State Bar of Georgia Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the State Bar of Georgia, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a lawyer pay nonlawyer staff a monthly bonus based on the law office's gross receipts?
Yes. Under Georgia FAO 05-4, paying nonlawyer employees a monthly bonus based on the firm's gross receipts, on top of their salary, is permissible under Rule 5.4(a)(3), which allows a compensation pla…
Can a Georgia lawyer or firm work as, or hire, a temporary or contract lawyer, and how are conflicts, confidentiality, and fees handled?
Yes. Under Georgia FAO 05-9, nothing prohibits the use of temporary lawyers, but the temporary lawyer and the firm must manage conflicts, imputed disqualification, confidentiality, client disclosure, …
Can a lawyer join a program that buys client fee bills and collects the fees from the client?
No. Georgia FAO 95-1 concluded that Georgia lawyers cannot ethically participate in a program that purchases client fee bills and collects them, because participation will result in violating one or m…
Can a lawyer referral service take a percentage of the fees earned on cases it refers?
No. Georgia FAO 94-1 concluded that any division of a lawyer's fees with a lawyer referral service is the sharing of fees with a nonlawyer in violation of Standard 26; a lawyer may pay only the usual …
Can an in-house lawyer collect statutory attorney's fees that go to the lawyer's employer?
Yes. Georgia FAO 88-2 concluded that an attorney-employee may collect statutory attorney's fees on a defaulted note that accrue to the employer, because the employer is the client and the fees are tre…
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Legal ethics opinions from the State Bar of Georgia 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.