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 limit representation to a single task like drafting a complaint, and what does Rule 1.2(c) require?
Yes. A Maine lawyer may limit the scope of representation if the limitation is reasonable under the circumstances and the client gives informed consent after consultation. A written agreement is the b…
Can a Maine criminal defense lawyer keep representing clients while applying for a job at a prosecutor's office?
Yes. A defense lawyer may continue representing clients while seeking a prosecutorial position, but must get the client's informed written consent once the lawyer has a material, active role in the ca…
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…
What are a Maine lawyer's duties when representing someone selling their structured settlement payments?
The lawyer must satisfy Maine's Structured Settlement Protection Act (24-A M.R.S. § 2241 et seq.): be engaged by the seller (not the purchaser), take no compensation from the purchaser, and have compe…
Can a Maine lawyer represent a client in a collaborative law process in a family law matter?
Yes. The Maine Rules of Professional Conduct do not prohibit a lawyer from entering a collaborative participation agreement, subject to caveats on scope, confidentiality, competence, fees, unrepresent…
Is there a conflict of interest when a Maine lawyer represents an opposing lawyer as a client in an unrelated matter?
Not automatically. The lawyer must apply Rule 1.7's significant-risk test to decide whether a personal-interest or material-limitation conflict exists; if it does, the lawyer may proceed only with a r…
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…
Can a Maine lawyer put a jury-trial waiver for future lawyer-client disputes in the engagement letter?
Yes, but only with safeguards. The Rules do not prohibit a jury-waiver clause for future lawyer-client disputes, but the client's informed consent must be confirmed in writing and the client must be a…
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 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…
If a lawyer sits on a municipal planning board, can the lawyer vote on applications brought by the firm's clients or by clients of the lawyer's partners?
No. The opinion concludes a lawyer holding public office may not participate in or vote on a planning board matter involving a current client of the lawyer or a firm colleague, on any side; the lawyer…
If a paralegal or secretary moves to a new firm carrying confidences from the old firm, can the new firm screen them instead of being disqualified?
Yes. The opinion concludes the imputed-disqualification rules apply only to lawyers, so a firm may screen a nonlawyer rather than be disqualified, by shielding them from the matter and barring disclos…
Can a Maine lawyer accept a referral fee from an investment advisor for sending clients to the advisor?
No. The opinion concludes the arrangement is per se unethical: it is inherently unfair to the client under the rule against a lawyer's acquiring a pecuniary interest adverse to the client, and the fee…
If a Maine lawyer owns a title insurance company, can the lawyer refer a real estate client to it, and do the ethics rules govern the title company's work?
The referral is allowed, but if the lawyer represents the same client in the same transaction, disclosure alone does not exempt the title company's law-related services from the Code; full disclosure …
Can a lawyer provide bankruptcy services to clients as a salaried employee of a nonprofit credit-counseling corporation that is not a law firm?
No. The opinion concludes the arrangement violates the Bar Rules: it aids the unauthorized practice of law by a nonlawyer corporation, amounts to sharing legal fees with a nonlawyer, risks nonlawyer c…
Can a Maine lawyer run real estate closings through a title company the lawyer owns and keep the interest, without following the IOLTA rules?
Yes, within limits. The opinion concludes a lawyer-owned title company is a law-related service exempt from the Code (including IOLTA) only if it is a separate entity, the title-service recipient is n…
When a lawyer also serves as a part-time Complaint Justice and unknowingly issues a search warrant against his own client, can the ethics committee decide whether that violated the conflict rules?
The Commission declined to decide. It held it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the Grievance Commission's authority and could not make the factual findings the conflict question required, but it identif…
If a lawyer is both 'of counsel' to a firm and a solo practitioner, do fees the firm pays for clients the lawyer brings in count as a fee division requiring client consent?
No, for the of-counsel work. The opinion concludes a bona fide 'of counsel' lawyer is treated like a partner or associate, so sharing fees on firm clients the lawyer develops is not a fee division req…
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 a Maine lawyer require, in the initial engagement agreement, that the client arbitrate any future legal-malpractice claims?
Yes. The opinion concluded a prospective agreement to arbitrate malpractice claims is permitted under the Maine Bar Rules and is not an agreement 'limiting' the lawyer's liability, so long as it prese…
At a loan closing, if the lawyer represents only the lender and the buyers are unrepresented, must the lawyer advise the buyers about title insurance or title defects?
The opinion concluded the lawyer who represents only the lender and has clearly disclosed that has no obligation to advise the unrepresented buyers about an owner's policy or title exceptions, but mus…
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 a lawyer who once certified title to disputed property now represents a party in a title case and may be called as a witness, can the lawyer or the lawyer's firm keep representing the client?
The opinion concluded the firm may continue if another lawyer handles the representation, and the inquiring lawyer may personally continue until he knows or should know he is likely to be called as a …
Can Maine lawyers form a committee to raise funds for a national judicial-education center whose programs benefit judges, including Maine judges?
The opinion concluded no. Under the Maine rule barring lawyers from directly or indirectly giving anything of value to a judge, contributions to and solicitation for a fund that educates judges are a …
Can a lawyer who regularly represents an adoption agency also represent the birthmother in the same consent or surrender-and-release adoption proceeding?
The opinion concluded the dual representation is not per se barred and is permissible with informed consent, even though a conflict exists, when the lawyer reasonably believes the birthmother can make…
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 Maine lawyer or firm argue opposite sides of the same legal issue for two clients in separate, unrelated cases?
The opinion concluded that an issue (positional) conflict, standing alone, is not a conflict of interest under Maine Bar Rule 3.4(b)(1); Maine declined to follow ABA Formal Op. 93-377.
Can a lawyer represent an injured minor through a parent as next friend when the parent has an adverse or competing claim from the same accident?
The opinion concluded the lawyer may presume a parent acts in the child's best interest, but must withdraw or seek a guardian ad litem once the parent's own claim or conduct creates a conflict the par…
Can a divorce lawyer take a contingent referral fee for sending the client's separate civil-rights claim to another lawyer?
The opinion concluded the referral fee is permissible because the civil-rights claim is separate from procuring the divorce, but only if the lawyer meets the strict disclosure, fairness, and written-c…
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…
When a lawyer mediates while staying 'of counsel' to a firm, must the mediator run conflict checks and disclose the affiliation, and does imputed disqualification apply?
The opinion concluded the of-counsel mediator must run conflict checks and disclose the firm tie when a party is connected to the firm, and that imputed disqualification reaches the firm and the media…
May a lawyer represent clients before the probate court when the lawyer's partner has been elected Register of Probate?
The opinion concluded yes; because the Register of Probate performs only clerical and ministerial functions and cannot act on the merits, the partner's election does not disqualify the lawyer from app…
If a firm's associates serve case-by-case as special assistant district attorneys, is the whole firm disqualified from representing municipal clients before the county commissioners?
The opinion concluded no; the imputation rule (Rule 3.4(k)) does not apply to common employment in a government agency, so the associates' prosecutorial work does not impute the District Attorney's ot…
Must a lawyer retained by a workers'-compensation insurer notify the employer before settling a comp claim, when the insurer pays the settlement?
The opinion concluded yes; because the employer is also a client of the insurer-retained lawyer and the settlement concerns the employer's affairs, the duty to keep the client informed requires commun…
May a lawyer file a class action against a government agency when a different agency of the same government paid the lawyer's fees for the class representatives' related matters?
The opinion concluded yes; the class representatives, not the paying agency, are the clients, so there is no conflict as long as the payor does not direct the lawyer's judgment and the payment is disc…
May a divorce lawyer take a mortgage on the client's former marital home to secure fees, if the mortgage is taken after the divorce judgment dividing the property is final?
The opinion concluded that once the divorce judgment is final the litigation has ended, so the ban on acquiring a proprietary interest in the subject of litigation is generally inapplicable, though re…
May a court-appointed criminal defense lawyer accept a gift from the indigent client, such as cookies, an oil change, or a small amount of cash?
The opinion concluded that unsolicited nominal gifts (a box of cookies, an oil change) are not compensation barred by the appointed-counsel rules, but a cash gift of any amount should be refused becau…
When may a lawyer who served on a state administrative agency board later represent clients before that board?
The opinion concluded the lawyer, and the lawyer's firm, are disqualified only from specific matters the board adjudicated on the merits during the lawyer's tenure, not from every party or matter that…
May one lawyer represent a group of potentially responsible parties jointly in Superfund cost-allocation negotiations?
The opinion concluded yes; the lawyer's client is the group, and representing it poses no inherent conflict, but representing an individual member at the same time triggers the multiple-representation…
Can the law partners of a lawyer who serves as mayor represent clients before, or in litigation against, the city?
The opinion concluded the firm may appear freely before city bodies the mayor does not sit on, may appear before bodies he sits on only with on-record disclosure under the vicarious-disqualification r…
When a lawyer is named as a witness or party, may another lawyer in her firm continue to handle the case?
The opinion concluded the firm may continue, even though the lawyer is disqualified as an advocate once she is likely to be a witness, as long as a non-witness lawyer in the firm controls the litigati…
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…
Can a law firm act as a neutral 'escrow agent' preparing closing documents for both the buyer and seller of a business?
The opinion concluded no; drafting closing documents requires independent judgment for both sides whose interests diverge, and it is not 'obvious' the firm can adequately represent each, so the arrang…
Must a real estate lawyer tell a new buyer-client that he once drafted the broker's standard purchase-and-sale form?
The opinion concluded no; the lawyer's past authorship of the broker's form and occasional unrelated advice to the broker were not connections he should reasonably have known would influence the clien…
May a lawyer who serves on the bar's Board of Overseers, or that lawyer's firm, sue a lawyer who is under disciplinary investigation?
The opinion concluded yes, but only if the Board member holds no confidential information about the lawyer under discipline and removes himself entirely from the disciplinary proceeding; otherwise the…
Does one law-clinic student's conflict of interest disqualify the other students in the same clinic?
The opinion concluded yes; the clinic's student-attorneys are 'affiliated' lawyers whose work the supervising attorneys are professionally responsible for, so the vicarious-disqualification rule imput…
May a lawyer represent buyers or sellers referred by her attorney-spouse who is the broker, and must she disclose the relationship?
The opinion concluded that if the spouses are law partners they may not represent both buyer and seller; if they keep separate practices, the lawyer may represent a referred client only with disclosur…
Can a lawyer take a mortgage on the client's marital home to secure fees in the client's divorce case?
The opinion concluded no; acquiring a mortgage on the marital home gives the lawyer a proprietary interest in the subject matter of the divorce litigation, which the rule forbids, so the Commission di…
May a lawyer negotiate a statutory attorney-fee claim before or at the same time as settling the underlying case?
The opinion concluded such negotiations are no longer unethical in Maine; after Evans v. Jeff D. removed the legal basis for the contrary Opinion No. 17, the Commission disapproved that opinion and le…
Can a law firm represent a client in litigation when the firm already owns a small ownership stake in that client?
The opinion concluded that Rule 3.7(c)'s bar on acquiring a proprietary interest in litigation does not reach a firm whose pre-existing interest in the client was acquired for reasons independent of a…
Can a solo lawyer add a semi-retired 'of counsel' lawyer's name to the firm name, calling the firm 'A and B'?
The opinion concluded that naming the firm 'A and B' is permissible only if the relationship is in fact more than office-sharing (ongoing consultation and shared responsibility for clients); if so, th…
Can a firm represent a wife in collecting child support from her ex-husband when the firm earlier drafted a will for the husband?
The opinion concluded the firm must disclose the prior relationship with the husband to the wife, and if the will work may have produced confidential information bearing on the support matter, the fir…
Can a part-time probate judge's law firm represent a party in a case the judge acted on before recusing himself?
The opinion concluded the firm could not, because the probate judge had acted on the merits (appointing a special administrator and denying a transfer petition), and Rule 3.4(g) bars a lawyer from acc…
Can a lawyer who serves on a city council, or the lawyer's partners, litigate against the city or defend criminal cases in which city police officers testify?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer serving as a city councilor (and the lawyer's partners and associates) may not litigate against the city, but may defend criminal cases in which city police officer…
Can an insured direct the lawyer hired by their liability insurer to refuse to defend a claim, and what must the lawyer do if the client wants to feign a defense?
The opinion concluded the insured is the lawyer's client and may insist the lawyer refuse to cooperate with the insurer and assert every honest defense or none, but may not require the lawyer to feign…
Can a law firm offer and advertise a divorce mediation service to both spouses without representing either party?
The opinion concluded that a firm may offer a private divorce mediation service to both spouses if it represents neither, uses no confidences against either, and (where it formerly represented a party…
Can a criminal defense lawyer whose spouse works in the District Attorney's office defend cases prosecuted by that office, and is the DA's consent required?
The opinion concluded that, with full disclosure and the client's informed written consent, the defense lawyer may take the case even though the spouse is an assistant district attorney, so long as th…
Can a lawyer take a contingent fee paid as a share of the real estate that is the subject of the lawsuit?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer's outright ownership interest in property in litigation violates the bar on acquiring a proprietary interest in the subject of the litigation, but a properly drawn …
Can a lawyer defend criminal cases prosecuted by a District Attorney who is the lawyer's brother- or sister-in-law?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may defend cases prosecuted by an in-law District Attorney's office whether or not the DA participates, but must disclose the relationship to every prospective clie…
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…
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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.