Kentucky Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Kentucky Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a public defender share an office with a trial commissioner from a different county if his duties never take him before that commissioner?
Yes. The committee concluded the office-sharing arrangement is proper because the public defender's duties would not require him to appear before the commissioner, so no inference of improper influenc…
Can a county attorney also represent a city in the same county on a contract basis?
Yes. The committee concluded a county attorney may represent a city in the same county on a contract basis, because such representation does not necessarily impair his independent judgment for the cou…
Can a lawyer who is elected magistrate stay with his law firm and keep his name on the firm's stationery?
Yes. The committee concluded a lawyer elected magistrate may continue practicing with the firm and keep his name on the stationery, so long as it makes no reference to his elective office; but neither…
Can a lawyer in private practice list a public office he holds on his private-practice letterhead?
No. The committee concluded that DR 2-102(A)(4) limits what an attorney may put on his private-practice letterhead, and a reference to a public position, legal or otherwise, is not among the permitted…
Can a city attorney represent a landowner against the city's urban renewal commission in a condemnation case?
Yes. The committee concluded a city attorney may represent a landowner against the urban renewal commission because the commission is a separate corporation with its own counsel that the city attorney…
Can an assistant county attorney privately charge a mother a fee to pursue child support when the Commonwealth is already pursuing the same support action?
No. The committee concluded an assistant county attorney may not charge a private fee for a support action when the Commonwealth, which he is statutorily bound to prosecute for, has already filed on t…
Can a Kentucky county attorney privately represent a landowner in a highway condemnation case the Commonwealth brings?
No. The committee concluded that a county attorney may not represent a landowner in a Department of Highways condemnation, because KRS 177.082 gives the county attorney a duty to file or assist in pro…
Can a Kentucky Commonwealth's attorney also privately represent public utility companies?
Yes, with limitations. The committee concluded there is no per se impropriety in a Commonwealth's attorney representing private utility clients where the Commonwealth is not involved, but he may not t…
Can a law associate of a Commonwealth's attorney represent a civil plaintiff against defendants the prosecutor must criminally charge over the same events?
No. The committee concluded that an associate of a Commonwealth's attorney may not represent civil plaintiffs against defendants whom the prosecutor has a duty to charge over the same subject matter, …
Can judges, trial commissioners, prosecutors, probate commissioners, or their law partners and office-sharers handle criminal cases in Kentucky?
Mostly no. The committee concluded judges, trial commissioners, prosecutors, and probate commissioners may not defend criminal cases, and that bar extends to their firm partners and to office-sharers …
Can a county attorney who is ex officio president of a bond-holding corporation for a nursing home sue that nursing home for a private client?
No. The committee concluded the county attorney should decline the case, because a successful claim could leave the nursing home unable to liquidate the bonds the holding corporation he heads is charg…
Can a newly elected county attorney go back to defending a former client in a criminal and civil case after a change of venue?
No. The committee concluded a Kentucky county attorney cannot ethically represent a criminal defendant in any court in the Commonwealth, including federal courts, nor become involved in the related ci…
Can a criminal defense lawyer share an office and a secretary with the Commonwealth's Attorney who prosecutes those cases?
No. The committee concluded that defense attorneys sharing office space and a secretary with the Commonwealth's Attorney who prosecutes in that district created an appearance of impropriety; they shou…
Can an elected county attorney represent a private employer in a labor dispute?
Yes. The committee concluded that because Kentucky did not bar county attorneys from civil practice unrelated to their criminal duties, there was no ethical inhibition against a county attorney repres…
Can a lawyer taking a government job hand his practice to a firm and become 'of counsel' to it?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded a lawyer entering government service could transfer his files and become 'of counsel' to a firm for a fixed retainer, provided he safeguarded client confi…
Can a county attorney's law partner appear before a public board that the county attorney's office advises?
Generally no. The committee concluded a county attorney or assistant cannot have a partner (or even an office-sharer) appear in opposition before the zoning commission they advise, and a frequently-se…
When a lawyer sits on a state board, can his law partners represent clients before that board or appeal its decisions?
No. The committee concluded that when a partner sits on a state board or administrative body, the firm's other lawyers may not represent clients before it, and may not represent a party appealing its …
Can a lawyer who handles state tax work accept a seat on the State Board of Tax Appeals?
Not if he keeps a tax practice. The committee concluded that a lawyer who may reasonably expect to have to disqualify himself in matters before the Board should decline the appointment, or limit his p…
Can a lawyer or his firm practice before a court or agency whose members the lawyer has the power to appoint or approve?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer who holds an office with power to appoint or approve the appointment of a tribunal's members, and his partners and associates, should not practice before that…
Can a lawyer who serves as a court's probate commissioner and occasional judge pro tem represent clients before that same court?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer whose office associates him in the public mind with presiding over a division of a court, here a probate commissioner who also sits as judge pro tem, should n…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Kentucky 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.