Legal Ethics Opinions
Free state and local bar legal ethics opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and source links on every page.
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Can a city attorney defend a criminal case in which the city's own police brought the charges?
No. Once a lawyer serves as city attorney, the lawyer is excluded from defending criminal cases in which the city police bring the charges, in any court, because advising and representing the police w…
Can a lawyer sign a real-estate title opinion when non-lawyers did the underlying title research?
Yes. A lawyer may sign a title opinion based on research and examination performed by others, including non-lawyers, provided the lawyer chooses and is reasonably sure of their integrity and ability; …
Can a firm that represents a public-employee union also provide discounted legal services to the union's individual members under a referral program?
Yes, if the plan is registered with the Supreme Court and the organization does not infringe the lawyer's independent judgment (the member is the client). But the opinion repeated, as a general practi…
Can a West Virginia lawyer accept credit cards in payment for legal services, and may the lawyer display a credit-card emblem in the office?
Under LEI 78-16 (since rescinded), the Committee reported that a lawyer could not display a credit-card emblem or window decal in the office, deeming such display undignified and a form of improper so…
Can a part-time DA or staff prosecute a defendant the DA and an assistant had defended in private practice?
The opinion concluded that a part-time DA and the assistant who had defended a person may not prosecute or oppose that former client, the whole small staff is disqualified, and the defendant's waiver …
Can a judge-elect campaign for other political candidates before being sworn in?
The opinion concluded that a judge-elect may not campaign for other candidates, because the restrictions on a judge's political activity attach from election through induction and throughout the judge…
Can a part-time municipal judge or a city solicitor (or their law partners) represent criminal defendants in courts in the same county?
LEI 78-12 concluded that a municipal judge with criminal jurisdiction, and his partners and associates under DR 5-105(D), may not represent criminal defendants in the Circuit Court, and that a city so…
Can a lawyer who shares office space with a part-time Commonwealth attorney handle criminal defense in district or circuit court?
No. The committee held a lawyer sharing office space with a part-time Commonwealth attorney could not practice criminal law in district or circuit court, treating the office-mate as an affiliate who m…
Can an assistant county or Commonwealth attorney defend criminal cases in another county, and can a county attorney handle a zone-change matter in a different county?
No to defending criminal cases anywhere in the Commonwealth: the assistant stands in the prosecutor's shoes. Yes to representing a client in another county's zone-change request, a civil matter, so lo…
Can a law firm give an office manager or paralegal a firm business card showing the nonlawyer's name and contact information?
No. Only lawyers' names may appear on a firm's professional cards and letterheads, so a firm card may not list an office manager or paralegal. The opinion was later modified by KBA E-223.
Can a lawyer who is under retainer or contract to a city sue that city in an unrelated matter while still representing it?
No. A lawyer cannot serve two masters at once; continuing to be employed by the city while suing it, even in an unrelated matter, creates a conflict and an appearance of impropriety.
In a multi-state law firm, does every partner have to be admitted to the Kentucky Bar?
No. The committee answered that not every partner in a multi-state firm must be a member of the Kentucky Bar, deferring to its earlier opinion E-92 as the complete statement of the rules.
Can a group legal services plan collect a legal fee for handling a workers' compensation case for one of its members?
No, at least while a prepaid fee could become a debt against the claimant's estate, because the plan would then receive part of the consideration paid for legal services, which the governing rule forb…
Can a lawyer who regularly represents a town's police officers, including the complaining-witness officer, defend a DUI defendant in that town's municipal court?
No. The opinion held it improper, because the lawyer had represented five of the municipality's police officers, including the complaining-witness officer (most recently weeks earlier, with the bill s…
Can a lawyer share office space, staff, and a waiting room with a circuit judge before whom the lawyer appears?
No. Sharing an office and staff with a circuit judge before whom the lawyer practices creates an appearance of impropriety, suggesting the lawyer could obtain special favors for clients, and is barred…
Can a legal aid director make staff lawyers file case-specific status reports for a board that includes nonlawyers?
The opinion concluded that staff attorneys of a legal service organization should not be required to give the board case-specific status reports absent client consent, and even with consent the board …
Can a lawyer on a legal aid board, or the lawyer's firm, defend someone the legal aid client is suing?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer-member of a legal service organization's board may not privately defend a person sued by one of the organization's indigent clients, and under the imputation rule n…
If a foreign attorney collects a contingent fee above New Jersey's limit, calling the excess 'nonlitigation services,' what must the New Jersey local counsel of record do?
The opinion held the over-limit contingent fee violates R. 1:21-7(c), DR 2-106(A), and DR 1-102(A), even though the client was a lawyer who knew the rule; the local attorney of record is responsible f…
Can a part-time municipal solicitor represent a developer operating in the municipality, or buyers and sellers of property there?
The opinion held the solicitor may not represent a developer operating in his municipality, even on unrelated property; he may handle an ordinary sale of a developed single-family house or of commerci…
Can a lawyer offer his corporate clients a prepaid group legal-services plan to provide legal services to their employees?
No. The opinion held the proposed plan violates DR 2-103(C) and DR 2-103(D)(4)(b), treating it as solicitation under Ohralik rather than protected advertising under Bates.
Can a lawyer add a monthly finance charge or interest to overdue client fee accounts and print notice of it on billing statements?
Under LEI 78-7 (since rescinded by LEI 93-02), the Committee concluded it was improper for a lawyer to impose interest or finance charges on delinquent fee accounts and to print notice of those charge…
Can a lawyer whose LL.B. was converted to a J.D. list both degrees in advertising?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer whose LL.B. was replaced by a J.D. may publicize one degree but not both, because a graduate earned only one degree and listing both would be misleading puffery.
May a lawyer who serves as the trustee in a foreclosure act as advocate for the lender or the borrower at any stage of the proceeding?
The opinion concluded that the trustee/attorney cannot ethically act as advocate for either the lender or the borrower at any stage of the foreclosure, because as trustee he owes a fiduciary duty to b…
Can a New York lawyer advertise years of experience in a particular area of practice?
The opinion concluded that, under the post-Bates rules, a lawyer may advertise a truthful number of years of experience in an accurately identified area of practice, provided the experience was freque…
After a lawyer certifies a title as clear of liens for one client, can the lawyer take on a second client to file a lien that predated that certification?
No. The lawyer may not accept the second client's employment, because asserting a lien that existed before the lawyer's own title certification to the first client conflicts with the work the lawyer d…
Can a lawyer disclose that a client has said they intend to commit suicide?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may take appropriate steps, including disclosure, to prevent a client's suicide; where the disclosure of intent came in the course of the representation, the lawyer…
Can Legal Aid lawyers share client confidences with an outside research group without client consent?
The opinion concluded that Legal Aid lawyers may not divulge clients' confidences or secrets to a not-for-profit research organization without the clients' informed consent, even for a study meant to …
If one lawyer in a public defender's office withdraws from representing a co-defendant because of a conflict, may another lawyer from the same office take over the representation?
No. The committee concluded that a public defender's office is to be treated as a law firm or association under DR 5-105(D), so when one assistant public defender must withdraw from representing co-de…
May an Oklahoma lawyer employ a suspended or disbarred former lawyer in the law office, and what duties may that person perform?
Yes, with strict limits. The committee concluded that it is not ethically improper or illegal for a licensed attorney to employ a suspended or disbarred former lawyer in the law office, but that perso…
Can a lawyer who sits on a town zoning board represent private clients before other town agencies?
The opinion concluded that there is no per se bar: a lawyer-member of a town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the lawyer's firm, may represent private clients before other town agencies in matters unrelat…
Can a lawyer sue opposing counsel for defamation while still handling the case where it happened?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer should be extremely reluctant to sue opposing counsel for defamation that occurred in pending litigation, and in the rare case where such a suit is warranted should…
Can a county attorney who represents the county commission also represent an individual commissioner charged before the state ethics commission?
The opinion concluded a county attorney who by contract represents the county commission, not its individual members, may not represent an individual commissioner before the Florida Ethics Commission …
Does serving on a county's nonpaying advisory board bar a lawyer from criminal defense, appearing before county boards, or suing the county?
No. The opinion held that serving on a nonpaying, advisory county board with no binding authority does not prohibit the attorney from defending criminal matters, appearing before county boards or cour…
Can a law firm that moved offices announce the new location to the public through a newspaper advertisement?
Yes. Following Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, the committee concluded that limited, accurate, non-misleading advertising of routine information such as an office move is permitted.
Can a Kentucky county judge/executive practice criminal law as a special prosecutor or defense attorney in that county's courts?
Qualified yes. After the statute regulating county judges' law practice was repealed, the office is treated like any other county office; the practice is permissible so long as it does not conflict wi…
Can a lawyer who serves as a part-time domestic relations trial commissioner also represent private clients in domestic relations cases in the same circuit?
No. A trial commissioner is a judicial officer, and combining that role with private advocacy in domestic relations matters in the same circuit creates an appearance of impropriety barred by Canon 9 a…
Can a Florida law firm keep deceased partners on its letterhead and note its former firm name after merging with a sole practitioner?
The opinion concluded the merged firm may continue to list the deceased partners (showing the fact and date of death) and may also state the firm's former name, because in this situation it would not …
Can a lawyer become part-time town attorney while the firm represents a client suing the town?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may accept appointment as part-time town attorney while the firm represents a client in litigation involving the town only if the town retains independent counsel f…
May an out-of-state law firm run a Florida office through a resident Florida lawyer who is not a partner in the firm?
No. The committee majority concluded it is improper for interstate firms to maintain, under varying formats, a Florida office operated by a resident Florida attorney who is not a partner; a Florida la…
Can a lawyer serve as an assistant state attorney prosecuting misdemeanors while his law partner defends criminal cases in the same jurisdiction?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may not serve as an assistant state attorney, even prosecuting only misdemeanors, while his partner engages in criminal defense in the same jurisdiction, because the par…
May a patent attorney who has withdrawn or been discharged keep the client's file until fees are paid, where releasing it would force an out-of-state collection suit?
The committee concluded it is not improper to retain the client's case file pending payment if the retention does not prejudice the client and releasing the file would require the attorney to pursue a…
Can a law firm sue a municipality when one of its partners is the town's part-time municipal court judge?
No. Although no actual conflict existed and the rules did not forbid it, the opinion held the firm should not continue representing clients suing the municipality, because lay persons see the municipa…
Must a law firm distinguish on its letterhead between partners and associates, or between stockholders and employee lawyers in a professional association?
The opinion concluded a law firm is not required to distinguish on its letterhead between partners and associates, or between stockholders and employee attorneys in a professional association, because…
Can a lawyer drafting a client's will offer to serve as the executor?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer drafting a will may offer to serve as executor only in narrow circumstances, chiefly where the lawyer firmly believes the client would ask if aware of the lawyer's …
Can a lawyer who once represented a client buying a property later foreclose the mortgage on it for a lender against that former client?
No. The opinion held it clearly improper for the attorney to foreclose for a lending institution against his former client, because suing a former client tends to impair the confidence essential to th…
Can a lawyer warn a former client that the client's new lawyer may have a conflict of interest?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who only suspects another lawyer's conflict may report the suspicion to a disciplinary authority but should not communicate it to that lawyer's present client; actu…
If a client fires a contingent-fee lawyer after rejecting a settlement offer the lawyer thought fair, can the lawyer claim the full one-third fee, or only the reasonable value of the work?
The lawyer may not charge one-third of an offer the client never accepted, because no settlement was reached; the lawyer may instead seek the reasonable value of services rendered and should move to w…
Must a criminal defense lawyer disclose past crimes and the location of bodies a client revealed in confidence?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer must not disclose a client's confidential revelation of prior undiscovered crimes or the location of victims' bodies, may destroy privileged work product, should no…
Can a lawyer join a municipal planning board when a partner in the lawyer's firm is the board's attorney, if the lawyer recuses on the attorney's appointment and pay?
No. The opinion held it improper for an associate to accept appointment to a planning board for which his firm's partner is the board attorney; disqualifying himself from the attorney's appointment an…
If a firm's partners are the municipal attorney and the municipal prosecutor, does the wife of a third partner joining the zoning board create a conflict of interest for the firm?
No. The opinion found no conflict where the firm already recognized it could not appear before any municipal body, including the zoning board; and it declined to weigh whatever inference the public mi…
Can two lawyers who share office space and trade hourly work serve as opposing counsel in an uncontested divorce or testify for each other about reasonable fees?
The opinion concluded that lawyers with an office-sharing and hourly-work relationship may not serve as opposing counsel in uncontested dissolutions or execute affidavits or testify on each other's re…
Can a former township attorney who drafted a zoning ordinance amendment and defended it in court later represent the property owner who opposed it, in a variance application against that same amendment?
No. The opinion concluded the former township attorney had substantial responsibility, as a public employee, in a matter so closely related to the variance application that representing the applicant …
Are New Jersey lawyers 'office associates' just because they have separate offices in the same building one of them owns, and does a past office-sharing relationship keep them associated after they fully separate?
No on both. The opinion held that lawyers in separate suites in the same building, with no shared facilities, are not office associates under the court rule, and that a prior office-associate relation…
Can a divorce lawyer prepare a separation agreement and negotiate settlement directly with the other spouse when that spouse has no lawyer?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may act as scrivener and transmit a separation agreement the parties negotiated themselves to an unrepresented spouse for signature, and in litigated matrimonial ma…
Can a city law department attorney represent both the city and its city-subsidized municipal medical center in the same premium dispute with an insurer?
Yes. Because the city subsidized the medical center and made up its operating deficits, the opinion found their interests in fact identical and allowed the dual representation under the consent provis…
Does serving as legal advisor to a local police benevolent association prevent a lawyer from also being appointed attorney for the municipal board of education?
No. The opinion saw no inherent conflict in a local PBA's legal advisor also serving as municipal board of education attorney, while noting he would have to disqualify himself in particular situations…
Can a law firm list a non-lawyer employee on the firm's letterhead?
No. Under this opinion a lawyer could not list an employee who is not licensed to practice law on the firm letterhead. The opinion was later modified by KBA E-223.
What should a lawyer do with settlement funds he is holding for clients he cannot locate, and when can he deduct his fee?
LEI 78-6 concluded that a lawyer holding settlement funds for clients he could not locate should renegotiate the stale checks, hold all the funds in a separate interest-bearing trust account naming hi…
Can a law firm share its offices, letterhead, staff, and billing with a court reporter, or make the court reporter a partner?
LEI 78-5 concluded the arrangement was improper and that the court reporter's business and the law firm's operation must be completely separate. The firm could employ the reporter (who could also free…
Must a criminal defense lawyer tell the court or prosecutor that his clients were never arraigned, when staying silent could bar a retrial?
LEI 78-4 concluded that defense counsel was under no duty to point out to the court or prosecutor that his clients had not been arraigned; he could remain silent, but he could not deliberately induce …
How these opinions are useful
- Understand the rules: Ethics opinions interpret how the rules of professional conduct apply to real fact patterns.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court discipline decisions, but state bar formal opinions carry substantial weight.
- Working guidance: The committee shows lawyers what the rule actually requires day to day (conflicts checks, fee letters, intake screens, withdrawal mechanics).
- Practice research: Cite ethics opinions in fee agreements, engagement letters, conflict waivers, and disqualification motions.