the successor attorney to protect the disputed amount by escrowing…
I share office space with two attorneys who are solicitors for a municipality. Can I appear before that municipality's zoning board even though their conflict would normally be imputed to a law firm?
Yes, on these facts. The panel held that because the three attorneys maintained separate, independent practices with no indicia of a joint firm, their office-sharing arrangement was not a 'firm' under…
Can I send direct-mail advertising for my employment-law practice to companies that have had discrimination complaints filed against them with a human rights agency?
The panel held direct-mail solicitation is barred only toward employers currently represented by counsel on a pending agency complaint; employers with past complaints, or pending but unrepresented emp…
I'm suing a state agency and its employee. Can I contact other state agencies and employees directly, or does Rule 4.2 require me to go through the state's counsel?
The panel held the lawyer could directly contact non-managerial employees of unrelated state agencies to gather records, but could not directly contact managerial employees or officials of the specifi…
If a client dies before signing a will I drafted, can I testify at a deposition about who the client intended to name as beneficiaries?
No. The panel held the duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.6 survives the client's death, so the lawyer must invoke the attorney-client privilege and the confidentiality obligation rather than disclo…
When a lawyer jointly represented a married couple who are now divorcing, who is entitled to the joint client file?
Both former joint clients are entitled to the joint file. The panel held the lawyer should give each spouse a copy (withholding the lawyer's own work product) and hold the original in escrow until the…
If a Rhode Island lawyer withdraws from representing a client, can the lawyer then represent someone else in a claim against that same client?
Not without the first client's consent. The panel held this stays a current-client conflict under Rule 1.7, not a former-client issue under Rule 1.9, because the lawyer withdrew from the first represe…
I was suspended for a short time during a long case and brought in another lawyer on a 50/50 fee split. Now that we won, can I still take half the fee?
The panel concluded that on these facts the 50/50 fee-division arrangement was permissible under Rule 1.5(e), provided there is a written agreement between the lawyers and the client; without such an …
The insurer that hired me to defend its insured wants me to follow litigation guidelines that require its pre-approval before I do research, file motions, or take depositions. Can I agree to that?
The panel concluded that the specific guidelines submitted, which required the insurer's pre-approval for reasonable and necessary legal services, impermissibly interfered with defense counsel's indep…
My insurance-defense client's insurer wants me to send detailed legal bills to an outside auditing company. Do I need the insured's consent before I do?
The panel concluded that a lawyer's billing statement is information relating to the representation and is protected by Rule 1.6, so submitting billing statements containing confidential or privileged…
Can I buy a piece of real estate directly from my own clients, and what do I have to do first to make it ethical?
The panel concluded the attorney may purchase the real estate from the clients under Rule 1.8(a), provided the transaction is fair and reasonable and fully disclosed in writing, the clients are advise…
Two of the parties fighting over a right-of-way are both former clients of my firm, on opposite sides. Can my firm represent either one?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.9 and Rule 1.10, and absent consent, the firm may represent neither the buyers of the dominant parcel nor the servient-parcel owners, because both are former clie…
I'm a state agency lawyer suing a city, and a colleague at my agency sits on that city's council. Do I have a conflict of interest?
The panel concluded the agency lawyer may represent the State against the city under Rule 1.7(b), provided the lawyer reasonably believes the representation will not be adversely affected and obtains …
My firm's lawyers used to represent Company A on its waste-disposal cleanup cases at other sites. Can we now represent other companies against Company A at a new landfill site without Company A's consent?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.9 the firm's lawyers had a former-client conflict because the new clients' interests were materially adverse to Company A and the matters were substantially relat…
A court clerk is out on serious medical leave. Can I set up a fund and ask other lawyers to donate, or chip in to the one the clerk's co-workers already started?
The panel concluded the Rules of Professional Conduct do not prohibit contributing to the existing fund, establishing a separate fund, or soliciting donations from other lawyers to provide financial a…
My law partner is leaving to take a government job. He says I can keep his name in the firm name. Can I keep calling the firm by both our names?
The panel concluded the continued use of the departing partner's name would be misleading under Rules 7.1 and 7.5 and inconsistent with Article II, Rule 10 of the Supreme Court Rules, so the attorney …
I'm a solo lawyer affiliated 'of counsel' with another attorney who also works as a business broker and refers his brokerage clients to me. Are his conflicts imputed to me so that I can't represent those clients?
The panel concluded that because the two lawyers kept separate offices and practices and had no access to each other's files, they were not a 'firm' under Rule 1.10, so Attorney B's conflicts were not…
I'm a lawyer who is also a licensed investment adviser and securities sales rep. Can I sell investment services and give legal advice to the same client, represent the investment firm I work with, and trade referrals with it?
The panel advised against providing both legal and investment services to the same client because the lawyer's financial stake in the investments makes Rule 1.8(a)'s fairness requirement impossible to…
I'm a lawyer for a state child-support agency. Can I represent the state to recover overpaid support from a custodial parent I already represent, and can my office take the opposing parent's case after a custody switch?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.7(a) barred the agency attorney from representing the state against his own client in the recoupment proceeding, and that withdrawing would not cure it; in the second s…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are 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.