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.
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Can a landowner's lawyer try to settle an eminent domain case directly with the condemning authority's employees when that authority has its own counsel?
The opinion concluded no; a lawyer may not communicate directly with employees of a represented condemning authority to settle an eminent domain case without the prior consent of its counsel, even to …
Can a part-time assistant state's attorney assigned to civil cases represent private clients on zoning matters before the county board?
The opinion concluded no; a part-time assistant state's attorney who handles civil matters for the county may not represent private clients on zoning matters before the county board, because his duty …
Can a part-time public defender who learns of police misconduct through that work refer the civil case to another lawyer and collect a referral fee?
The opinion concluded it is not improper; a part-time public defender's clients are the accused, not the county, so there is no conflict, and he may refer a police-misconduct case to other counsel and…
Can a firm list independent lawyers who only take forwarded work as 'Of Counsel,' and can it pay them a referral fee on those matters?
The opinion concluded the firm may not show independent lawyers who are merely receivers of forwarded business as 'Of Counsel,' because no true continuing relationship exists, but it may pay or charge…
Can a company that uses its own salaried in-house lawyer to foreclose mortgages claim part of that lawyer's salary as a recoverable legal fee from the borrower?
The opinion concluded it is not improper; a thrift institution may claim the portion of its salaried in-house lawyer's salary attributable to a foreclosure as a legal fee, because the lawyer never bec…
Can a legal-services lawyer take part in a program where an outside nonprofit advances students' court costs and its staff helps them file small claims suits?
The opinion concluded no; the lawyer could not participate, because the outside organization's staff helping students file and pursue claims would be the unauthorized practice of law that the lawyer i…
Can lawyers who only share office space and overhead, without sharing fees, use common letterhead or stationery?
The opinion concluded no; lawyers in an office-sharing arrangement who do not share fees may not use common stationery, because it would mislead the public about their relationship and about who is re…
Can a lawyer write a general-interest legal article for a newspaper with an author credit, and publicize the firm's attendance at CLE seminars?
The opinion concluded yes to both; a lawyer may cooperate in publishing a general legal article with an authorship credit, and lawyers may release news of their attendance at continuing legal educatio…
Can a lawyer let his name appear on a project billboard stating that he provided the legal work for a construction project?
The opinion concluded yes; a lawyer may permit his name to appear on a billboard noting that he did the legal work for a project, as long as the advertisement is not misleading, which here meant ident…
Can a lawyer take a case against a former one-time client in a totally unrelated matter that does not involve the former client's confidences?
The opinion concluded it is not per se a conflict to represent a client adverse to a former ad hoc client in a wholly unrelated matter that does not involve the former client's confidences or secrets,…
Can a lawyer advertise a tax LLM and a field of concentration, and send referral-availability letters to other lawyers, but not to nonlawyer referral sources?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may state his degree and field of concentration in public advertising and on stationery, and may send referral-availability letters to lawyers in and outside Illinois, b…
Can a part-time city attorney who prosecutes ordinance violations, or his firm, defend people charged with crimes committed within the city?
The opinion concluded a part-time salaried city attorney who prosecutes ordinance violations and advises the police may not defend persons charged by the State's Attorney for offenses within the city,…
Can a lawyer licensed in Illinois but living out of state open an Illinois office run by a paralegal?
The opinion concluded a non-resident Illinois-licensed lawyer may open an Illinois office staffed by a paralegal, where the lawyer spends time there, supervises the nonlawyer's delegated work, assumes…
Can a lawyer advertise practice in a field even though his name closely resembles a better-known lawyer in the same field?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may advertise availability in a field even though his name is confusingly similar to a more experienced lawyer in the same field, so long as the advertising is not calcu…
Can a lawyer defend criminal cases in a county where a partner serves as a part-time Special Assistant State's Attorney handling only civil matters?
The opinion concluded a firm partner may defend a criminal case in the county even though another partner is a Special Assistant State's Attorney for civil matters only, provided that partner has no c…
Can a lawyer advise a client on the consequences of breaching a contract and prepare documents to carry out the breach?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may advise a client on the consequences of a non-criminal breach and prepare documents implementing the client's informed decision to breach, but may not help a client e…
Can a lawyer send letters to non-clients offering to conduct seminars on legal issues currently affecting them?
The opinion concluded it is not improper for a lawyer to write non-clients offering to conduct seminars on legal subjects of current concern, because the letters do not recommend or solicit employment…
Can an incoming partner pay the existing partners more than the firm's physical assets are worth, and then share in fees the firm collects after admission for work done before it?
The opinion concluded that admitting a new partner who pays more than the fair market value of the firm's physical assets is not a prohibited sale of a law practice, and the new partner may share in f…
Can a lawyer oppose another lawyer's client when that other lawyer is the first lawyer's own client or former client?
The opinion concluded that representing a client against a client of Lawyer B is permissible, and needs no consent, where Lawyer A only previously represented Lawyer B in a concluded matter; but if La…
Can a lawyer collect a contingent fee that exceeds the attorney's fees the court awarded, up to the agreed one-third of the recovery?
The opinion concluded that, absent a statutory cap, a contingent-fee agreement may yield a fee larger than the court's fee award; but if the court awards more than the contract amount, the lawyer is l…
Can a lawyer represent a contract purchaser seeking to amend a contract that the lawyer's firm drafted years earlier for the seller, who was then a firm client?
The opinion concluded the lawyer is vicariously disqualified, even though he joined the firm after the prior representation, unless he rebuts the presumption that firm members share a former client's …
Can a law firm keep a deceased partner's name in the firm name when it adds a new partner, even though some current lawyers never practiced with the deceased partner?
The opinion concluded it was professionally proper to retain a deceased member's name in the firm name where the firm is a bona fide successor in a continuing line and the public is not misled, and su…
Can a law firm provide arbitrator-evaluation and grievance-research legal work to two lay associations that, in turn, sell that work to their own member jurisdictions?
The opinion concluded the arrangement was professionally improper, because placing lay associations as intermediaries between the lawyers and the jurisdictions for whom particularized legal services a…
Can an Illinois lawyer accept and act on debt-collection claims forwarded by an out-of-state corporation that solicited those claims from creditors and charged a flat fee to connect them with a lawyer?
The opinion concluded it was professionally improper for a lawyer to accept and act on claims forwarded by a corporation that solicited them, because the corporation was engaged in the unauthorized pr…
After defending a client on a traffic ticket from an accident, can another lawyer in the same firm later defend the personal-injury claim that the former client brought over the same accident?
The opinion concluded it was professionally improper, and that the firm had to withdraw, because representing a client on the traffic charge and then opposing his injury claim from the same accident w…
Can a law firm that opened a branch office mail every postal patron in the community a letter announcing the office and listing the firm's fields of practice?
The opinion concluded it was not improper for the firm to mail all postal patrons a letter announcing the new branch office and stating the firm's areas of practice, because the letter was a permitted…
Can a lawyer with a sports-law practice tell college athletic directors and coaches he is available to represent athletes, and run that player representation from his regular law office?
The opinion concluded that representing athletes in contract negotiations and business counseling is the practice of law, so it was professionally proper to conduct that player representation from the…
Can different lawyers in the same public defender's office represent co-defendants who have an actual conflict, and does a court 'gag order' cure it?
The opinion concluded that separate lawyers in one public defender's office may not represent co-defendants where an actual conflict exists, absent valid consent, and that a court 'gag order' barring …
Can a law firm hire a salaried nonlawyer to provide collective-bargaining services to the firm's clients, as long as that person gives no legal advice?
The opinion concluded it was not per se improper to employ a salaried layperson to render collective-bargaining services where the firm supervises the work and retains responsibility, but it would be …
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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.