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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When an appointed client disappears, can the lawyer advocate for the outcome the facts seem to support, or must the lawyer move to withdraw?
No, the lawyer may not substitute his own objectives. The opinion concludes that when an appointed client has disappeared and her objectives are unknown, the lawyer must use reasonable diligence to lo…
Can a Virginia prosecutor prosecute defendants represented by a lawyer with whom the prosecutor co-owns a law office building and equipment?
No. The opinion concludes that where a prosecutor co-owns the office building and law-practice equipment with the defense lawyer and shares mortgage and loan obligations tied to that law practice, the…
Are Virginia prosecutors held to the same competence and diligence duties as other lawyers, and can an excessive caseload be an ethics violation?
The opinion concludes the duties of competence (Rule 1.1) and diligence (Rule 1.3) apply equally to Commonwealth's Attorneys, with no lower standard for prosecutors; a caseload so large it precludes c…
Can a Virginia lawyer keep using a bank that freezes the whole trust account after 2:00 deposits, knowing client checks will bounce?
No. The opinion concludes that writing trust-account checks with knowledge that the bank's account-wide hold will bounce them intentionally prejudices clients in violation of Rule 1.3(c) and is a deli…
Can a Virginia defense lawyer tell witnesses they need not talk to the prosecutor or need not appear in court?
The opinion concludes the defense lawyer's statements did not violate Rule 3.4(h), because none was an actual request to withhold information (its civil-matter exception aside). But three of the four …
Does a Virginia lawyer owe confidentiality after an initial consultation, and can a spouse 'taint shop' to disqualify every divorce lawyer?
The opinion concludes the duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.6 attaches to an initial consultation even when no attorney-client relationship forms and no fee is paid, so a lawyer who received the wi…
In West Virginia, can the insurance defense lawyer prepare the summary-settlement petition that an unrepresented parent or guardian of an injured minor will file and sign?
The Board could not reach consensus, splitting between a Rule 1.7 inherent-conflict view and a Rule 4.3 permissible-drafting view. Until the question is resolved, the opinion lists seven protective di…
If a magistrate runs for judge and uses the title 'magistrate' in campaign materials, what must the materials say?
The opinion concluded that a magistrate running for judge who uses the title 'magistrate' in campaign materials must identify the court and division served; on signs or billboards, wording like 'Magis…
Can a magistrate serve on a board of education or county commissioners, or as a condominium association trustee?
The opinion concluded that under Canon 7(B)(4) a full- or part-time magistrate may not serve on, or run for, a board of education or a board of county commissioners (prospectively), but may serve unde…
Can a lawyer sell or assign a settlement legal fee to a funding company for immediate cash at a discount?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for an attorney, upon reaching a settlement, to sell or assign the legal fee to a funding company for immediate cash at a discount, because it is an improper …
Can a public defender's office set up a screened 'conflicts unit' to handle cases the office is conflicted out of, instead of sending them to outside counsel?
The opinion holds that under revised ER 1.10 a separate screened conflicts unit may not be used to take cases involving the office's former clients; screening does not cure the imputed conflict. Two c…
When a deceased client's spouse, who is executor of the estate, asks for the late client's files, may the former lawyer hand them over under the confidentiality rules?
The opinion concludes that a deceased client's former lawyer may give the files to the spouse/executor if the information is not a confidence or secret, or, if it is, if the lawyer has reasonable grou…
Can a former prosecutor defend a criminal defendant on the same charges the prosecutor personally handled while in the DA's office?
No. A lawyer who participated personally and substantially in prosecuting a defendant on certain charges may not later defend the same person on those charges. The conflict under DR 9-101(B)(1) is per…
Can a county set up a separate 'conflicts' public defender office to represent codefendants the main public defender cannot?
The opinion concluded that a county may ethically establish a separate public defender office to represent defendants adverse to the original office's clients, provided the two offices are completely …
A lawyer is holding a former client's original will for safekeeping and the apparently incapacitated client asks for it back. Can the lawyer investigate the client's capacity before returning it?
Yes. The lawyer may communicate with the former client and others to determine whether the client is in fact incapacitated or under undue influence, and may seek judicial guidance if doubt remains. No…
If I worked as a lawyer for a city, can the city's ethics code bar me from representing others before the city for two years, even on unrelated matters?
Yes. The Committee concludes the Disciplinary Rules do not prohibit enforcing a city ethics code's two-year bar on a former city lawyer representing others before the city: Rule 1.10 has no conflictin…
Can a Texas lawyer with a Juris Doctor degree use the title 'Dr.' or 'J.D.' in social settings, on letterhead, and in advertising?
Yes, unless misleading. The Committee concludes the rules do not bar a lawyer with a J.D. or Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from using 'Dr.,' 'Doctor,' or 'J.D.' in social and professional communicati…
Can a lawyer pay himself unpaid fees out of a former client's funds in his trust account when those funds came from an unrelated matter and the client cannot be found?
The opinion holds that the lawyer cannot, without the former client's consent, disburse fees to himself from the former client's share of funds unrelated to the representation. If the lawyer cannot lo…
Can a contingent-fee lawyer agree to pay the attorney-fee award entered against the client if an appeal of a defense verdict fails?
Yes. The opinion concludes that an adverse attorney-fee award is an 'expense of litigation' under Alaska RPC 1.8(e), so the lawyer may agree to pay it with repayment contingent on the outcome of the m…
Can one North Carolina lawyer represent both a lender and the trustee on a deed of trust when a borrower sues to enjoin the foreclosure?
Yes, if impartiality can be maintained. The opinion concludes that a lawyer may jointly represent a lender and the deed-of-trust trustee in litigation over a foreclosure, provided the lawyer can prese…
Can a lawyer offer free promotional merchandise to accident victims who call in response to a targeted direct mail letter?
The opinion concludes no. Promising promotional merchandise as an inducement to call is an improper solicitation, because a recipient may call only for the item and the lawyer could then solicit them …
Can a North Carolina lawyer join a commercial online service that matches prospective clients with lawyers and lets lawyers send offer messages?
The opinion concludes a lawyer may participate, even though the for-profit service does not meet every condition for a lawyer referral service, because the client chooses the lawyer rather than receiv…
When a lawyer takes a client to a new firm and a fee is later awarded, what does the lawyer owe the former firm, and how must the disputed fee be handled?
The opinion concludes the departed lawyer must honestly notify the former firm of the awarded fee, deposit the mixed fee check intact in trust, may pay herself any undisputed share while keeping the d…
Can a lawyer keep representing a client when opposing counsel announces it will call the lawyer as a witness, and the lawyer's own conduct may be at issue?
There is no automatic disqualification. The lawyer must decide whether she is a 'necessary witness' under Rule 3.7 and, if so and withdrawal would not cause the client substantial hardship, withdraw b…
What must a lawyer do with personal injury settlement funds when a medical provider or other third party claims part of them?
There is no bright-line rule. The lawyer cannot help a client unlawfully avoid statutory liens or court orders, must honor agreements the lawyer is party to, and where the lawyer owes a legal duty to …
Can a Maine lawyer destroy paper files after scanning them to CD, and run a file-storage business that uses nonlawyer staff?
Yes, with conditions. The opinion concludes paper files may be destroyed once scanned in a format that preserves client access (per Opinion #183) and intrinsic-value originals are kept, and a lawyer w…
Can one Virginia defense lawyer represent two criminal defendants in separate cases when one client's defense points at the other?
The opinion concludes the lawyer had an impermissible conflict of interest under Rule 1.7(b): once he realized one client (Defendant #2) was the very person his other client (Defendant #1) feared and …
Can a Maine lawyer accept a referral fee from an investment advisor for sending clients to the advisor?
No. The opinion concludes the arrangement is per se unethical: it is inherently unfair to the client under the rule against a lawyer's acquiring a pecuniary interest adverse to the client, and the fee…
If someone contacts a New Jersey law firm seeking representation against a company the firm already represents, must the firm tell its corporate client, and can the firm keep representing the company?
No, the firm must not disclose the contact. The would-be client's identity, the fact of the contact, and any information received are confidential under RPC 1.18 (effective January 1, 2004) and, even …
Do government lawyers (for example, intelligence-agency attorneys) violate Rule 8.4(c) when they make misrepresentations that their lawful official duties require?
The opinion concludes that lawyers employed by government agencies who act in a non-representational official capacity, in a manner they reasonably believe is authorized by law, do not violate Rule 8.…
Can an employer's lawyer file an answer or take other action for a former employee co-defendant who has vanished and cannot be contacted?
Yes, narrowly. Even though the lawyer cannot communicate with the missing former employee as Rule 1.4 contemplates, the lawyer may undertake a brief transitional representation, such as filing an answ…
A law firm hires a paralegal or secretary who used to work at another firm, maybe one it now opposes. What must the firm do to supervise that nonlawyer and check for conflicts?
The firm must adequately supervise the nonlawyer so confidences from the former firm are not disclosed or exploited. A formal conflict check is not always required, but is advisable where the nonlawye…
My law partner is married to the municipality's deputy police chief, who also handles some prosecutions. Our firm won't touch cases where the spouse investigated, and I take other police-department criminal cases after disclosing the relationship. Does this policy comply with the conflicts rules?
Mostly, but the firm's policy needs one addition. The panel held the policy complies with Rule 1.7(b) once the inquiring attorney and the law partner also satisfy Rule 1.7(b)'s waiver conditions, reas…
I serve as guardian for one individual. That person's mother, who has objected to some of my spending decisions in the past, now needs her own guardian, and her daughter wants me to represent her as guardian for her mother, or serve as guardian myself if the daughter can't. Is that a conflict?
No conflict of interest. The panel held the lawyer's responsibilities as guardian for the individual do not materially limit representing the individual's sister as guardian for their mother, or servi…
I prepared a will years ago for an elderly client whose mental health has since declined, with suspected Alzheimer's. One of the client's adult children wants me to represent them in a guardianship petition over my own client. Is that a conflict, and if not, who do I end up representing?
Not a conflict. The panel held Rule 1.14 permits the lawyer to represent the petitioner seeking guardianship over the lawyer's own client if the lawyer reasonably believes guardianship is in the clien…
Can an Arizona lawyer pay another lawyer a referral fee for sending a client, and when can lawyers in different firms split a fee?
The opinion holds that Arizona does not allow a pure referral or finder's fee for merely referring a case when the referring lawyer stays uninvolved. Lawyers in different firms may divide a fee only i…
May a California lawyer agree to a settlement provision that bars the lawyer from disclosing the fact and amount of the settlement to the lawyer's other current or future clients?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a confidentiality clause limited to the fact and amount of the settlement does not violate former Rule 1-500(A) because it restricts disclosure of settlement terms, not…
Must a lawyer give a client a medical report from the file when the doctor or an insurer who controls the report tells the lawyer not to release it?
The opinion concludes that a medical report obtained for the representation is part of the client's file under Rule 1.16(e), so on termination the lawyer must provide it; a non-client carrier or docto…
Can a settlement agreement, or a firm's employment agreement, bar lawyers from ever suing a particular company again, and is that restriction enforceable under the ethics rules?
The opinion concludes that whether a settlement-based restriction is a 'broad' restriction barred by former DR 2-106(B) (now Rule 5.6(b)) is a fact-intensive question the committee will not resolve, s…
Can a D.C. law firm pay a nonlawyer employee a percentage of the profits from a specific set of cases, or does Rule 5.4 bar that fee-sharing?
The opinion concludes that a firm may not pay a nonlawyer employee a percentage of the profits from a designated set of cases, because tying compensation to fees from a specific case or category of ca…
Can an Ohio lawyer send unsolicited email advertising legal services, and what rules apply?
The opinion concluded that attorneys are discouraged from, but not barred from, sending unsolicited email advertising legal services, which is treated as targeted direct mail subject to DR 2-101(F)(2)…
Can a lawyer employed by a federal intelligence agency use alias identities and non-consensual recording in authorized covert work without violating Rule 8.4(c)?
The opinion concludes yes. Extending the law-enforcement exception of LEO 1738 to authorized intelligence and covert activity, the committee holds that lawful undercover methods such as alias identiti…
Can a lawyer mark up the rate of a contract attorney billed to the client without telling the client?
The opinion concluded that because a contract attorney is not an employee of the firm, the engaging lawyer must disclose, preferably in writing, that a contract attorney will work on the case as an in…
Can a Maine lawyer keep only electronic copies of client correspondence and dispose of the paper?
A qualified no: the opinion concludes electronic-only retention is allowed only if the lawyer can still give the client meaningful access to those records in the future, which may require keeping old …
A lawyer sits on a municipal board and is 'of counsel' to a law firm. Can the lawyer or the firm appear before that board on behalf of private clients?
The lawyer-member may not appear before the board. Because an 'of counsel' lawyer is 'associated' with the firm, the firm's appearance is restricted too: any DR 5-101 conflict imputes to the firm (wai…
What should a lawyer do when a discharge letter may have been coerced by a controlling family member?
A discharged lawyer normally must turn over the file, but where circumstances suggest the client lacked capacity to make a considered decision the lawyer should confirm the client's real wishes. If th…
In a North Carolina settlement, can a lawyer agree not to represent other employees with similar claims, and can the lawyer later take those claims after a confidential settlement?
The opinion concludes that Rule 5.6(b) bars a lawyer from agreeing to a settlement term that restricts representing other claimants, but a confidentiality-only term is permitted. The lawyer may later …
When an adult child asks a lawyer to draft a power of attorney for an elderly parent, who is the lawyer's client and what must the lawyer do?
The opinion concludes the parent (the principal) is the client because the engagement is for the parent's benefit, not the child requesting and paying for the work. The lawyer must consult the parent …
Can a personal injury lawyer give medical lienholders an accounting of how settlement proceeds were disbursed?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a lawyer does not violate the confidentiality rule by providing medical lienholders the accounting that N.C.G.S. 44-50.1 requires, because Rule 1.6(b)(1) permits disclo…
Can a lawyer file a lawsuit for a client when the statute of limitations on the claim has already run?
Yes. The opinion concludes that filing a time-barred claim is not frivolous under Rule 3.1, because the statute of limitations is a waivable affirmative defense that does not strip the court of jurisd…
Can a lawyer who takes over a Social Security claim from a nonlawyer representative pay that nonlawyer a share of the fee for prior work?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a lawyer who takes over a Social Security claimant's case from a nonlawyer representative may compensate the nonlawyer for work actually performed, even out of the lega…
Can a Florida lawyer buy a deceased attorney's practice from the estate and tie the installment payments to future collections?
Yes. A lawyer may purchase a law practice from a deceased attorney's estate and agree to reduce the annual installment payments if the firm's collections fall below an agreed amount in future years.
Can a lawyer take a referral fee from a financial advisor for sending clients, or refer clients to the lawyer's own side business?
A lawyer may accept a referral fee from a nonlawyer securities dealer only if the referral is in the client's best interest, the lawyer fully discloses and obtains the client's informed written consen…
Can an Alaska lawyer withhold an expert or investigator's report from the client because the client has not paid for it?
Not if withholding would prejudice the client. The opinion treats an expert or investigator's report as part of the client's file, so the lawyer's interest in getting paid is subordinate to the client…
Can a criminal defense lawyer post bail, or arrange a bond, for their own client?
Only rarely. The opinion concludes there is no per se ban, but posting or guaranteeing a client's bond usually creates a personal-interest conflict under Rule 1.7 that bars the representation unless t…
Can a Georgia lawyer take a referral fee from a financial adviser for sending clients to that adviser?
Only with great care. Under Georgia FAO 03-3, such a solicitation agreement is ethically and legally perilous; at a minimum Rule 1.7 requires written disclosure and informed consent to the lawyer's pe…
Must a criminal-defense lawyer give a former client a copy of the pre-sentence report from the file when the client asks for it to pursue habeas relief?
The opinion concludes that a pre-sentence report is part of the client's file under Rule 1.16(e), not an internal document the lawyer may withhold, so the lawyer must provide it on request, subject on…
In a Kentucky criminal case, can a lawyer use a subpoena to pull a witness in for an out-of-court statement, or to have documents 'certified' and sent straight to the lawyer, without notice to opposing counsel?
No to both. The opinion concluded a lawyer may not use a criminal subpoena to compel a witness and then divert them to an extrajudicial statement, nor to obtain documents directly without required not…
Can a lawyer take client referrals from a mortgage lender and act like the client's loan broker in exchange for cross-referrals?
The committee said the arrangement might violate RPC 7.2(c) because a reciprocal referral deal with a nonlawyer lender would be giving something of value for referrals, and it might also implicate RPC…
Can one lawyer serve as in-house counsel for several unrelated corporations at the same time?
The committee said yes: a lawyer may serve as in-house counsel for more than one unrelated corporation, treating each as a separate client, so long as no corporation profits by 'renting out' the lawye…
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.