Vermont Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Vermont Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
No Vermont Bar Association opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Could a former Vermont Department of Public Service lawyer represent a company before the same regulator without a waiting period?
Opinion 86-01 allowed immediate representation where the former government work was on discrete, unrelated matters and no protected department information would be used.
Could a Vermont firm accept a client referred by the spouse of one of its nonlawyer employees?
Opinion 85-09 found no improper solicitation where the referring spouse acted independently, was not the firm's agent, and the employee was not promoting the firm. The committee said the firm should…
Could a Vermont defense firm continue a case after hiring a student clerk who worked extensively on the plaintiff’s side?
Opinion 85-08 said the defense firm could not continue without the plaintiff’s waiver if it hired the clerk, and the clerk could not work on the matter because of knowledge gained for the opposing side.
Must a discharged Vermont lawyer destroy or surrender interview notes containing a former client's confidences?
Opinion 85-07 says confidentiality did not require the lawyer to purge personal notes from the file, assuming the notes were lawyer work product and all client-entitled papers had been delivered.
Could a Vermont lawyer represent a franchise applicant after representing a competing company in an unrelated acquisition?
Opinion 85-06 allowed the new administrative representation on the stated lack of substantial relationship or relevant former-client confidences, while preserving the duty not to use protected information.
Could a Vermont lawyer disclose a former jointly represented couple’s real estate communications to one spouse’s divorce lawyer?
Opinion 85-05 said the lawyer remained bound to protect both former clients’ confidences and secrets absent consent after full disclosure, though a subpoena and court order could permit compelled…
May successor counsel hold settlement funds claimed by a client's former lawyer?
Opinion 85-04 found no Code violation when successor counsel held the disputed funds after former counsel, a named payee on the settlement check, endorsed it on that condition. The committee did not…
Could a firm ask a court to revisit a statutory fee waiver after settling a civil rights case?
Opinion 85-03 said the firm could ask the court to reopen the fee question if the effort did not jeopardize the client’s settlement and the client knew of and consented to it. It did not decide a…
Could a former Vermont firm associate represent a wife in divorce litigation against a husband represented by the old firm?
Opinion 85-02 allowed it on the stated facts that the former associate knew nothing about the old firm’s representation of the husband and had not worked on it.
Could a Vermont lawyer represent a landowner in a boundary dispute against a former purchaser client from the adjoining property?
Opinion 84-08 did not require withdrawal where the former work excluded boundary investigation and the only boundary information came from recorded deeds rather than protected client information.
Could a Vermont lawyer keep a discovery-sanction payment when the client disputed who owned it?
Opinion 84-06 required the sanction funds to remain in a separate client trust account until the ownership dispute was resolved and declined to decide who was entitled to the money.
Could a Vermont firm defend a person whom an earlier caller had asked about suing but had not retained the firm to sue?
Opinion 84-05 allowed the defense if the firm had not undertaken to advise the caller or sought facts for advice and no good-faith confidential disclosure had occurred.
May a Vermont collection agency employ a salaried lawyer to litigate creditor claims while retaining the agency's contingent collection fee?
Opinion 84-03 finds that the arrangement aids unauthorized practice and violates the former rule on employment by organizations that promote a lawyer's services; it did not reach the separate…
May a Vermont lawyer handle a property purchase or sale when the lawyer's spouse is the broker?
Opinion 84-02 said DR 5-101 would normally bar the lawyer from representing a buyer when the spouse brokered the transaction, absent the client's consent after full disclosure. It said seller…
May a firm negotiating for a municipal police association defend criminal cases involving association members?
Opinion 84-01 said the firm could defend cases unrelated to the police department or its members, but must decline cases involving association members as witnesses or investigating officers. The…
Could a Vermont firm keep a departing partner's name when that partner moved to another state but stayed of counsel?
Opinion 83-07 permits keeping the name while the departing partner remains of counsel, assuming Vermont law allows it and the letterhead identifies that role; the name must change when that…
May a defense lawyer question a prosecution witness whom the lawyer represented in an unrelated juvenile case?
Opinion 83-06 concluded that the unrelated prior case did not disqualify the defense lawyer, but the lawyer could not use or disclose the witness's former-client confidences or secrets. The…
May a former selectman challenge or interpret an ordinance adopted while the lawyer held office?
Opinion 83-05 barred the former selectman from accepting a private case attacking the validity of an ordinance adopted during the lawyer's tenure. It did not bar a case turning on the correct…
Could one lawyer represent two clients in separate divorces involving the clients' spouses, who were living together?
Opinion 83-04 allowed the dual representation on the presented facts because possible competing interests had not become likely or actual conflicts. Both clients had consented; the committee said…
May a Vermont lawyer form a firm with a Massachusetts partnership whose lawyers are not admitted in Vermont?
Opinion 83-03 found no ethical barrier to the proposed interstate partnership if the firm clearly disclosed each lawyer's jurisdictional practice limits.
Under Vermont's 1983 Code, could a lawyer who was also a CPA put CPA on legal business cards, stationery, and an office sign?
Opinion 83-02 held that former DR 2-102(E) prohibited the proposed CPA designation, while reserving constitutional advertising questions outside the committee's Code interpretation.
May a Vermont lawyer disclose the identity of a client who retained the lawyer to return allegedly stolen money anonymously?
Opinion 83-01 bars disclosure of the client's identity and related information under former DR 4-101 because revealing the name would harm the client; it distinguishes past conduct from intended…
May a Vermont lawyer's collection letter indirectly threaten criminal charges over a bad check?
Opinion 82-10 finds that a proposed sentence warning a debtor that knowingly writing a bad check is illegal amounted to an impermissible indirect threat under former DR 7-105.
When may a Vermont lawyer hold a former client's file for unpaid fees?
Opinion 82-09 allowed a lawful lien on a closed file when retention would not foreseeably prejudice the client's matter. It required the lawyer to subordinate the lien and deliver an active file if…
Could Vermont's public defender program contract with the Defender General's spouse for conflict-case appeals?
Opinion 82-08 found no automatic conflict in contracting with the Defender General's spouse for conflict-case appeals. Both spouses still had to preserve client confidences and undivided loyalty;…
Must a Vermont lawyer tell an insurer about later client information that could have reduced an already agreed injury settlement?
Opinion 82-07 found no former-Code duty to disclose later confidential client information where the lawyer could not establish client fraud and the information came from the client.
May a lawyer-legislator's firm lobby or present evidence for private clients before the legislature?
Opinion 82-05 concluded that a lawyer-legislator could not represent private clients before a legislative committee and that DR 5-105(D) extended the disqualification to the lawyer's firm.
Under Vermont's 1982 Code, could a lawyer run a newspaper display ad with a photo, a free-consultation offer, and a scales-of-justice symbol?
Opinion 82-04 found that the described newspaper ad did not appear to violate former DR 2-101(D), while cautioning against content conveying more than that rule authorized.
May partners of a city grand juror sue members of the police department that assists the juror?
Opinion 82-03 concluded that the firm's partners and associates could not represent private clients against members of that city's police department. The grand juror's prosecutorial work required…
Could a lawyer continue representing a majority stockholder after merging with the firm representing the corporation?
Opinion 82-02 concluded that the lawyer could not continue the stockholder's litigation representation after merging with the corporation's firm, given the differing interests assumed in the…
May a former Vermont agency lawyer sue a corporation over a compliance order the lawyer negotiated for the state?
Opinion 82-01 prohibited the former agency lawyer from representing private litigants against the corporation over the order or the same underlying facts. The lawyer had substantial responsibility…
Under Vermont's 1981 Code, could a lawyer mail a fee schedule directly to a class of prospective clients?
Opinion 81-12 held that a direct fee-schedule mailing fell outside the former Code's permitted written commercial advertising media and would violate DR 2-103(A)'s solicitation restriction.
Could a corporation's director and lawyer also serve as executor and co-trustee of its deceased majority shareholder's estate?
Opinion 81-11 found only limited circumstances in which the lawyer could hold both estate and corporate roles. Litigation or a dispute between the estate and corporation, especially one involving…
Could a former judge prosecute a case after presiding over an earlier inquest at which the defendant did not testify?
Opinion 81-10 found no ethical bar to the assistant attorney general's participation if he was not personally biased against the defendant. The committee did not decide whether the result would…
Could a Vermont lawyer practice law while also working as a real estate broker in the same building?
Opinion 81-09 allowed the lawyer to practice both professions subject to former DR 2-102(E), which restricted identifying both businesses on the lawyer's letterhead, office sign, or professional…
Could assistant attorneys general represent opposing Vermont agencies in the same dispute?
Opinion 81-08 concluded that assistant attorneys general could not represent opposing state agencies in a dispute unless the multiple representation met DR 5-105(C). The committee treated the…
Could a town attorney's firm represent private clients before town boards or in cases involving town police?
Opinion 81-07 barred the firm from representing private clients before the town's boards and in criminal cases involving its police department. The committee treated the town engagement as…
Could a town justice of the peace represent landowners suing the same town over a road built on their property?
Opinion 81-06 permitted the representation because the justice of the peace's town duties did not affect the landowners' suit, and the opinion found no use of public office for special advantage.
Could a Vermont firm advertise that it had hired a law clerk?
Opinion 81-05 allowed a newspaper notice and cards announcing a firm's law clerk because the proposed messages made clear that the clerk was not an attorney.
Could a firm defend a lease dispute after hiring a lawyer from the firm that drafted the lease for the plaintiff?
Opinion 81-04 allowed the defense only on the stated facts that the incoming lawyer had no contact with or information about the former firm's client and would take no part in the case. If the…
Could a plaintiff's lawyer also handle the insured defense of a counterclaim against that plaintiff?
Opinion 81-03 allowed the lawyer to represent the plaintiff on both the claim and counterclaim while the plaintiff's interests and insurer's interests did not diverge. If those interests differed,…
Could a partnership's former lawyer represent two partners in dissolution talks with a withdrawing third partner?
Opinion 81-02 allowed representation of the two remaining partners on the stated assumptions that the lawyer had no partnership information usable against the third and their interests in pending…
What did Vermont's former Code require when a criminal lawyer learned client statements used in a case disposition were false?
Opinion 81-01 preserves confidential client-supplied information, but requires a call for correction and, if refused, disclosure when independent information clearly establishes intentional client…
Could a lawyer who recently represented both spouses in shared business and property matters represent the husband in their divorce?
Opinion 80-21 said the lawyer should decline to represent the husband against the wife. The divorce would divide legal relationships and assets the lawyer had helped both spouses create.
Could a part-time Vermont probate judge buy property from an estate pending in that judge's court through an agent?
Opinion 80-20 said the judge could not buy an asset from an estate pending before the judge's court, either directly or anonymously through an agent, because the purchase would raise an appearance…
Could two separate Vermont lawyers share office resources and represent opposite sides of a transaction?
Opinion 80-15 allowed opposite-side representation where the lawyers shared only limited facilities and did not practice or present themselves as a firm. It called for telling clients they were…
Could a lawyer defend a former client's first husband in a criminal case where the former client would testify?
Opinion 80-14 said the lawyer should withdraw from defending the first husband because cross-examining the lawyer's former divorce client could expose or appear to use her confidences. Withdrawal…
Could a Vermont lawyer form a mediation business with a social worker for separation and divorce matters?
Opinion 80-12 allowed the proposed joint mediation service only on the assumption that it provided mediation rather than legal services and did not hold itself out as a law practice. The…
How may a Vermont firm use and pay an out-of-state lawyer who is not yet admitted in Vermont?
Opinion 80-10 treats the unadmitted lawyer as a law clerk for Vermont client work under the admitted lawyer's responsibility and discourages direct fee sharing, while allowing salary to reflect…
Could a lawyer handle an appeal against a former client arising from the same transaction the lawyer handled for that client?
Opinion 80-08 said the lawyer should decline the appeal against the former client, even though the proposed client had once been the lawyer's adversary and had later hired the lawyer in another…
Could Vermont Housing Finance Agency counsel speak directly with represented developers under a blanket authorization from their lawyers?
Opinion 80-05 permitted direct contact if the developers' counsel gave blanket authorization. Their counsel could revoke it at any time; direct contact would then stop unless renewed consent was obtained.
Could a Vermont lawyer who certified a client's title later defend that client in a boundary dispute involving possible negligence in the title work?
The opinion found no present conflict after disclosure, but said the lawyer should offer to withdraw if the lawyer might be a witness and could not continue after learning the title work was negligent.
How should Vermont's Attorney General's office handle the defense of judges before whom it also has pending cases?
Opinion 79-29 preferred outside counsel under 3 V.S.A. §1102(e) for judges or justices the state had to defend. It described disclosure and waiver in the office's other cases as an alternative, but…
What did a Vermont firm need to address after hiring a paralegal who worked on the opposing spouse's pending divorce case?
Opinion 79-28 found an appearance of impropriety on its stated small-office facts after the firm hired a paralegal with extensive access to opposing-client confidences. Although the synopsis says…
Could one lawyer represent an injured employee and the employer or insurer in a third-party recovery action?
Opinion 79-27 said the lawyer should decline joint representation of the employee and employer or carrier in these actions. Settlement offers could favor one side's recovery over the other's,…
Could a firm that advised one town on a hydroelectric project represent another town opposing that project's application?
Opinion 79-26 barred the firm from representing the opposing town. It had learned the first town's evaluation and possible tactics in the same project, creating a strong risk to former-client…
May a Vermont firm list out-of-state or foreign lawyers as of counsel on its letterhead?
Opinion 79-24 allowed the listing if the lawyer was licensed somewhere, had a continuing professional relationship with the firm, and the letterhead disclosed where the lawyer was admitted if not…
Could a lender require the borrower's real estate lawyer to represent the bank at closing too?
Opinion 79-23 rejected a bank guideline presuming that every borrower's lawyer also represented the bank until a conflict appeared. The committee found more than a slight possibility of differing…
Could lawyers sharing a filing cabinet, planned secretary, and case discussions take opposite sides of a transaction?
Opinion 79-22 treated the lawyers as subject to firm-like conflict restrictions despite their separate practices. The committee said their shared files, planned secretary, and case discussions put…
Could a lawyer married to a district judge, or colleagues in the Attorney General's office, appear in that court?
Opinion 79-20 did not bar the lawyer from district-court practice or the lawyer's Attorney General colleagues from appearing before the spouse judge on the stated facts. It said the judge must…
Browse Vermont Bar Association opinions by topic
Legal ethics opinions from the Vermont Bar Association interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are advisory, 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.