Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a lawyer representing one spouse in a contested divorce alleging cruel and inhuman treatment also prepare the answer for the other spouse to sign?
No. The opinion concluded that Canon 5 bars an attorney from accepting employment that involves representing differing interests, and preparing the opposing spouse's answer in a contested (non-irrecon…
If a state investigative subpoena demands a law firm's entire trust account records, must the firm resist disclosure of information about clients who did not consent and are not the target of the investigation?
Yes. The opinion concluded that although the client who is the subject of the T.B.I. investigation consented to release of information, the firm is ethically obligated to resist disclosing confidentia…
Can a lawyer who serves as conservator and must testify against a bank in his conservator suit be represented by his own law firm?
No. The opinion concluded that where a lawyer-conservator will be required to testify in his own suit against a bank that dishonored the conservatorship account after a non-lawyer employee forged his …
Are members of a firm that serves as general counsel to a law enforcement officers association disqualified from practicing criminal defense?
Not automatically. The opinion concluded that firm members who serve as general counsel to the Tennessee Law Enforcement Officers Association, handling corporate, tax, regulatory, and death-benefit ma…
Can a Tennessee law firm produce and hand out a manual about the firm, covering its policies, facilities, fees, and attorney biographies, with no advertising disclaimer?
No, not as proposed. The opinion concluded that the proposed firm manual, distributed to clients and prospective clients with no disclaimer and no restriction on further distribution, did not fall wit…
Can one attorney represent both spouses in an irreconcilable differences divorce?
Yes, if there is no dispute and both parties give informed consent. The opinion concluded that an attorney may represent both parties in an irreconcilable differences divorce where no dispute or confl…
Can a law firm defend coal mining clients against federal surface-mining violations when one of the firm's partners sits on the state's quasi-judicial Board of Reclamation Review?
No. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who holds a quasi-judicial position on the state Board of Reclamation Review, adjudicating state surface-mining violations, is barred, along with the rest of th…
If defending a putative father in a paternity case requires attacking the legal basis of the state's paternity program, can the same attorney who prosecutes paternity cases for the state under that program still take the defense appointment?
No. On the additional facts supplied after Opinion 81-F-12, the Board concluded that because defending the putative father would require attacking the statutory and constitutional bases of the entire …
Can a Tennessee lawyer secretly tape record a discovery deposition for later voice stress analysis without telling the witness or opposing counsel?
No, as originally decided. Adopting ABA Formal Opinion 337, the opinion concluded that secretly recording conversations, including a deposition taped for undisclosed voice stress analysis, is unethica…
Can a firm represent private clients before city boards and negotiate city contracts while also doing case-by-case trial work defending the city and its police officers?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a firm that is not on retainer to a city and is not its municipal attorney does not violate the Canons of Ethics by representing private clients before city boards, the…
Can an attorney who is under contract to prosecute paternity cases for the state also accept court appointments to defend indigent putative fathers in other paternity cases?
Generally yes, with safeguards, as originally decided. The opinion concluded there is no inherent conflict of interest barring the arrangement per se, but Canon 5 required the attorney to explain the …
Can a firm whose lawyer serves as the County Beer Board's attorney also represent private clients before other, unrelated county boards like the Board of Zoning Appeals?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a firm whose lawyer prepares minutes for, litigates appeals for, and advises the County Beer Board is not barred by Formal Ethics Opinion 81-F-4 from representing indiv…
Can an attorney who settled a landlord's lease dispute with a tenant later sue that same tenant on the landlord's insurer's subrogation claim arising from the same fire?
No. The opinion concluded that an attorney who defended a building owner in a tenant's suit over fire damage, and negotiated the settlement that resolved it, could not later represent the owner's insu…
Can a lawyer represent an heir contesting a will when the lawyer and his secretary will be material witnesses on the testator's mental competence?
No, as originally decided. The opinion concluded that where an attorney had earlier determined, along with his secretary, that a client was not competent to make a will, and the client later executed …
Can one lawyer become a partner in two separate law firms in different cities, with his name added to both firm names, while each firm keeps its own separate operations and fee-splitting formula?
Yes, generally. The opinion concluded there is no impropriety in a lawyer becoming a partner and practicing attorney in two separate professional firms in different cities, with his name added to both…
Can a lawyer contact other purchasers of a defective product to get them to join a class action needing 100 named plaintiffs to certify?
Yes, but only if the client contacts, not solicits, them. The opinion concluded that a lawyer may accept, but may not seek, employment from purchasers contacted for the purpose of obtaining their join…
If a client's contract with a debtor sets attorney fees at 20% of the debt, and the lawyer collects that percentage directly from the debtor via garnishment, can the client then demand the lawyer turn that fee over too, on the theory the lawyer's real deal with the client was an hourly rate?
No, as to the contractual percentage fee itself. The opinion concluded that where the attorney collected a sum certain as attorney's fee under the contract between the debtor and creditor, using court…
If a lawyer who has been prosecuting personal injury cases joins a defense firm that is defending those same cases, is the new firm disqualified even if the lawyer takes no part in the cases?
Yes, as originally decided. The opinion concluded that when an attorney who had been prosecuting seven personal injury and workmen's compensation cases joined the defense firm handling those same case…
Did Formal Ethics Opinion 80-F-1 condemn all structured settlements, or just settlement offers that let the defense fix the plaintiff's attorney fee?
Just the fee-fixing arrangement. The Board clarified that Opinion 80-F-1's statement calling structured-settlement fee interests inherently conducive to divided loyalties was not intended to condemn a…
If a lawyer serves as a county's attorney, can the lawyer's firm represent land developers, contractors, or other private clients whose matters come before the county?
No, generally. Adopting the New Jersey Rule from In Re: A. & B. and In Re: Dolan, the opinion concluded a firm whose member serves as county attorney is disqualified from representing land developers …
Can a Tennessee lawyer act as an agent for a title insurance company and be paid for it while also representing clients whose title the company insures?
Yes, with disclosure and consent. Adopting ABA Formal Opinion 331, the Board concluded it is not a per se violation of the Code for an attorney to act as agent for a title company and receive compensa…
Can a lawyer join a barter system that assigns members a trade broker, requires referral by that broker before services are rendered, and charges a 10% fee on every transaction?
No. The opinion concluded that a barter system requiring approval of every trade by the system office, assigning each member a trade broker, permitting services only after referral by that broker, and…
Can a plaintiff's attorney accept a defense settlement offer that is structured so the opposing insurance carrier effectively fixes what the attorney's fee will be?
No, as originally decided. The opinion concluded that where a defendant's insurance carrier offered settlement packages that fixed the attorney's cash fee at a flat amount regardless of how the remain…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee 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.