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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Does a firm have a conflict representing a city when one of its paralegals is also a member of that city's council?
No. The opinion concludes the firm may keep representing the city; there is no direct adversity and no significant material-limitation risk under Rule 1.7, and the paralegal's council service is not f…
Can a State's Attorney negotiate a labor contract with county police while also calling those officers as witnesses in criminal cases?
Yes, after a case-by-case Rule 1.7 conflict analysis. The two roles are generally not directly adverse, but the State's Attorney must check whether the criminal-witness relationships would materially …
Can a lawyer contact a represented government official directly to discuss a matter without the government attorney's consent?
Only for general policy issues. A lawyer may contact a represented government decision-maker about underlying policy without notice or consent, but may not contact them to settle or resolve the specif…
Can a lawyer be both the prosecutor and an administrative hearing officer for the same Illinois municipality?
No. Serving as the municipality's prosecutor while also acting as its administrative hearing officer is a Rule 1.7(a)(2) conflict: the lawyer's duty of impartiality as a quasi-judicial hearing officer…
Can a lawyer who owns a stake in and chairs a bank serve as city attorney for a municipality that banks there?
No. The lawyer's ownership and board role trigger the Rule 1.8(a) business-transaction safeguards, and the representation is a Rule 1.7(a)(2) material-limitation conflict. The opinion concludes the co…
Can an Illinois city attorney keep advising the plan commission and city council after a partner in the same firm appears before those bodies to oppose a zoning change?
Not without informed consent. The partner's appearance against the city creates a Rule 1.7 conflict imputed firm-wide under Rule 1.10, and the city attorney's recusal from the partner's matter does no…
Can an Illinois lawyer keep representing a school district when a partner in the same firm has brought a proceeding against the district?
Only with informed consent. The partner's proceeding is directly adverse to a current firm client, creating a Rule 1.7 conflict imputed to the whole firm under Rule 1.10; recusing from the matter does…
Must an Illinois lawyer reveal a client's confidential information to prevent a threatened child sexual abuse by a third party?
Yes, where the Rule 1.6(c) test is met. Child sex abuse is 'substantial bodily harm,' so an Illinois lawyer must reveal information relating to the representation to the extent reasonably believed nec…
Can a lawyer who sues some state agencies also represent a different state agency, or is the whole state government one client for conflict purposes?
The state government is not a single client made up of every agency under the Governor; a lawyer may represent one state agency while representing a private party adverse to a different state agency, …
Can a firm pay a former partner who became a prosecutor a share of a contingent fee earned after he left the firm?
Yes. The opinion concludes a firm may pay a former partner who became a State's Attorney a share of a contingent fee earned after he withdrew, if paid under a separation agreement governed by Rule 1.5…
Can two lawyers in the same firm separately represent a city and a park district located within it?
Yes, on these facts. The opinion concludes the two units are separate clients with no current direct adversity, so there is no Rule 1.7 conflict, though the lawyers may have to disclose the limits tha…
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 …
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…
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…
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…
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 law firm that represents a municipality entertain the city's officials at parties or sporting events?
The opinion concluded that a firm may entertain officials of a client municipality at events such as holiday parties or picnics as ordinary social hospitality, and that individual sporting-event invit…
Does a lawyer have to report another lawyer to disciplinary authorities for working a case despite a conflict of interest?
The opinion concluded that a conflict of interest does not normally rise to the level of misconduct that must be reported under Rules 8.3(a) and 8.4(a)(3)-(4); because the supervising lawyer's stock c…
Can a lawyer pitch a county board in person to abolish the public defender and hire the lawyer's firm instead?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer's in-person pitch to a county board member to win a public-defense contract is improper solicitation under Rule 7.3, because in-person solicitation for pecuniary ga…
Can a State's Attorney keep a shared building investment with former partners who will appear against the office in criminal cases?
The opinion concluded a State's Attorney may keep a beneficial interest in a land trust that leases office space to former partners who become courtroom adversaries, provided each lawyer discloses the…
Can a part-time prosecutor take private civil clients in matters that grow out of criminal cases he prosecuted?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for a part-time assistant state's attorney to simultaneously or later represent civil litigants in matters arising out of the same facts as criminal cases he …
Can a lawyer who practices before the IRS give a tax agent's family discounted fees in exchange for the agent helping the lawyer's career?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer practicing before the IRS may not give reduced fees to an IRS agent's family in exchange for the agent furthering the lawyer's career, because the discount is a thi…
Can a lawyer send litigation correspondence directly to a city's mayor and council members when the city is represented by counsel?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer whose client is being sued by a city would violate Rule 4.2 by communicating directly with the city's represented elected officials about the litigation; the client…
Can a government lawyer lead a nonprofit that lobbies the legislature for a law change the lawyer's official client opposes?
The opinion concluded that an assistant state's attorney who is president of a genealogical society may urge the legislature to amend a statute even though the county clerk his office represents oppos…
Can a part-time Assistant State's Attorney defend criminal cases in a neighboring county?
The opinion concluded that a part-time Assistant State's Attorney who prosecutes in one county may not represent criminal defendants in a contiguous county where a conflict exists, absent appropriate …
Can two assistant public defenders who share an office, secretary, and investigators represent the opposing parent and child in an abuse case?
The opinion concluded that it is improper for two assistant public defenders who share a common office, secretary, and investigators to be required to represent the directly opposed parent and child i…
Does a lawyer who serves on an unpaid, advisory village commission hold 'public office,' barring representation of clients before or against the village?
The opinion concluded that an unpaid, appointed volunteer commissioner with only advisory functions does not hold 'public office' for conflicts purposes, so the lawyer may represent private clients be…
Can a lawyer who serves on the county board defend criminal cases prosecuted by that county's state's attorney?
The opinion concluded it is improper. Under In re Vrdolyak and Rule 1.7(b), a county board member's duty of loyalty to the county conflicts with defending criminal cases the county state's attorney pr…
Can a part-time public defender also take contract work writing appellate briefs for the state's prosecutor's office in other districts?
The opinion concluded that a part-time public defender and criminal defense lawyer may accept individual, case-by-case contracts from the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office to write brief…
Can a city prosecutor and a part-time public defender form a law partnership, and what cases must they avoid?
The opinion concluded the partnership is permissible, but neither partner may defend clients charged with that city's ordinance violations or with state charges initiated or supported by that city's p…
Can a part-time assistant state's attorney represent a prisoner suing law enforcement officers in a neighboring county?
The opinion concluded that a part-time assistant state's attorney who prosecutes felonies should not represent a prisoner in a civil rights action against law enforcement officials of an adjacent coun…
Must a public defender's office warn one client that another of its clients is cooperating in an investigation targeting the first client?
The opinion concluded that where one assistant public defender learns, through representing Client B, that Client A (represented by a different assistant in the same office on an unrelated matter) is …
Does a lawyer's marriage to another lawyer disqualify the lawyer from a case where the spouse's firm represents the police agencies whose officers will testify?
The opinion concluded marriage does not per se disqualify spouses from representing differing interests. An assistant public defender may take felony cases involving officers of cities the spouse's fi…
Can a lawyer who serves on a city council, or the lawyer's firm, represent clients before that council?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who serves on a city council generally may not, and the lawyer's firm generally may not, represent clients before the council because the city's and client's intere…
Does a lawyer's part-time employment by a university bar his firm from defending a former university employee in an unrelated criminal case?
The opinion concluded the representation was proper after disclosure and consent: there was no attorney-client relationship with the university, so the criminal case created no conflict, and a persona…
Must a public defender report to the disciplinary board every ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim a post-conviction client makes about prior counsel?
The opinion concluded not every allegation must be reported: if the information is unprivileged, the public defender may exercise discretion over whether the alleged conduct rises to moral turpitude o…
Can a lawyer who serves on a school board take private work opposing a development the board supports?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may not accept private employment opposing the school district's annexation position: it is a direct personal-interest conflict, a public official may not oppose propo…
Can a prosecutor offer a DUI defendant court supervision only if the defendant drops the civil challenge to the statutory summary license suspension?
The opinion concluded it is not professionally improper. Because the summary-suspension proceeding is not a private civil claim but concerns the public interest in safe highways, conditioning the DUI …
Can a city attorney draft and advocate for an ordinance that would financially benefit him without disclosing his interest, and must another lawyer report that conduct?
The opinion concluded a city attorney should not participate in a pending ordinance that could benefit him financially unless he discloses the interest and the city consents or he recuses; on the repo…
When a former public defender becomes a prosecutor in the same county, can the rest of the office handle his old cases if he is screened?
The opinion concluded that proper screening avoids imputing the former public defender's conflict to the whole State's Attorney's office, so other prosecutors may handle his former cases without appoi…
Can a part-time county public defender represent a private client in a civil suit against the same county?
The opinion concluded a part-time public defender may sue the county for a private client only with the client's consent after full disclosure of the public-defender relationship, because the lawyer h…
Can a city's part-time corporation counsel, or the lawyer's firm, defend people charged under state statutes when the conduct is also a city ordinance violation prosecuted with city police support?
The opinion concluded no; the corporation counsel and the lawyer's firm are disqualified from defending such charges, and the city cannot waive the conflict because the matters are substantially relat…
Can lawyers in a firm defend criminal cases in a county where their partners serve part-time as prosecutors on unrelated juvenile matters, and can the public entity consent?
The opinion concluded yes with informed consent of each client, and held that a public entity is not categorically barred from consenting where partners of a part-time public lawyer take unrelated mat…
Can a part-time assistant state's attorney who handles only civil matters, and the lawyer's firm, defend criminal cases in other counties?
The opinion concluded yes; where the lawyer's public work is confined to civil matters and the firm does no criminal work in that county, the lawyer and partners may defend criminal cases arising in o…
Can two part-time assistant public defenders who share office space and a secretary represent codefendants with conflicting interests in the same case?
The opinion concluded there is no per se bar; the two may represent conflicting codefendants if each discloses the arrangement, obtains consent, and can give undivided loyalty, but they may not use th…
Can a law firm represent a personal injury plaintiff when one of its lawyers was an assistant state's attorney while related criminal charges against the defendant were pending, but had no role in the prosecution?
The opinion concluded yes; because the former prosecutor had no personal and substantial role in the criminal case, he was not disqualified under the former-government-lawyer rule, and his firm was no…
Is it a conflict of interest for a lawyer who sits on a county board to also represent the State as a special assistant attorney general in condemnation cases in that county?
The opinion concluded there is no per se conflict, so long as the condemnation matters are against private landowners and do not involve the county itself; only if the county were a party would a conf…
Can an assistant state's attorney who handles all of a county's family court matters also represent private divorce clients in that same county?
The opinion concluded no; an Assistant State's Attorney responsible for all of a county's family court matters may not privately represent clients in marriage dissolution cases in that same county, wh…
Can a part-time municipal prosecutor who handles traffic cases in the city also defend traffic and criminal cases arising outside city limits?
The opinion concluded yes; because the municipal attorney's prosecutorial authority is limited to violations occurring within the municipality, he may privately defend traffic and criminal cases for o…
Can a lawyer's firm represent a public planning commission on which the lawyer serves as a voting member and committee chair?
The opinion concluded a conflict exists; a lawyer who is a voting member of a public regional planning commission, and his firm, may not also represent the commission as its attorney, and because a pu…
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 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 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 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 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 …
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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.