State Bar of Arizona Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the State Bar of Arizona, with full citations and source links on every page.
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If an Arizona lawyer uses a social worker who is a mandatory child-abuse reporter, what must the lawyer tell the client about confidentiality?
The lawyer must advise the client that the social worker may be legally required to report abuse or neglect even when the lawyer cannot, and let the client decide whether to use the social worker; for…
May an Arizona lawyer let a nonlawyer paralegal who is a licensed tribal-court advocate represent the lawyer's clients in tribal court, where tribal-court rules let nonlawyers appear but bar the lawyer from doing so?
The opinion concluded that the lawyer may, when the tribal court's own rules permit the paralegal to represent clients and the lawyer supervises the work. Because the tribal court's rules govern condu…
Can a lawyer have a private investigator or tester pose under a false identity to gather evidence before filing a discrimination suit?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may direct a private investigator or tester to misrepresent their identity or purpose when contacting the subject of an investigation, but only when the misrepresen…
Can an Arizona lawyer negotiate against, or contact directly, an opposing insured who is represented by an unsupervised nonlawyer public adjuster?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not negotiate with an opposing party's nonlawyer public adjuster who is not supervised by a lawyer, because doing so assists the unauthorized practice of law un…
Can an Arizona lawyer contract with an outside paralegal to interview estate-planning clients and supervise document signings, paying the paralegal per case?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may contract with a paralegal to conduct initial interviews of and supervise document signings by estate-planning clients only if the lawyer supervises and controls…
Is a contract or temporary lawyer treated as an associate of every firm she works for when checking conflicts?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who works on contract for more than one firm is treated as an associate of each firm for conflicts and confidentiality purposes, and so subject to imputed disqualif…
Can a lawyer take referrals from and be employed part-time by a non-lawyer company that pays the lawyer's fees for its customers?
No. The opinion concluded that the proposed arrangement, in which a non-lawyer tax-resolution company would employ a bankruptcy lawyer part-time, refer its customers to him, and pay his fees, potentia…
Can a law firm employ a salaried nonlawyer marketing director to promote the firm and ask others to recommend it?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a firm may employ a salaried marketing director to carry out marketing a lawyer could do directly, because ER 7.1(j)'s bar on paying for recommendations targets referra…
What can a lawyer admitted only in another state do at an Arizona firm while awaiting Arizona admission, and how must the firm supervise them?
The opinion concluded that for Arizona's rules a lawyer not yet admitted here is treated as a nonlawyer, so they may do what a supervised nonlawyer can (drafting, research, correspondence, meeting cli…
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 no…
Can a law firm list paralegals and other non-lawyer staff on its letterhead?
The opinion concluded that, under ER 7.1 and ER 7.5, a law firm may list non-lawyer support personnel such as paralegals, administrators, or office managers on its letterhead, business cards, and adve…
Can a law firm employ a disbarred lawyer to do legal research and other work?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may employ or engage a disbarred lawyer in the same capacity as any nonlawyer assistant. It adopted a bright-line rule (the former lawyer may do anything a nonlawye…
Can a law firm supervise a company that represents employers for a fee before a state agency tribunal?
The opinion concluded there was no advertising or fee-splitting problem, but that whether a corporation may be an 'authorized agent' appearing for a fee before the Department of Economic Security unde…
Can a lawyer agree to a client's contingent-fee contract with a medical consulting service that supplies experts and bars reuse of them?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not acquiesce in or recommend the contingent-fee contract presented. The lawyer cannot supervise the independent service as ER 5.3 requires, the agreement's bar…
Can a law firm contract to advise and supervise a company that supplies non-lawyer agents to represent clients before a state agency?
The opinion concluded that the law firm could not enter the proposed arrangement. Although Arizona statutes let non-lawyer agents appear before the Department of Economic Security under attorney super…
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Legal ethics opinions from the State Bar of Arizona interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are 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.