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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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…
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…
Could a district judge earn money selling real estate for a licensed broker?
No. The Commission said the proposed paid real estate sales work would violate the Alabama Canons; Opinion 78-40 later explained its Canon 5C reasoning.
May a patent attorney who has withdrawn or been discharged keep the client's file until fees are paid, where releasing it would force an out-of-state collection suit?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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
Could a district judge hire a local lawyer’s wife as the judge’s secretary?
Yes, if she was the most qualified applicant. The Commission applied Canon 3B(4)’s merit-based appointment rule and its ban on nepotism and favoritism.
Could a judge belong to a Lions Club that ran bingo and help sponsor the games under the criminal law discussed in 1978?
The Commission said participation in the described unlawful bingo activity would violate Canon 2A. It separately addressed limited membership in a religious or charitable organization conducting…
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;…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
May a Nebraska lawyer defend criminal cases where a close relative is the county attorney?
The opinion found no automatic disqualification, but directed case-specific review, full disclosure to the client, and rejection of matters suggesting possible disqualification.
Could a Nebraska lawyer use a contingent fee to collect unpaid child support or alimony?
Yes. The opinion permitted a contingent fee for collecting accrued, unpaid support or alimony regardless of who proposed it or whether the client could pay a fixed fee.
Could a Nebraska lawyer stamp the lawyer's contact information on bar-association legal pamphlets?
This 1978 opinion said no under former DR 2-102(A), but the official archive flags it as rescinded in part by Opinion 89-7 after the advertising rule changed.
Could a Nebraska lawyer represent a corporation in an investigation related to two former clients?
Yes on the facts then presented, because no conflict yet prohibited the work and the former clients expressly approved it, but their confidences remained protected.
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…
Did a judge have to recuse because a party’s lawyer was the law partner of a lawyer hired by the judge?
No automatic disqualification. The Commission said hiring that lawyer for one matter did not itself bar the judge from a different case handled by the lawyer’s partner or automatically create an…
What work could a temporarily suspended Nebraska lawyer perform under Opinion 78-5?
The opinion barred law-related work but allowed a non-law office used for unrelated activities. Opinion 96-1 later modified its categorical treatment of paralegal work.
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…
Could a Nebraska law firm's name include a partner admitted only in another state?
Yes. The firm could use the same name across jurisdictions if its letterhead and listings clearly disclosed each lawyer's licensing limitations.
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…
Could a Nebraska deputy county attorney defend a criminal accused by court appointment?
Not when other qualified defense lawyers were available. The opinion recognized an exception when no qualified lawyer other than the deputy could represent the accused.
Could a Nebraska public defender disclose a client's confidential admission of nonindigency or withdraw on that basis?
No. On the stated facts, the information concerned possible past conduct, remained confidential, and could not support disclosure or a withdrawal request that revealed it.
Can a prosecuting attorney or his assistants represent injured claimants in civil suits arising out of motor vehicle accidents in their county?
LEI 78-2 concluded that a prosecutor, and any partner, associate, or affiliated lawyer, may not represent a party in a civil suit arising from a motor vehicle accident in which the prosecutor or his…
Can an assistant prosecuting attorney also serve on an appointed board that hears civil business-and-occupation (B&O) tax matters in a town?
LEI 78-18 concluded there would be no conflict of interest for an assistant prosecuting attorney to sit in an appointed position on a board hearing civil matters relating to the payment of business…
Can an Assistant Attorney General who handles tax matters for the State accept court appointments to represent defendants in criminal cases?
LEI 78-14 concluded that it was not ethical for an Assistant Attorney General to accept court appointments in criminal cases while handling tax matters for the State.
Can a firm with offices in more than one state form a partnership with a West Virginia lawyer and use the same firm name in West Virginia?
LEI 78-11 concluded that, under DR 2-102(D), forming the proposed partnership with an out-of-state lawyer and using the same firm name in West Virginia would not be ethically improper as long as the…
Could a full-time Nebraska lawyer own or manage a legal-education consulting company with nonlawyers?
No. The committee concluded that the company would practice law and that the lawyer's participation as a partner, owner, director, or officer was prohibited.
Could a Nebraska lawyer participate in a newspaper interview with photographs?
Yes, if the article stayed within permitted newsworthy information, avoided disguised commercial-advertising details and false or self-laudatory claims, and the lawyer gave the reporter nothing of value.
Can an assistant prosecuting attorney keep representing a private client in a lawsuit against a state agency, and can a leave of absence or his law partners cure the conflict?
LEI 78-1 concluded that an assistant prosecuting attorney could not continue to prosecute an action against the West Virginia Board of Regents for a private client; a leave of absence would not cure…
Could one lawyer fully represent both buyer and seller in an ordinary arm’s-length real estate sale if both consented?
Opinion 78-04 said full dual representation of buyer and seller in an ordinary arm’s-length real estate sale violated the former Code even with consent. It left the effect of limiting one party’s…
Could a lawyer who had represented both spouses represent the wife against the husband in a later divorce?
Opinion 78-03 said the lawyer could not represent the wife against the husband in a divorce involving issues substantially related to the lawyer's earlier work for him and for the couple.
Was a firm disqualified because its paralegal had worked in a clinic representing the opposing party?
Opinion 78-02 said the firm's work could continue on the stated facts if the paralegal did not participate in the matter at the firm or disclose confidential information to its lawyers. It treated…
Can a Texas professional corporation of lawyers practice under an impersonal trade name like 'Southwest Trial Associates' that contains no member's name?
The Committee concluded that the State Bar may constitutionally bar lawyers from practicing under impersonal trade or assumed names; under DR 2-102(B) a name like 'Southwest Trial Associates' is…
Can a Texas attorney run an announcement in the Texas Bar Journal stating that he is available to act as an appellate consultant for other lawyers?
The Committee concluded that an attorney may place a dignified announcement in the Texas Bar Journal stating his availability as a consultant in a particular field, such as appellate work, or as an…
Can a Texas lawyer secretly record a conversation, by phone or in person, without telling the other party it is being recorded?
The Committee concluded that, although one-party-consent recording is not itself illegal, attorneys are held to a higher standard, so normally a lawyer should not record a conversation without…
Must a Texas lawyer deposit advance fees and retainers into a client trust account, or can they go straight into the firm's operating account?
The Committee concluded that any advance fee or retainer the client could still get back, because it is not yet earned, belongs in part to the client and must go in the DR 9-102 trust account; only…
Can a law firm put the name of its non-lawyer legal secretary on the firm's letterhead?
The Committee concluded that a firm may not list its non-lawyer legal secretary on the firm letterhead, because DR 2-102 limits letterhead names to lawyers and listing the secretary as a firm…
Can the lawyer for an estate's executor tell the surviving spouse to get their own lawyer about electing against the will?
The opinion concluded that the executor's lawyer may advise the surviving spouse to obtain independent counsel about a right of election, and may inform the spouse that such a right may exist, but…
Can an assistant county attorney who has no personal prosecutorial duties be an active member of a political club?
The opinion concluded that an assistant county attorney may not be an active member of a political club even if that lawyer personally has no prosecutorial duties, because the county attorney's…
After a real estate closing where all parties approved the closing statement, may the buyer's attorney stop payment on his trust check to the seller because the buyer later claims defects in the building?
No. The opinion concluded it is ethically improper to stop payment on the attorney's trust check to the seller once all parties have approved the closing and agreed the funds shall be paid; closing…
May a Maryland judge join a hospital research committee to evaluate projects from a legal perspective?
No. The Committee said the proposed legal-evaluation role could interfere with judicial duties or create that appearance, despite the hospital’s statement that the judge would not give formal legal…
Can lawyers who only share office space hold themselves out as a partnership, and can a defense lawyer share space with part-time assistant public defenders?
The opinion concluded it is improper for lawyers who only share office space and staff to hold themselves out as a partnership, and that a criminal-defense lawyer should not share space with…
When a lawyer takes over a deceased attorney's files and wills, may he publish a newspaper notice telling the deceased attorney's clients how to reach him?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who takes over a deceased attorney's files has an obligation to contact those clients so their matters are properly handled, and that the proposed newspaper…
May a Maryland judge remain personal representative, trustee and guardian for the family of a former client unrelated to the judge?
No. Although the Committee saw no Canon XXVI interference on the stated facts, it concluded that Maryland statutory law barred the judge from continuing all three fiduciary roles; the opinion cites…
May a Maryland judge serve as trustee of a religious foundation that manages church gifts?
Yes, on the described nonsoliciting role. The Committee said the judge should keep the judge’s name out of fundraising material and avoid legal counseling for the foundation.
Did the same Canon 3C disqualification grounds apply to part-time municipal judges?
Yes. The Commission said part-time judges shared the Canon 3C disqualification grounds, then gave fact-dependent answers to four scenarios involving the judge’s law practice.
Did Canon 7 prohibit an active judge from serving on a state political party executive committee?
No. The Commission said Canon 7 discouraged but did not prohibit the membership, while warning against political influence or its appearance in judicial decisions.
Must a divorce lawyer keep representing the client to enforce the judgment, and may the lawyer contact the opposing party directly after the case ends?
The opinion concluded that, absent a prior agreement to pursue post-judgment remedies, a lawyer who handled a dissolution has no continuing obligation to enforce the judgment, and that the lawyer…
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.