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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When an Illinois lawyer moves from partner to a continuing relationship with the firm, may the firm use 'senior counsel,' 'special counsel,' or 'counsel' instead of 'of counsel' to describe the lawyer?
The opinion concludes yes. Illinois Rule 7.5(a) (read with Rule 7.1) permits any of those terms to describe a lawyer who has a close, regular, and continuing relationship with the firm. The opinion wa…
Can a firm restructuring as a PLLC keep deceased and retired partners' names in its name, and who can be 'of counsel'?
Yes. After restructuring as a PLLC the firm may keep the deceased and retired partners' names where there has been a continuing succession in the firm's identity and the public is not misled; an 'of c…
When a named partner stops practicing law for a non-legal career, must the firm drop their name, and can it list them as 'Of Counsel'?
The firm may not hold the two out as a partnership once one stops practicing, and may not label that lawyer 'Of Counsel' without a continuing, regular relationship; a retired partner's name may stay i…
Is an of-counsel lawyer treated as part of the same firm for fee-splitting and conflict-of-interest purposes?
Yes. The opinion concludes an of-counsel lawyer in a close, regular, continuing relationship is in the same firm, so Rule 1.5(e)'s fee-division limits do not apply, but conflicts are imputed under Rul…
Does an out-of-state law firm organized as a professional corporation have to register in Illinois if one shareholder practices there in the firm's name?
Yes. If an Illinois-admitted shareholder practices law in Illinois in the professional corporation's name, the firm must register with the Illinois Supreme Court under Rule 721 to be considered engage…
After an associate leaves an Illinois law firm, may the associate contact firm clients he worked with, tell them they can follow him, and when must the client be notified of the departure?
Yes. A departed associate may contact firm clients with whom he had an attorney-client relationship to report his departure and tell them they may stay with the firm or move the file to him, so long a…
Can an Illinois lawyer label a soliciting mailing 'promotional materials' instead of 'Advertising Material' to satisfy Rule 7.3(c)?
No. Rule 7.3(c) requires the specific words 'Advertising Material'; labeling a solicitation 'promotional materials' does not comply. The labeling requirement applies only to direct solicitations of pr…
Can a lawyer sell his law practice to an associate and then keep practicing as 'of counsel' to the buyer's new firm in the same area?
No. Rule 1.17 lets a lawyer sell a practice only if he stops practicing on a fee basis in that geographic area; selling just the tangible assets and staying on as of counsel is allowed, with notice to…
Can a lawyer list a non-legal professional certification, like a Certified Trust Financial Advisor designation, on a business card?
Yes. The opinion concludes a lawyer may list a non-legal accreditation such as CTFA on a business card, because it is not a subspecialty of law within Rule 7.4 and, given the credential's bona fide re…
Can an Illinois lawyer list a Supreme Court Capital Litigation Trial Bar certification on letterhead without the no-specialty disclaimer?
Yes. The opinion concludes that Supreme Court Rule 714, which has the Court itself certify Capital Litigation Trial Bar members, is the more recent and controlling rule, so a lawyer may list that cert…
Can a law firm keep a departed, retired, or of-counsel lawyer's name in the firm name, or name non-shareholders in a PC?
A firm name may not imply a partnership or shareholder status that does not exist, and a partner who leaves to join another firm must be dropped; a retired or of-counsel lawyer's name may stay if the …
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…
Can a renamed law firm list a former firm name on its letterhead, and claim a prior affiliation with the firm its founders left years earlier?
The opinion concluded the firm may state its own former name, but may not claim a prior affiliation with the separate firm some of its lawyers left in 1976; there was no continuing line of succession,…
Can a law firm list nonlawyer employees, such as paralegals, office managers, and legal assistants, on its letterhead?
The opinion concluded yes; nonlawyer employees may be named on firm letterhead as long as it is not misleading and the person's nonlawyer status is clearly indicated.
Can a collection lawyer have the client or its billing vendor type a demand letter on the lawyer's letterhead, where the lawyer writes, reviews, and personally signs it?
The opinion concluded there is no per se impropriety; because the lawyer writes the letter, checks it for accuracy, and personally signs it, having the client or a vendor type it on the letterhead is …
Can a law firm give a client blank firm letterhead signed by an attorney for the client to use in its own debt collection?
The opinion concluded no; furnishing a client blank or unaddressed letters signed by a firm lawyer for unsupervised use in debt collection assists the unauthorized practice of law, because lay persons…
Can a firm run a separate practice area under a different name, or set up an owned-and-controlled satellite firm, without disclosing that its lawyers belong to the original firm?
The opinion concluded no; lawyers in a firm may not hold themselves out as practicing independently or under a non-existent firm name, because that misleads the public about who they are dealing with.
Can a lawyer sponsor a sports team and have the sponsorship, including the lawyer's name and firm, publicized in connection with the team?
The opinion concluded yes; an attorney may sponsor an athletic team and publicize that sponsorship, including the firm name, as a permitted form of lawyer advertising, modifying an earlier opinion tha…
Can a law firm keep showing its former name on letterhead or in ads after a named partner is suspended from practice?
The opinion concluded no; a firm may not show on its letterhead or in a Yellow Pages ad that it was formerly known by a name including a suspended lawyer's name, because the public is likely to be mis…
Can a law firm build a network of independent-contractor attorneys it is contractually bound to feed work, and label them 'of counsel' or 'affiliates'?
The opinion concluded no; a plan contractually committing a firm to obtain and subcontract work to independent attorneys is not sanctioned by the fee-division rule, undermines the affiliates' independ…
Can a lawyer who was an associate, not a partner, of a now-deceased lawyer name the new firm after both of them?
The opinion concluded no; because the associate and the deceased lawyer were never partners and no such firm existed before the death, a name combining both falsely implies a prior partnership and suc…
Can a lawyer who serves as a state legislator and works only intermittently with a firm be held out as 'of counsel' to that firm?
The opinion concluded a legislator whose continuing relationship with a firm satisfies the traditional 'of counsel' test may be held out as 'of counsel,' even though he is not 'actively and regularly'…
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 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 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 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 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 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…
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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.