May a lawyer who sells insurance or owns an insurance business sell estate-planning products to law clients?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1998. Ask about yours and see what the current North Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The committee considered a general question about a lawyer who is also an insurance agent, or owns an entity selling insurance, offering life insurance and other estate-planning products to law clients. No specific transaction facts were provided.
The committee concluded that such sales were not categorically barred. It emphasized that compliance depended on the individual circumstances. Its analysis discussed fair and reasonable client transactions with informed consent, conflicts between legal and sales interests, confidentiality, and whether customers understand when a separate entity’s services are not legal services.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1998, before North Dakota's 2006 revisions to its Rules of Professional Conduct. The later North Dakota Opinion 06-05 states: “On August 1, 2006, material changes to N.D.R. Prof. Conduct 1.10(a) will take effect.” Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement.
Common questions
Q: Did the committee give blanket approval to a particular insurance sale?
A: No. It said compliance with the professional-conduct rules was fact-specific because no particular transaction facts were supplied.
Q: Could the lawyer use a separate insurance entity?
A: Yes, under the opinion’s Rule 5.7 analysis, if the lawyer took reasonable measures to make clear that its law-related services were not legal services and did not carry client-lawyer protections.
Q: What prior North Dakota opinions did it discuss?
A: It discussed Opinions 92-17 and 93-08 on related real-estate brokerage and title-insurance questions.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applies North Dakota Rule 5.7 on law-related services, Rules 1.7 and 1.8 on conflicts and client transactions, Rule 1.6 on confidentiality, and Rules 7.1 and 7.2 on promotion of services. It notes that North Dakota adopted Rule 5.7 effective March 1, 1997.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- North Dakota Rule 1.7.
- North Dakota Rule 1.8.
- North Dakota Rule 5.7.
- North Dakota Rule 1.6.
- North Dakota Rule 7.1.
- North Dakota Rule 7.2.
Other opinions cited:
- North Dakota Opinion 92-17, lawyer and real-estate broker business.
- North Dakota Opinion 93-08, title-insurance agency and client conflicts.
See also
Source
- Landing page: https://www.sband.org/page/ethics_opinions
- Original PDF: https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000id_/https://www.sband.org/resource/resmgr/docs/for_lawyers/98-07.pdf
Original opinion text
Full opinion text unavailable from the official source; see the linked source above for the complete text.
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