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 lawyer who has done work for a bank for years, without a retainer, take a case against the bank in an unrelated matter?
Yes. The committee held that, absent a continuing retainer, prior representation in unrelated matters does not bar adverse employment, and the frequency or length of past work does not change that.
Can a law firm whose members sit on a lender's board do the title examinations the lender refers to it for purchaser-mortgagors?
Yes. The committee held the firm represents only the mortgagee, not the borrower, so passing the fee to the borrower is not improper solicitation and the firm members' board seats are irrelevant.
Can a former assistant prosecutor defend a criminal case that arose during his tenure if he never worked on it and had no access to confidential information?
Yes. The committee held the former-public-employee bar reaches only matters the lawyer actually worked on or supervised, and the confidence bar reaches only matters he had access to, neither of which …
Can a lawyer who drafted a deed defend a lawsuit seeking to set that conveyance aside?
Only if the case stays on legal issues. The committee said the lawyer may defend a suit raising only legal questions, but must decline or withdraw once contested factual issues arise on which he would…
Can a lawyer who shares office space with a trial commissioner defend criminal cases in other courts in the same county?
Qualified yes. The lawyer may take criminal cases except those tried or examined before the office-sharing commissioner, or any case in which the legality of the commissioner's acts may foreseeably be…
Can a county attorney represent residents challenging a county contract that predates his taking office?
No. The committee held that the county is entitled to the county attorney's independent judgment about the contract, and his judgment for the county would be adversely affected if he represented resid…
Can a lawyer who serves as a police officer and legal adviser to a county police department also defend criminal cases and handle car-accident matters in private practice?
No to criminal defense anywhere; the same bar that applies to prosecutors applies to the lawyer-officer and the firm. Car-accident cases are allowed only outside the department's territory and only un…
Can a part-time U.S. Magistrate represent local governments and agencies on a retainer when he could later have to disqualify himself?
Qualified yes. The committee concluded a part-time U.S. Magistrate may represent local governmental organizations and agencies in civil matters on a retainer, except in matters that may come before hi…
Can a lawyer who occasionally sits as county judge pro tempore still defend criminal cases in the county's quarterly and circuit courts?
No bar in this case. The committee concluded that a lawyer who sits as county judge pro tem only about two weeks a year is not subject to the restrictions placed on a regular county judge, except that…
Can the law partners and associates of a part-time U.S. Magistrate defend criminal cases in state court?
Qualified yes. The committee concluded that a part-time U.S. Magistrate, and therefore his partners, associates, and employers, may defend criminal cases in state court, except where the facts indicat…
Can a county attorney also serve as attorney for a fourth-class city in the same county, or share an office with the city's attorney?
Qualified yes. The committee concluded a county attorney may also represent a fourth-class city in his county, and may share an office with or be the partner of the city attorney, but if an actual con…
Can a county attorney share an office with a city police court judge?
No. The committee held that a lawyer sharing offices with a police judge cannot prosecute cases originating before that judge, and a county attorney's prosecutorial duties would force him to abdicate …
Can a law firm appear before a state board when one of its members serves as the board's director?
No. The committee held that because the Director can exercise considerable influence over cases before the Workmen's Compensation Board, the firm's members and associates may not practice before it wh…
Can a lawyer who serves as a Quarterly Court trial commissioner in one county defend a criminal case in a different county?
Yes. The committee held the bar on a subordinate-court judge defending criminal cases is limited to his own county, and the appearance-of-impropriety concern does not reach a commissioner practicing e…
Can a county attorney run his private practice from his courthouse office, and may he sit beside the judge at the bench during proceedings he prosecutes?
Yes to the shared courthouse office, no to the bench seat. The committee concluded a county attorney may use his courthouse office for both public and private practice if kept distinct, but may not si…
Can an assistant county attorney who prosecutes in Quarterly Court also be a deputy sheriff or constable so he can make arrests himself?
No. The committee concluded that combining the prosecutor's role with peace-officer arrest powers, even unsalaried, would create an appearance of impropriety under Canon 9 and risk intimidating witnes…
Can a police officer also practice law if he avoids all criminal matters and auto-accident personal injury cases?
Yes. The committee concluded a police officer may practice law in off-duty hours so long as he handles no criminal matter or automobile-accident case, and avoids any other area where his police duties…
Can a board of aldermen's lawyer opine on a proposed code's constitutionality while privately representing tenants and landlords subject to the code?
Yes, with no required disclosure of client names. The committee concluded the lawyer may opine on the code's constitutionality because he is not acting as an advocate on its application to his clients…
Can a former city attorney later represent a city employee against the city in a pension matter the attorney handled while in office?
No. The committee concluded that because the former city attorney had substantial responsibility for the employee's pension claim while representing the civil service commission, DR 9-101(B) bars him …
Can a county attorney's law partner defend criminal cases in other counties, and can the county attorney defend criminal cases in an adjoining state?
No to both. The committee concluded that a county attorney's partner may not defend criminal cases in other Kentucky counties, and the county attorney himself may not appear as criminal defense counse…
Can a Kentucky county attorney represent private clients before the Workers' Compensation Board?
Yes. The committee, on review, concluded that a county attorney commits no conflict of interest by presenting private claims before the Workmen's Compensation Board merely because a statute might some…
Can a lawyer who represented petitioners in an incompetency proceeding later serve as committee for the person found incompetent if everyone consents?
Yes. The committee concluded that, with informed consent of all interested parties and where the lawyer can adequately represent every interest, he may accept the committee appointment, because protec…
Can one law partner serve as juvenile court trial commissioner while the other partner serves as Commonwealth attorney in the same county?
No. The committee concluded that the two offices of juvenile trial commissioner and Commonwealth attorney should not be held by members of the same firm, because the partnership would create an appear…
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 an attorney who serves as a criminal trial commissioner share office space with an assistant county attorney who prosecutes in the same court?
No. The committee concluded the office-sharing arrangement is improper because a judge must avoid even the appearance of impropriety, and the public could not maintain faith in an impartial judiciary …
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 also a licensed insurance agent and a criminal trial commissioner execute surety bonds as attorney-in-fact for the insurer?
It depends on the case. The committee concluded the lawyer may not execute bonds for parties he represents or for parties appearing before him as trial commissioner, but may do so for parties he does …
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 lawyer serve on the board of trustees of a college that retains the lawyer's own firm?
Yes. The committee concluded there is no per se conflict of interest in a lawyer serving on the board of trustees of a college that retains the lawyer's firm, distinguishing a lawyer's fiduciary loyal…
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 lawyer take a tort case when a salaried associate in his office is one of several witnesses to the accident?
Yes. The committee concluded it was not per se unethical to accept the case, because the associate-witness was a salaried non-partner whose testimony appeared merely cumulative and not essential, thou…
Can the lawyer for a claimant's insurance carrier contact an uninsured motorist to get his cooperation in defending the case?
Yes. The committee concluded the carrier's attorney may notify the uninsured motorist that he represents the claimant's insurer, invite his cooperation in the defense, make clear he does not represent…
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 lawyer for a creditor credit union advise a debtor to file a wage-earner bankruptcy plan and then take the debtor's case?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer for a creditor credit union may explain a Chapter XIII wage-earner plan to a debtor, but must promptly tell the debtor to hire another attorney and decline em…
Can a lawyer who won before a zoning board keep representing the client on appeal to defend the board's decision?
Yes. The committee concluded that a lawyer who represented a party before a Planning and Zoning Board may appear in later appellate proceedings to sustain the board's action where that action is consi…
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 who handled a company's asset sale and was its officer later sue the seller on the buyer's behalf over that same sale?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer who had long represented the selling corporation, served as its secretary, and actively handled the asset transfer could not represent the successor corporati…
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 regularly employed by a title insurance company examine titles the company is required to insure, without aiding unauthorized practice?
Yes. The committee concluded a title insurance company, like a lender, may choose its own attorney to examine title, so a lawyer regularly employed by the company who renders that legal service is not…
When a lender hires a lawyer to examine title and the borrower pays the fee, whom does the lawyer represent if the title turns out defective?
The lawyer is responsible primarily to the lender that hired him and secondarily to the borrower only insofar as the loan security is affected. The committee found no conflict-of-interest violation wh…
Can a lender's lawyer take a fee the borrower is required to pay, even though the borrower never hired that lawyer?
Yes. The committee concluded that a lawyer the lender employs to examine title is rendering a legal service to the lender, so requiring the borrower to pay that fee as a loan cost does not make the la…
Can a lender insist on its own lawyer examining title instead of the borrower's lawyer, and is that aiding unauthorized practice?
No, it is not unauthorized practice. The committee concluded a building and loan association may insist that its own attorney examine the title to property it will take as security, and that the assoc…
Can a former judge appear as a lawyer in a case that was pending in his court if he never ruled on its merits?
Yes. The committee concluded that a circuit judge who left office could appear as an attorney in a case filed in his court while he sat, provided he had not acted on the merits and ruled only on perfu…
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…
Can a lawyer buy a client's tax refund at a discount and split the profit with another client who fronts the money?
No. The committee held it improper for a lawyer to buy a client's income tax refund at ninety percent of face value, funded by another client who took sixty percent of the profit, finding the practice…
Can a lawyer charge an attorney fee for an estate when a partner or relative is the administrator, and can a firm have its secretary serve as personal representative?
Yes to all four arrangements. The committee found none of them directly violated the Canons, so long as the appointment was informed, the attorney fee reflected the value of services and did not doubl…
Can a lawyer who serves as both administrator and attorney settle a wrongful-death claim the heirs have rejected because he thinks the case cannot be won?
No. The committee concluded that where a lawyer acting as both administrator and attorney believes a wrongful-death case cannot be proven but the heirs reject the settlement, he should, after due noti…
Can a lawyer who drafted and witnessed a will later represent heirs trying to defeat that will in probate?
No. The committee concluded under Canon 6 that a lawyer who prepared and witnessed a will may not represent the next of kin in opposing its probate, because a lawyer should not attempt to nullify his …
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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.