Illinois State Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Illinois State Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
No Illinois State Bar Association opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can a lawyer give an adult client's psychiatric report to the parent who hired and paid the lawyer?
No, on these facts. The opinion concluded the adult daughter, not the paying father, is the client, so the lawyer may not divulge her psychiatric report to him unless the lawyer believes she is disabl…
If a borrower pays the lender's lawyer's fee, does that lawyer have to correct the borrower's belief that the lawyer represents the borrower too?
Yes. The opinion concluded that under Rule 4.3 the lender's lawyer must correct the borrower's misunderstanding if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know the unrepresented borrower thinks the lawy…
Can an estate-planning lawyer act as a paid trust administrator for a trust company to which the lawyer refers clients?
Yes, if the lawyer treats it as a conflict under Rule 1.7(b) and a business transaction under Rule 1.8(a): the lawyer must disclose the relationship, the fee and its source, and obtain the client's co…
Can a lender's lawyer contact a borrower who already has counsel and pitch to represent the borrower too in the same loan?
No. The opinion concluded the lender's lawyer who contacts a borrower known to be represented, and solicits the borrower as a client, violates Rule 4.2 and Rule 7.3.
Can a lawyer represent one spouse in a divorce against the other spouse while also representing that other spouse in a separate custody case?
No. The opinion concluded that representing a husband in a divorce against his wife while simultaneously representing the wife in a related custody matter is a non-waivable direct conflict under Rule …
What duties does an insurance-appointed defense lawyer owe the insured, and when must the lawyer withdraw?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer the insurer appoints owes the insured the same professional obligations as if personally retained; the insured is the primary client, and conflicts over disclosure …
Can a lawyer represent a husband in a divorce against an unrepresented wife and also represent both spouses together in a joint bankruptcy?
The lawyer may represent the husband in the divorce against an unrepresented wife, but cannot at the same time represent both spouses jointly in bankruptcy; that joint representation is a non-waivable…
Must a lawyer report an opposing lawyer's planned discovery abuse to the ARDC?
Not automatically. The opinion concluded that reporting to the ARDC is mandatory under Rule 8.3 only when the lawyer has actual knowledge of a violation involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or a quali…
If a lawyer receives an opposing party's confidential documents that opposing counsel sent by mistake, can the lawyer use them?
It depends on timing. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who receives and reviews inadvertently sent materials without prior notice of the error may use the information, but a lawyer who learns of th…
Can a patent firm charge a royalty-based finder's fee for matching its inventor clients with its product-promoter clients?
Only under strict conditions. The opinion concluded the firm may not take a royalty-type matchmaking fee unless it rebuts the common-law presumption of undue influence and obtains informed written con…
If I pay a contract or temporary lawyer to help on a case, must I tell the client and get consent?
It depends: paying a contract lawyer an hourly rate under close supervision and not billed as a disbursement needs no disclosure, but delegating without close supervision, or paying a percentage of th…
Can I sue my former client's trustee on behalf of a trust beneficiary I jointly represented years ago in an unrelated condemnation case?
Yes. The earlier joint representation in a condemnation case was not substantially related to the beneficiary's later breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim against the trustee, so Rule 1.9 did not bar the ne…
Can a law firm partnership agreement make departing partners forfeit compensation if they compete with the firm?
No. The opinion concluded a provision forfeiting a portion of a departing partner's compensation for competing with the firm violates Rule 5.6(a) as an improper restriction on the right to practice.
Can a lawyer charge the client an extra fee for getting a subrogation lien reduced, on top of the agreed contingency percentage?
No. The opinion concluded a lawyer cannot take an additional fee for reducing a lien beyond the percentage set in the contingency fee agreement, and cannot modify that agreement mid-representation wit…
Can lawyers form a company that prepares and places legal public-notice ads and sell those services to their own clients?
Yes, if the lawyers comply with Rules 1.7(b) and 1.8(a) for business transactions with clients, disclose their financial interest and get consent, rebut the presumption of undue influence, and keep pu…
Can a lawyer run a pay-per-call prerecorded legal information line and co-own the venture with a non-lawyer?
The opinion concluded a prerecorded paid legal-information line is not per se improper if the ad complies with the advertising rules, fees for preparing the recording may be shared with a non-lawyer, …
Can a lawyer accept referrals from, work for, or serve as an officer of a for-profit lawyer referral service?
No. The opinion concluded a lawyer may not participate or assist in any way in a business operating as a for-profit lawyer referral service, especially one that solicits cases by methods a lawyer coul…
Can a lawyer take an ongoing cut of an investment advisor's fee for referring a client to that advisor?
Not as a legal fee, and only as a business transaction if the lawyer rebuts the presumption of undue influence by showing a fair deal, full disclosure, and the client's chance to get independent advic…
Can a corporation offer legal services to its customers through its own in-house lawyers, and can a lawyer help it do so?
No. A management-services corporation that provides legal services to outside customers through its in-house lawyers engages in the unauthorized practice of law, and a lawyer who helps it do so acts i…
Can a lawyer hire someone to hand out brochures and sign up injury clients in person?
No. In-person solicitation of prospective clients for the lawyer's pecuniary gain is improper whether the lawyer does it personally or through an employee or other representative.
Can a lawyer give a client's name to a bank as a sales lead, and can in-house counsel pressure outside firms into handing over referral lists?
Only with client consent: a lawyer may not pass client names to a bank for marketing without the clients' permission, and in-house counsel may ask outside firms for referral names but may not coerce t…
If I take over a client's matter from a lawyer who stepped away due to illness, must I tell the client when that lawyer returns to practice?
No. The successor lawyer owes no duty to the client or the referring lawyer to report the referring lawyer's recovery and return, though the lawyer must answer the client's direct questions and keep t…
May an Illinois lawyer email clients without encryption, and do the solicitation rules apply to a law firm web site?
Yes, unencrypted email (including over the Internet) does not violate confidentiality absent unusual circumstances. A passive web site is advertising, not solicitation, but targeted online messages tr…
After a client fires me and hires new counsel, can I call the client directly to protect my fee or win the case back?
No. A discharged lawyer may not contact the now-represented former client to pursue fees or recapture the case, and false or comparative statements in doing so violate the advertising and solicitation…
Can an Illinois firm advertise that it 'specializes' in a field, and can it farm work out to outside lawyers without telling the client?
A firm may say it 'concentrates' in a field but may not claim to 'specialize,' and it may not delegate the matter to lawyers outside the firm without the client's disclosure and consent.
Can a lawyer who once worked for a state child-welfare agency as a non-lawyer supervisor now represent clients in juvenile court against that agency?
Yes, if the lawyer did not personally and substantially participate in the same matter while at the agency and holds no confidential government information that could be used against the agency or an …
If parents who hired me for their injured child's injury claim tell me to limit the recovery, can I keep representing both?
The opinion concluded the lawyer cannot continue to represent both the parents and the minor child once the parents restrict the child's recovery, because the lawyer must exercise independent professi…
Can one lawyer represent both a renouncing spouse and a separate claimant against the same estate, and can a lawyer represent an executor who also owes the estate money?
The opinion concluded it may be improper to represent both a renouncing spouse and a claimant against the same estate, depending on the size of the claim, and that consent cannot cure the conflict if …
Can lawyers pay to practice under the name of a corporation like 'Real Estate Attorneys, Inc.' owned by a nonlawyer broker?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer's participation in a network of independent lawyers holding themselves out under the name of a nonlawyer-owned corporation violates the Rules in several ways, inclu…
If my client dies while a personal injury claim is pending, do I have to tell the opposing side and the court?
The opinion concluded a lawyer must make timely disclosure of a client's death in a pending personal injury matter, because silence is a false implied representation that the lawyer still has a living…
Can a lawyer let a chiropractor offer patients a fee waiver if they hire that lawyer for their injury claim?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who knows a health care provider is offering patients a fee deferral or waiver conditioned on retaining that lawyer, and acquiesces in it, violates the Rules, becau…
Can a lawyer hand out legal-rights pamphlets with the lawyer's name and number at public seminars and through community advocates?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may distribute printed legal-information materials bearing the lawyer's name at public seminars and through community advocates, so long as the materials name a lawyer r…
Can a lawyer charge a contingent fee to collect on a divorce judgment after the divorce is final?
The opinion concluded that a contingent fee agreement in post-judgment dissolution, collection, and bankruptcy proceedings is not improper if it is in writing and reasonable in amount, because Illinoi…
Can I sue a subsidiary of a corporation I already represent, in an unrelated matter, without my client's consent?
Often yes: a corporate affiliate is not automatically the lawyer's client, and indirect economic impact on the parent is not 'directly adverse' under Rule 1.7(a), though consent is needed where the af…
If my client lied on an indigency affidavit to get a public defender, can I tell the court?
Yes, and the lawyer may be required to: under Rule 3.3 the duty of candor to the tribunal can override confidentiality, so if the client will not rectify the fraud on the court, the lawyer may reveal …
Can opposing counsel threaten a disciplinary complaint for leverage, and can a lawyer contact a city's officials directly while the city's attorney represents it?
No to both: threatening an ARDC complaint to gain advantage in an ordinance prosecution violates the spirit of Rule 1.2(e), and a lawyer may not directly contact represented city officials about the p…
Can a law firm endorse and deposit a settlement or refund check made out to a client the firm cannot locate, and take its fee?
No. The opinion concluded that, absent a narrowly drawn power of attorney, a firm cannot negotiate a missing client's check or pay itself a fee, and must keep the check safe under Rule 1.15.
Must a lawyer who substantively rewrites a release sent by opposing counsel point out the changes before returning the signed document?
Yes. The opinion concluded a lawyer who materially narrows a release and returns it signed without flagging the changes may violate Rule 4.1 and Rule 8.4(a)(4)'s bar on deceit and misrepresentation.
Can an accountant prepare a client's articles of incorporation, or is that the unauthorized practice of law?
The opinion concluded that while individuals may complete and file their own corporate documents, a nonlawyer (including an accountant) who gives another person assistance or advice in completing arti…
Can a personal injury lawyer pay a client's hospital deposit so the client can get surgery during the case?
The opinion concluded that an attorney may not advance money to a hospital for a client's medical expenses, because Rule 1.8(d) bars financial assistance to a client in litigation except for the expen…
If my firm defends a city, can I represent clients before that city's human rights commission?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer whose firm defends a city may represent clients in unrelated matters before the city's human rights commission only with the consent of both clients after full disc…
If a colleague once confided a legal problem to me as a lawyer, can I later become in-house counsel for the organization on the other side?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who had a brief but confidential discussion with a faculty member about his dispute with a university may still serve as the university's counsel, provided the lawy…
Can a lawyer who served as a minor's guardian ad litem then represent that minor in the related personal injury lawsuit?
The opinion concluded that a court-appointed guardian ad litem who recommended rejecting a settlement may later represent the same minor in the related personal injury suit, with no specific prohibiti…
Can a lawyer who left a firm get copies of the closed files for the clients she handled there?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who has left a firm may have access to the firm's closed files for clients with whom she had an attorney-client relationship, that a client cannot be denied access …
Can a lawyer represent a corporation when the lawyer is the brother of its president and main shareholder?
The opinion concluded that being related to a corporation's president and principal shareholder does not by itself create a conflict, because the corporate lawyer's duty runs to the corporation, but t…
If an out-of-state lawyer commits fraud in Illinois, does an Illinois lawyer have to report it to the disciplinary authorities?
The opinion concluded that an Illinois-admitted lawyer must report another lawyer's dishonesty or fraud under Rule 8.3(a) even when that lawyer is not admitted in Illinois, reporting to the Illinois A…
Can a firm that defends a city in one case also sue that same city for a different client in an unrelated matter?
The opinion concluded it is not per se improper for a firm to sue a current client, including a public body, in an unrelated matter if both clients consent after full disclosure and a disinterested la…
Can my firm sue a city if one of my law partners works full-time as a police officer for that same city?
The opinion concluded that a firm should not represent a client in a claim against a municipality that employs one of the firm's partners as a full-time police officer, because the partner holds publi…
Is an Illinois lawyer who collected a full fee but never paid the court reporter committing an ethics violation?
The opinion concluded that an attorney's failure to advance or collect payment to satisfy a court reporter's fee is not, by itself, a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, because the lawyer…
Can a lawyer who defends criminal and traffic clients also serve as a part-time special prosecutor for juvenile cases in the same county?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may accept case-by-case appointment as a special prosecutor in juvenile matters, but only with full disclosure to and consent of any affected clients, and never in a c…
Can a lawyer who handled a client's divorce and real estate deals later represent that client's new spouse in a divorce against her?
The opinion concluded the lawyer had a conflict under Rule 1.9: because the prior divorce and real estate work for the former client was substantially related to the new divorce involving the same pro…
When a client discharges an Illinois lawyer and demands all the old files, who pays for the copies and what must be returned?
The opinion concluded that on termination the lawyer must return all original papers and property the client provided (active and inactive files), may keep copies at the lawyer's own expense, and may …
Does an Illinois lawyer have to give the client the lawyer's own notes and investigative reports from the case file?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer's notes, drafts, and internal investigative materials are the lawyer's property and need not be turned over to the client, and that a lawyer may also refuse to disc…
Can an Illinois lawyer join a for-profit lawyer referral service that pays the service for sending clients?
The opinion concluded that an Illinois lawyer may not participate in a for-profit lawyer referral service, because Rule 7.2(b) permits paying the usual charges only of a not-for-profit lawyer referral…
Can a law firm staff a for-profit car-phone legal-advice hotline run and advertised by a nonlawyer company?
The opinion concluded that a firm's participation in a for-profit cellular legal-advice hotline run by nonlawyers is professionally improper, because the promotion is misleading and omits a responsibl…
Can a lawyer reveal a former client's confidences to defend against the client's accusations or to collect an unpaid fee?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may, in the lawyer's discretion, reveal client confidences reasonably necessary to defend against accusations of wrongful conduct or to establish or collect a fee, …
Can a lawyer who used to be the judge on a case advise the lawyers still litigating it, and does that disqualify their firm?
The opinion concluded that a former judge may not participate, even informally and without compensation, in a matter in which he was personally and substantially involved as a judge, and that a firm t…
Can a lawyer pay a nonlawyer tax representative marketing or consulting fees for referring property-tax assessment cases?
The opinion concluded that it is professionally improper for a lawyer to participate in an arrangement where a nonlawyer engages in the unauthorized practice of law and the lawyer obtains referrals in…
If a judge asks a lawyer ex parte to draft the order or judgment, can the lawyer do it without telling opposing counsel?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for a lawyer to engage in or respond to an ex parte request from a judge to draft an order or judgment without giving prompt notice to opposing counsel; draft…
Can a lawyer charge a client interest on litigation costs the lawyer advanced on the client's behalf?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may charge a client interest on advanced litigation expenses, provided the agreement is in writing before any interest accrues and the rate and amount of interest, …
Browse Illinois State Bar Association opinions by topic
Legal ethics opinions from the Illinois State Bar Association 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.