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.
No Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
When must a Maine lawyer report another lawyer's misconduct under Rule 8.3, and does client confidentiality override the duty?
A Maine lawyer must report another lawyer's misconduct when the lawyer has actual knowledge (to a substantial certainty) of a rule violation that raises a substantial question about the other lawyer's…
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 settlement agreement require a Maine lawyer to keep all case information, including publicly available information, confidential?
A settlement agreement may require that the settlement terms and other non-public information stay confidential, but it may not require a lawyer to keep publicly available information confidential or …
When a former client files an ineffective-assistance claim, what may a Maine lawyer disclose, and to whom?
A former lawyer's duty of confidentiality survives the representation. An ineffective-assistance claim may waive privilege only to the extent of the claim, so the opinion's best practice is to make no…
What are a Maine lawyer's ethical duties to prevent and respond to a cyberattack or data breach?
A Maine lawyer who uses technology must make reasonable efforts to understand and safeguard it. After a breach, the lawyer must take reasonable steps to stop or contain it, investigate whether client …
What must a Maine law firm and a lateral hire do about conflicts, screening, and client files when an attorney changes firms?
The opinion walks through the lateral-move duties: limit conflicts disclosures to what Rule 1.6 allows, screen any disqualified lateral and give notice to affected former clients to avoid imputed disq…
Can a Maine lawyer donate old, inactive client files of historical significance to a library or archive?
Generally no. The duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.6 survives the death of both client and lawyer, so old files may be donated only after a document-by-document review confirms the material is not…
In a deferred disposition, must a Maine defense lawyer disclose the client's new crimes to the prosecutor or the court?
No. Counsel has no affirmative duty to volunteer the client's other charges or conduct to the prosecutor or court, but counsel may not allow false testimony; if the client testifies falsely, counsel m…
Can a Maine lawyer use cloud computing and online storage for confidential client data?
Yes, if the lawyer uses reasonable care to safeguard client information. Cloud computing triggers the same duties of competence, confidentiality, and safekeeping that always applied; the opinion lists…
If a Maine lawyer sits on the board of a nonprofit that helps domestic violence victims, can the lawyer represent a client whose adversary is getting services from that nonprofit?
Yes, in the situations described. The opinion concludes the lawyer is not disqualified merely because the adverse party receives services from the nonprofit, but the lawyer must disclose the board mem…
Can a Maine lawyer mine an opposing counsel's electronic document for metadata, and does the sending lawyer have to scrub it first?
No to mining: a lawyer may not seek to uncover metadata containing confidential information the lawyer should know was not meant to be sent. The sending lawyer has a duty to use reasonable care to avo…
Can a Maine lawyer communicate with clients by unencrypted email without violating the duty of confidentiality?
Yes, as a general matter and subject to appropriate safeguards. The opinion concludes lawyers have a reasonable expectation of privacy in unencrypted email, but reasonable judgment may require a more …
Can a Maine lawyer use off-site vendors for transcription and computer backup if their technicians can access confidential client data?
Yes, with appropriate safeguards. The opinion concludes a lawyer may use remote transcription and server-backup services outside the lawyer's direct supervision if the vendor has an enforceable duty t…
If a deceased client's personal representative waives the attorney-client privilege and asks for confidential information, must the lawyer disclose it?
Not automatically. The opinion concludes the lawyer cannot rely solely on the personal representative's waiver but must independently assess the confidentiality duty; if disclosure would harm the dece…
Can a Maine lawyer help a personal injury client get a non-recourse cash advance from a litigation funding company?
Not per se unethical, but the opinion flags serious concerns: a possible champerty-statute violation it cannot resolve, the duty to advise the client on the deal, protecting confidences against a broa…
Could a Maine lawyer use a bank line of credit to advance litigation costs and pass the interest on to the client?
Yes, with safeguards. The opinion concluded a lawyer could finance advanced litigation costs and pass the interest to the client when the cost is tied to the specific case, the client gives informed c…
When can a Maine lawyer discuss a client's matter with a lawyer outside the firm without the client's consent, and is that conversation privileged?
It depends on the purpose and the conditions. The opinion concluded a lawyer may consult outside counsel for the client's benefit without consent if no conflict exists and either the consulted lawyer …
Can insurer-retained defense counsel give an outside billing-audit company case-file information that contains the insured client's confidences or secrets?
The opinion concluded no, without the insured's consent. Because the insured (not the insurer) is the client, the confidentiality rule applies, and the insured's consent to share information with the …
If both spouses separately contacted a lawyer's office about a divorce, can the lawyer still represent one of them?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may represent either party unless she obtained a material confidence or secret from the adverse party, disclosed in good faith; in domestic cases even the fact of the …
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 an indigent-defense contract require defense counsel to report a client's financial eligibility information to the court without violating confidentiality?
The opinion concluded the contract term is permissible if 'probative of guilt or innocence' is read to cover any charge, so privileged communications stay protected while non-privileged secrets and fr…
Must a Maine criminal defense lawyer disclose to the court that the client committed perjury on the stand?
The opinion concluded the Bar Rules do not require disclosure where it would reveal privileged communications, because Rule 3.6(b) excepts privileged information, though disclosure may still be requir…
Can a Maine lawyer finance the payment of legal fees through a third-party finance company by assigning the client's account receivable?
The opinion concluded yes; the Lawcard financing arrangement is permitted under the credit-card-payment rule, provided the client keeps all defenses against the agency, the right to fee arbitration, a…
If a lawyer's nonlawyer staff member discloses a client's confidences to outsiders, can the lawyer or the firm's partners be disciplined for it?
The opinion concluded a lawyer is not automatically disciplined; the lawyer or supervising partners are subject to discipline only if they failed to exercise reasonable care to train, monitor, and dis…
May a bar-association lawyer referral service charge participating lawyers a sliding-scale or percentage-of-fee remittance, and require lawyers to disclose the fee charged to set that amount?
The opinion concluded yes to both; a sliding-scale or percentage-of-fee remittance is a usual and reasonable referral charge under Rule 3.9(f)(2), and limited disclosure of the client's fee to set tha…
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…
May a lawyer who serves on a corporation's board disclose a client's financial trouble to the corporation?
The opinion concluded that if the lawyer learned of the trouble in the professional relationship, the confidentiality rule bars disclosure to the corporation; whether non-disclosure conflicts with his…
If a client receives an unsolicited ex parte letter from a tribunal member favoring the client, must the lawyer disclose it to opposing counsel?
The opinion concluded the Bar Rules did not require disclosure, because the client's receipt of the unsolicited letter was a client 'secret' and no rule expressly required disclosing an administrative…
When a lawyer reasonably believes an elderly client can no longer act rationally in her own interest, may the lawyer tell a family member and suggest a conservatorship?
The opinion concluded that if the lawyer reasonably believes the client cannot act rationally in her own interest, a limited disclosure of that concern to family members is permitted, provided those m…
When an insurer hires a lawyer to defend its insured, who is the client, and what can the lawyer do about coverage disputes and multiple insureds?
The opinion concluded the insured, not the insurer, is the lawyer's client even though the insurer pays; the lawyer may represent multiple insureds only if it is obvious he can adequately represent ea…
If a criminal client gives a lawyer physical evidence of the crime, may the lawyer take and keep it, or must it be turned over to the prosecution?
The opinion concluded the Commission could not definitively answer, because the duty turns on the Maine Criminal Code, which the Commission lacks authority to interpret; it laid out the competing argu…
What confidentiality and conflict duties arise when a pro bono referral project's lay staff and volunteer lawyers screen and refer clients?
The opinion concluded the referral project itself is not a client or an attorney, but its lay staff handle client confidences a supervising lawyer must protect; the screening 'lawyer of the day' forms…
When a client files a grievance accusing a lawyer of mishandling another client's matter, may the lawyer reveal the other (non-complaining) client's confidences to defend himself?
The opinion concluded the self-defense exception reaches a third-party complaint, so the lawyer may disclose the non-complaining client's confidences as necessary to defend the grievance, but only wit…
When two lawyers share office space and a secretary, can they take opposite sides of a case, and can one refer a client to the other in a matter where the referring lawyer will testify?
The opinion concluded that office-sharing lawyers who share a secretary may not take opposite sides of a matter, because their mutual financial dependence and the shared employee's exposure to both cl…
If a court orders a lawyer to reveal a client's confidential whereabouts, does complying violate the duty to preserve client confidences?
The opinion concluded no. Maine Bar Rule 3.6(l)(1) expressly excepts disclosures required by a court order from the duty to preserve client confidences, so a valid court order requiring the attorney t…
If a husband consults a lawyer about divorcing his wife, not knowing that the lawyer's associate already represents the wife, must the wife's lawyer withdraw?
The opinion concluded yes. A prospective client who consults a lawyer for advice is a 'client' for the confidentiality rule (Rule 3.6(l)) even if the lawyer later declines the case, so the associate (…
Can a lawyer's firm sue a former client in a matter that may overlap with the firm's earlier representation of that client?
The opinion concluded that the Commission could not resolve, in an advisory opinion, the disputed factual question of whether the new suit shared subject matter with the firm's earlier representation …
Can a city's police legal advisor move into the city corporation counsel's office without creating a conflict of interest with the police officers he previously advised?
The opinion concluded yes. The Commission found the police legal advisor's client had always been the city itself, not the individual officers, so the transfer into the corporation counsel's office cr…
Browse Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar opinions by topic
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.