Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a Maine lawyer accept client payments through apps like Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, or LawPay, and what trust-accounting rules apply?
Yes. Maine lawyers may accept payments through online payment apps as long as the app does not commingle client funds with the lawyer's own funds and unearned fees reach a client trust account (within…
Can a Maine lawyer personally sign a hold-harmless or indemnification agreement to settle a client's personal injury claim?
No. The opinion concludes it is improper for an attorney to personally indemnify or hold an adverse party or insurer harmless against liens and subrogation claims as part of settling the client's pers…
When a Maine client asks for the file, must the lawyer turn over everything, including the lawyer's notes and internal memos?
Not everything. The opinion concludes the lawyer must deliver client property plus any material of value to the client not otherwise available, but generally need not turn over time records, internal …
Can a Maine lawyer destroy paper files after scanning them to CD, and run a file-storage business that uses nonlawyer staff?
Yes, with conditions. The opinion concludes paper files may be destroyed once scanned in a format that preserves client access (per Opinion #183) and intrinsic-value originals are kept, and a lawyer w…
Can a Maine lawyer keep only electronic copies of client correspondence and dispose of the paper?
A qualified no: the opinion concludes electronic-only retention is allowed only if the lawyer can still give the client meaningful access to those records in the future, which may require keeping old …
If a bank insists on depositing a credit-card retainer into a lawyer's general business account, can the lawyer leave it there instead of in an IOLTA or trust account?
Only if the funds are truly non-refundable. The opinion concluded that any retainer funds that might still be refunded to the client are client funds and must go into an IOLTA or other identifiable tr…
Can a law firm pledge its accounts receivable to a bank as collateral without violating its duty to protect client confidences?
The opinion concluded a firm may grant a security interest in receivables, but the security agreement must be drafted so it never forces disclosure of client confidences or secrets and never strips a …
Can a lawyer secure a fee by taking a mortgage or security interest in a client's property that is unrelated to the matter being handled?
The opinion concluded yes; because the property is not the subject of the litigation, the lawyer may take a secured note if the business-transaction safeguards (fair terms, chance to consult independe…
Are a firm's real estate closing escrow accounts subject to the lawyer trust-account and IOLTA rules?
The opinion concluded yes; real estate escrow accounts are trust accounts under Rule 3.6(e), so a firm must keep all of them either IOLTA or non-interest-bearing and meet Rule 6 reporting for each.
Must a lawyer pay settlement proceeds to a client when those proceeds were already legally assigned to a third party?
The opinion concluded the lawyer must not; once a client legally assigns away the right to the proceeds, the funds are no longer the client's property, so paying them to the client does not satisfy (a…
When a client owes settlement money to a third party, must the lawyer withhold the proceeds from the client, or pay them over as the client directs?
The opinion concluded the lawyer must pay the client who owns the claim, even knowing the client may not pay the third party, unless the lawyer made an authorized promise to hold the funds; in that ca…
Is it commingling for a lawyer to leave fees she has already earned sitting in her client trust account?
The opinion concluded no; the rule permits but does not require withdrawing earned fees when due, so simply leaving them in trust, without misappropriation or poor record-keeping, is not commingling.
When can a law firm return, destroy, or charge for storing a former client's closed file?
The opinion concluded a firm may return a closed file to a client who can responsibly receive it, may destroy a file only if it has no reasonably useful information for the client, and may not charge …
After withdrawing, may a lawyer hold back a deposition and other file materials from a former client until the client repays the costs the lawyer advanced for them?
The opinion concluded no. A lawyer may not condition turning over the former client's file, including a deposition and data whose costs the lawyer advanced, on reimbursement of those costs, because Ru…
When a real estate closing check is routed through the seller's lawyer's trust account and that account turns out to be short, has the seller's lawyer committed an ethics violation, and did the buyer's lawyer?
The opinion concluded no ethical infraction was shown on the given facts, which did not reveal how or how quickly the seller was paid. The seller's lawyer had a duty to deliver the full purchase price…
Can a Maine lawyer keep the client trust account in an out-of-state bank that is closer to the office than any in-state bank?
The opinion concluded no. Maine Bar Rule 3.6(f)(1) requires client funds to be deposited in one or more bank accounts maintained in the state where the law office is situated, and it contains no excep…
If a lawyer promised a client's creditor that a debt would be paid from a settlement, and the client then wants to renegotiate, can the lawyer pay the creditor instead of the client?
The opinion concluded that whether the lawyer must turn the settlement proceeds over to the client or to the creditor depends on legal questions, such as the common law of agency, that fall outside th…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar 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.