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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If a board-of-adjustment member takes ad hoc legal work for the town, can he still represent private clients against the town?
The Committee concluded that a board-of-adjustment member who accepts ad hoc work as a special attorney for the town (including advising the mayor and council) becomes part of the municipality's…
Could a law firm list legal assistants and their certification on its letterhead?
Yes. The committee saw no professional-conduct bar to listing legal assistants or their certification, provided the letterhead clearly identified them as legal assistants and distinguished them from…
Can a New York lawyer use actual client testimonials in radio or television advertising?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may advertise with client testimonials, declining to impose a per se ban, but a testimonial describing prior results must include a disclaimer that the result…
May a part-time municipal judge’s firm contract with the city to collect forfeited bail bonds?
The Commission found a conflict and said the firm’s collection contract was prohibited under several Canons. It would disqualify the judge in forfeiture cases and interfere with judicial duties; the…
When do lawyer relatives’ interests in their firms require a judge to recuse from cases handled by those firms?
The Commission required recusal when a lawyer relative represented a party or had a substantially affected interest. It required recusal for all appearances by the profit-sharing firm and a…
Should a district judge sign an interagency domestic-violence agreement prescribing court case priority and police-registry review?
The Commission said the judge should refrain from signing the proposed agreement. Preset scheduling priorities and a police-registry review duty would impair the appearance of judicial independence…
If a lawyer once advised a married couple about child custody, can the lawyer later represent the wife in their divorce?
Not without the husband's written consent. The opinion concluded the earlier custody advice and the divorce are substantially related, so Rule 1.9 bars representing the wife unless the husband…
Did a noncandidate judge’s attendance at a candidate fundraiser, or purchase of a required ticket, count as an endorsement?
West Virginia JIC Opinion 1990-10 said attending the function and buying a required ticket did not count as an endorsement.
Did the noncandidate judge endorsement ban reach judicial candidates and campaign signs on private property or cars?
West Virginia JIC Opinion 1990-09 answered yes: it barred public endorsement of judicial and nonjudicial candidates and campaign displays on private property or vehicles.
Could a judge send a recommendation letter for a criminal defendant to the sentencing judge?
West Virginia JIC Opinion 1990-07 said it would be improper for a judge to write that letter.
Can a law firm share office space and a reception area with a financial-planning business that is also its client?
The opinion concluded the arrangement is not improper, so long as the firm keeps its offices separately identified, preserves client confidences, and avoids improper solicitation or fee-sharing with…
Can a lawyer who jointly represented a couple on their business and estate matters later represent one spouse in their divorce?
The opinion concluded no: dividing marital assets is materially adverse to the former joint client, the lawyer would misuse shared confidences, and the disqualification is imputed to his partners…
Can a former judge represent a litigant in a matter the judge once ruled on, years after leaving the bench?
The opinion concluded the 1990 Rules let a former judge represent a party even on a matter he ruled on, but only if all parties consent after disclosure; representation in an unrelated matter is…
Can one lawyer represent buyers and sellers on both ends of a linked chain of real estate deals?
The opinion concluded that multiple representation in a linked 'domino' real estate chain is permitted only with full disclosure to and consent from all parties, and the disclosure must continue…
Can a lawyer who is a director of and attorney for a bank insist that an estate-planning client name that bank as fiduciary?
The opinion concluded it was professionally improper to insist: choosing the fiduciary is the client's decision, so after disclosing his relationship the lawyer may recommend the bank but, lacking…
May a law firm that runs a title company advertise in the yellow pages under the 'title companies' heading?
The opinion concluded yes; nothing in the Bar Rules bars the listing, which states a true fact and is not a prohibited designation of a specialty.
When may a lawyer who served on a state administrative agency board later represent clients before that board?
The opinion concluded the lawyer, and the lawyer's firm, are disqualified only from specific matters the board adjudicated on the merits during the lawyer's tenure, not from every party or matter…
In Kentucky, may a lawyer on a contingent fee agree to advance litigation expenses that the client will never have to repay, win or lose?
No. Rule 1.8(e)(1) lets a lawyer advance litigation costs and make repayment contingent on the outcome, but it does not permit the lawyer to absorb the expenses entirely in every case regardless of result.
In Kentucky, may a lawyer delegate the task of taking a deposition to a non-admitted law school graduate or other lay assistant?
No. Such delegation is improper under the duties of competence, scope, and diligence (Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3) and constitutes the unauthorized practice of law under SCR 3.020, which is not limited to…
Can a county attorney sign a state contract that dictates the procedures he must use in child-support and paternity cases for the people he represents?
The opinion concluded that if the county attorney's client is the person needing the services, ER 5.4(c) bars him from signing a DES contract dictating procedures where doing so would prejudice the…
May a lawyer decline to approve a proposed form of judgment to delay its entry, and may he object to a form he concedes is proper?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may decline to approve the proposed judgment as to form so that the client need not act prematurely, since ER 3.2 and the civil rules give the opponent another route…
Can a Michigan judge appoint a private domestic-relations lawyer as a part-time referee and government liaison attorney, and must the judge then recuse from that lawyer's cases?
The judge may make the appointments, and the same lawyer may hold both roles, if the practitioner observes the conflict and screening limits of the referee and government-lawyer rules; the…
Can a Michigan lawyer join a for-profit lawyer referral service that charges per-referral fees and advertises its lawyers as screened and associated?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not participate in a for-profit referral service to which the lawyer pays a referral fee, nor in one whose advertising falsely implies that participating…
After litigation, could a private personal-injury lawyer network operate in Tennessee as a joint advertising cooperative rather than a barred referral service?
Formal Ethics Opinion 90-F-122(a) amended 90-F-122 after PITLA sued the Board (alleging First Amendment and antitrust violations) and the parties settled. Under the settlement, PITLA and its…
Can a West Virginia lawyer join a for-profit company that screens injury callers and refers them to paying attorneys on a rotation basis?
No, as structured. The opinion concluded a lawyer cannot participate in a for-profit referral program (PITLA) that screens calls, because it is an impermissible for-profit referral service and its…
May a substitute part-time municipal judge represent clients in the same court where the judge is on call to sit?
The Commission said no. A substitute judge subject to call in that court could not practice there because the resulting disqualifications conflicted with Canon 5C’s direction to minimize disqualification.
Does a lawyer have to report another lawyer for filing an attorneys'-fee motion that the other side says a settlement waived, when the parties dispute what the settlement covered?
The committee declined to decide whether the fee motion was an unwarranted claim because the parties disputed what the settlement covered, and a committee cannot resolve a factual dispute. With no…
When does a lawyer have a 'prior professional relationship' that allows in-person solicitation, and when must a firm's mailing be labeled an advertisement?
The opinion concluded a 'prior professional relationship' means an actual personal attorney-client relationship, so a lawyer could solicit clients he personally served but not clients served only by…
Can a lawyer for a condominium association sue one of the association's own members for the association?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a lawyer for a condominium association represents the entity itself, not its individual members, so the lawyer may sue a member on the association's behalf without a…
Can North Carolina lawyers in an interstate firm let client funds be deposited in the firm's out-of-state trust account without the client's consent?
No. The opinion concluded that North Carolina lawyers could not allow client funds to be deposited in a trust account maintained outside North Carolina without the client's written direction,…
Can a lawyer who serves as trustee on a deed of trust switch sides and represent the lender in the foreclosure, bankruptcy, or a loan workout?
The opinion concluded a lawyer could resign as trustee and then represent the lender in a contested foreclosure or related bankruptcy, but could not, while still serving as trustee, act as the…
Can a lawyer talk to someone who already has a lawyer about taking over the representation?
The opinion concluded that neither the former Code's DR 7-104(A)(1) nor Rule 4.2(a) prohibits a lawyer from communicating with a person currently represented by counsel to determine whether that…
Can a lawyer who advises a trust grantor be paid part of his fee directly by the bank serving as trustee?
The Board concluded that a lawyer may represent a trust grantor and receive a portion of his fee from the third-party trustee bank only after the client knows the entire arrangement and consents,…
Can an Ohio lawyer send targeted direct mail letters soliciting people known to need legal services, such as those charged with a crime?
The Board concluded that, in light of Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association, a lawyer may use a targeted direct mail campaign to solicit clients known to need legal services, provided the letters are…
May one lawyer represent a group of potentially responsible parties jointly in Superfund cost-allocation negotiations?
The opinion concluded yes; the lawyer's client is the group, and representing it poses no inherent conflict, but representing an individual member at the same time triggers the…
Can a New Jersey lawyer charge a nonrefundable retainer?
The Committee held that a nonrefundable retainer is not unethical per se, provided the fee arrangement is fair and reasonable under RPC 1.5; even so, the unused portion should be returned if later…
Can the law partners of a lawyer who serves as mayor represent clients before, or in litigation against, the city?
The opinion concluded the firm may appear freely before city bodies the mayor does not sit on, may appear before bodies he sits on only with on-record disclosure under the vicarious-disqualification…
If a lawyer negligently lets a claim be dismissed on the statute of limitations, does his own malpractice exposure create a conflict requiring withdrawal?
The opinion concluded it could not answer yes or no without more facts, but held that where the lawyer's fault is clear and a malpractice claim is likely, the representation may be materially…
Can a law firm pay a nonlawyer marketing director a base salary plus bonuses tied to a percentage of the firm's increased revenues?
The opinion concluded (over three dissents) that paying a nonlawyer incentive compensation measured by a percentage of increased firm revenues does not violate ER 5.4, so long as the nonlawyer does…
Must an Arizona lawyer report another lawyer's misconduct to bar counsel, and does client confidentiality limit that duty?
The opinion concluded that ER 8.3 requires reporting only violations that raise a substantial question as to a lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness, and only where the reporting lawyer has…
Can a lawyer who suspects an elderly client is being manipulated disclose confidences to a diagnostician and seek a guardian without conflicting with other firm clients?
The opinion concluded that under ER 1.14 a lawyer may take reasonable steps to assess a client he reasonably believes cannot act in her own interest, including disclosing confidences to a…
When a lawyer holds a recorded judgment but cannot locate the client, may he decline funds the judgment debtor tenders to satisfy it?
The opinion concluded that if the lawyer has exhausted all reasonable methods of contacting the missing client, he may ethically decline the funds and withdraw under ER 1.16(b)(5); but withdrawal is…
Did the Commission originally require recusal because a county commission could grant judges a salary increase?
Yes. Opinion 90-406 required recusal while the commission had unexercised discretionary authority to grant a salary increase. The official PDF is marked overruled by Opinion 91-416, which held that…
Does a custody litigant’s federal motion to add the state judge as a defendant automatically disqualify the judge?
The Commission said the filing alone did not require recusal when it challenged the judge’s actions in the pending custody case. It cautioned that other facts, including actual personal bias arising…
May a part-time municipal judge who is also an assistant district attorney issue warrants returnable to municipal or district court?
The Commission permitted the judge to issue municipal arrest and search warrants returnable to either court, but barred the judge from acting as an attorney in matters where he had issued warrants…
Must circuit judges recuse from a lawsuit about expense allowances similar to their own allowances?
The Commission required recusal because the claim about combining lump-sum and per-diem allowances implicated statutes similar to those governing the judges’ own benefits. It said the…
May a judge accept the medical society’s standard honorarium for delivering its banquet keynote?
The Commission permitted the honorarium because it matched what prior nonjudge keynote speakers received, while applying Canons 5 and 6 limits on dignity, judicial duties, reasonable compensation,…
Could a lawyer release privileged material from a deceased client’s divorce file in response to a subpoena?
The committee said privileged information from the deceased client’s file could not be released without consent from the estate’s personal representative or a court order. It cited North Dakota Rule…
Can a New York lawyer prepare pleadings for an indigent litigant to file pro se without entering an appearance, and what must be disclosed?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may advise a pro se litigant and prepare pleadings for the litigant to sign and file, but because drafting a pleading is active and substantial assistance, the…
When a lawyer is named as a witness or party, may another lawyer in her firm continue to handle the case?
The opinion concluded the firm may continue, even though the lawyer is disqualified as an advocate once she is likely to be a witness, as long as a non-witness lawyer in the firm controls the…
I represent a two-partner real estate partnership, and also one partner individually. The partners are now feuding and giving me opposite instructions through their separate lawyers. Can I keep doing partnership work at one partner's direction, and what do I do with the partnership files?
The panel held that because the partners explicitly refused to agree on the legal work, Rule 1.7(a) cannot be satisfied, so the lawyer may neither perform nor assist another attorney in performing…
I rent office space from Lawyer A and agreed to represent his former client before a zoning board where Lawyer A was a witness. The client now hints at a malpractice claim against Lawyer A. Can I condition my continued representation on the client releasing Lawyer A?
No. The panel held that a lawyer may not condition continued representation on the client releasing another lawyer from malpractice liability, because doing so would impermissibly circumscribe the…
I'm a part-time assistant city solicitor who also has a private practice with my firm. Which matters can I and my firm handle without a conflict, and does my role disqualify the whole firm from cases against the city?
The panel held that the attorney may serve as a part-time assistant city solicitor only if she does not represent private clients adverse to the city, that zoning-board and municipal-court matters…
Must a law firm withhold a client's name from the IRS on a Form 8300 cash-payment report when the client asks it to?
The opinion concluded that a firm that filed a redacted IRS Form 8300 at its client's request must resist an IRS summons for the client's name, because the client's identity was a protected secret…
When a government attorney provides Title IV-D child support enforcement services, does the attorney have an attorney-client relationship with the parent receiving those services, and can the same attorney later act against that parent?
The opinion concluded that attorneys employed in DHS's Title IV-D child support programs represent the State only; under T.C.A. Section 71-3-124 and the Board's prior Opinion 83-F-55, provided the…
Is information a would-be client shares during an initial consultation protected even if the lawyer never takes the case, and can it disqualify the lawyer or firm from representing someone else in the same matter?
The opinion concluded that information imparted by a would-be client seeking representation is protected from revelation or use under Model Rule 1.6 even though the lawyer never undertakes the…
Can a former government lawyer who worked on an early version of an agency rule later represent a private party challenging the final rule?
On reconsideration of clarified facts, the committee concluded the lawyer's substantial responsibility ended when the agency adopted a later draft he had no part in, so representing a private party…
What should a lawyer do with money held in trust for a former client the lawyer can no longer locate?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may, after exhausting reasonable efforts to find the client, hold the funds in trust for the required period and then dispose of them as abandoned property under…
Can a sitting town, village, or city justice use the title 'judge' or 'justice' in campaign materials when running for a higher judicial office?
The opinion concluded that an incumbent lower-court judge may use the title 'judge' or 'justice' in a campaign for higher judicial office, but the materials should specify the present judicial…
Can a Mississippi lawyer volunteer to give free limited legal counseling through a Chamber of Commerce program that charges members a registration fee?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may participate, so long as the Chamber's charge covers administrative costs only and not a fee for legal services, and the lawyer treats those he counsels as clients…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand the rules: Ethics opinions interpret how the rules of professional conduct apply to real fact patterns.
- Weight varies by state: Most bar opinions are advisory, not binding like court discipline decisions, though formal opinions carry substantial weight. Some states go further: Georgia and Virginia opinions approved by the state supreme court bind lawyers there, New Jersey's bind the ethics committees that decide grievances, Rhode Island and Alabama protect the lawyer who asked for an opinion and followed it, and Utah and North Dakota protect lawyers who rely on one. Each opinion page says how much weight its opinion carries.
- 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.