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 lawyer licensed only in another state mail solicitations to Illinois accident victims?
Yes, soliciting Illinois clients is not itself unauthorized practice after the 2010 Rule 5.5 changes, but the mailing must follow Illinois advertising rules: disclose the lawyer is not licensed in Ill…
Can a lawyer licensed only in another state represent a party in an Illinois grievance arbitration, and how may that lawyer advertise in Illinois?
Yes, on a temporary basis. Rule 5.5(c)(3) lets an out-of-state lawyer who is not disbarred or suspended provide legal services for a grievance arbitration in Illinois if the services are temporary, re…
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 an Illinois lawyer join a business networking group that trades client referrals between members, including nonlawyer professionals?
Yes, with conditions: the reciprocal referrals must be non-exclusive, the client must consent before the lawyer shares the client's name and be told the referral arrangement exists, and the arrangemen…
Can a law firm hire a marketing company to distribute ads, screen responses, and be paid a percentage of fees from clients it brings in?
The firm may have a marketing company distribute mailed, posted, and door-to-door ads, but the company may not make personal contact, may not screen responses for merit, and may not be paid a share of…
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 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 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.
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 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 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 law firm team up with a health-care organization to market and run seminars on advance directives and then prepare them?
The opinion concluded that a firm may run advance-directive seminars with a health-care organization so long as the firm performs all legal services, any payment to the organization is limited to the …
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 lawyer pull names of DUI defendants from court files and mail them solicitation letters?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may send targeted direct-mail solicitations to a group of people already involved in litigation, such as recently charged DUI defendants, so long as the mailing com…
Can a company recommend its own law firm to its employees and arrange a reduced hourly rate for them?
The opinion concluded that an arrangement in which the employer, not the lawyer, recommends the firm to employees at a guaranteed reduced rate conforms to the Rules, because no attorney solicitation i…
Can a lawyer take landlord-tenant work referred through a real estate brokers' association?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may represent property owners (or their agent-managers) through a real estate brokers' association, provided the agents are authorized to employ counsel, there is n…
Can a lawyer send targeted mail soliciting people known to need legal help, such as accident victims named in news reports?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may initiate contact by mail with prospective clients known to be likely to need legal services, provided the envelope and letter are plainly labeled as advertising mate…
Can a lawyer who also sells insurance and investments sell those products to legal clients, advertise the side business, and have clients waive that any product advice is legal advice?
The opinion concluded a dual-profession lawyer may sell products to legal clients with disclosure and consent, may advertise and accept legal work from product customers, and may be named as a lawyer …
Can a lawyer work with a financial planner who fills out revocable trusts, or pay the planner to send clients to the lawyer?
The opinion concluded a lawyer may not assist a financial planner who is engaged in the unauthorized practice of law (Rule 5.5(b)), and may not give the planner anything of value to initiate contact w…
Can a law firm share office space and a reception area with a financial-planning business that is also its client?
The opinion concluded the arrangement is not improper, so long as the firm keeps its offices separately identified, preserves client confidences, and avoids improper solicitation or fee-sharing with t…
When an associate leaves a law firm, may both the associate and the firm contact shared clients about continuing representation, and how are the fees divided?
The opinion concluded that both the departing associate and the firm may seek the clients' consent to continue, and that fees earned during employment are divided per the employment agreement, but the…
Can a lawyer privately contact his existing clients to tell them about a lawsuit and represent them as additional plaintiffs?
The opinion concluded yes; the ban on soliciting employment by private communication applies only to prospective clients, not to a lawyer's existing clients, so the lawyer could advise existing client…
Can a lawyer use a paid Welcome Wagon service, or in-person visits, to deliver advertising to new residents and newlyweds?
The opinion concluded that after a 1984 rule amendment a lawyer may mail labeled advertising to the general public, but may not deliver it in person and may not pay a Welcome Wagon service to deliver …
Can a lawyer use a Welcome Wagon service or targeted mailings to solicit newcomers, newlyweds, and new parents?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not solicit a targeted group of individuals, in person or by mail, directly or through a Welcome Wagon service, but may place generalized advertising in a newsp…
Can a lawyer who takes referrals from an organization pay that organization for clerical or paralegal help, or make regular contributions to it?
The opinion concluded no; a lawyer may not, as part of a referral arrangement, pay a referring organization for its clerical or paralegal services, and may not make periodic contributions to it, becau…
Can a law firm give clients pens imprinted with the firm name, address, phone number, and practice areas?
The opinion concluded a firm may distribute nominal-value imprinted pens, treating it as permitted advertising, provided an individual lawyer's name appears on the pen; it overruled earlier opinions t…
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 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 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…
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…
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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.