New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics, with full citations and source links on every page.
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If a lawyer at a firm that represented a government body leaves to join the firm on the other side, can the new firm keep the case by screening her?
Yes, where she did not have primary responsibility. The Committee held that RPC 1.11's government-lawyer screening does not apply to a private firm's outside counsel; the analysis is under RPC 1.9 and…
Must a New Jersey lawyer who withdrew from a case disclose to the court that a former client or a witness may have testified falsely?
The Committee concluded the withdrawn lawyer had no obligation to disclose, because the client's confidences were protected by RPC 1.6, the information was not unequivocal, and in a quasi-criminal mat…
If a partner from an opposing law firm joins our firm, must we stop representing the clients we have against that firm's client?
The Committee concluded that the firm's continued representation of its plaintiffs against the company defended by the joining partner's old firm would not be permitted once the partner joins, unless …
Can a former prosecutor bring a civil case against a defendant he caused to be indicted on the same facts?
The Committee concluded the representation is impermissible: under RPC 1.11, a former prosecutor with prior knowledge and substantial responsibility in a criminal matter may not participate in a later…
When a Deputy Attorney General joins a private firm, what matters before his former state agency can he and the firm still handle?
The Committee concluded the association is proper if the firm withdraws from matters improper for it to handle: under RPC 1.11(a), where the former government lawyer had substantial participation, con…
If a lawyer who represented the plaintiff joins the firm defending the public board, can that firm keep defending the board in the pending case?
No. The Committee concluded the firm should withdraw from representing the Township Board of Adjustment, because a public body cannot consent to the conflict and a side-switching partner taints the fi…
Must a lawyer who learns of a former client's hidden fraud, through a new client, disclose it to the former client and the court?
Yes. The Committee held that the crime-or-fraud exception to the privilege (Evidence Rule 26(2)(a)) and RPC 1.6(b) required the lawyer to notify the court and the former wife of a secret mortgage the …
Can a former deputy attorney general represent a private client before a licensing board he once advised, in a disciplinary matter that began during his government service but that he never worked on?
Yes. Because the former deputy attorney general had no actual or supervisory involvement in, and no knowledge of, the investigation, only the appearance of impropriety is at issue, and that is cured b…
May a law firm represent a wife in a divorce when a lawyer who left the firm once handled an unrelated pre-marital corporate realty matter for the husband?
Yes. The opinion concluded the firm could represent the wife, because no remaining member of the firm had any knowledge of the husband's realty matter, the realty was acquired before the marriage and …
If a lawyer acts in a private matrimonial mediation service for a couple, may the lawyer later represent one spouse in their divorce?
No. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who participates in a private matrimonial mediation service, by advising both spouses on equitable distribution or drafting their settlement, is thereafter elim…
Can a lawyer file a new, unrelated lawsuit against someone the lawyer is still representing in a pending collection matter?
No. The opinion concluded that where the lawyer's representation in an earlier matter is still ongoing, the lawyer may not bring a new unrelated action against that client, and even a terminated relat…
Can a law firm that used to defend a municipality's workers' compensation claims now represent claimants bringing comp claims against that municipality?
It depends on each claim. The opinion concluded the firm may not take a comp claim against the former-client municipality where the subject matter is substantially related to claims it defended and it…
Can a New Jersey lawyer sue a former client on behalf of that client's agent when the new matter is unrelated to the prior representation?
Yes, where the prior representation produced no confidential information prejudicial to the former client and the current dispute does not concern the matters earlier litigated; absent such confidence…
How long must a former New Jersey board of adjustment attorney wait before representing private clients before that board on new matters?
There is no fixed period. A former public attorney should normally let some reasonable time pass before appearing before his former governmental employer, but the Committee cannot prescribe a set numb…
Can a firm take a workers' compensation case against a law firm where one of the firm's current partners used to be an associate?
The opinion held that, assuming no dispute and no reasonable possibility of a dispute over whether the accident was compensable (so the former associate would not be a witness), employment of the new …
Can a municipal attorney who once advised the mayor about his legal fees defend the township when the former mayor later sues it?
No for the municipal attorney, who had advised the mayor and so has a conflict; but the township's special counsel, who was formerly the township's public defender and never had an attorney-client rel…
Can a lawyer who regularly represents a town's police officers, including the complaining-witness officer, defend a DUI defendant in that town's municipal court?
No. The opinion held it improper, because the lawyer had represented five of the municipality's police officers, including the complaining-witness officer (most recently weeks earlier, with the bill s…
Can a lawyer who once represented a client buying a property later foreclose the mortgage on it for a lender against that former client?
No. The opinion held it clearly improper for the attorney to foreclose for a lending institution against his former client, because suing a former client tends to impair the confidence essential to th…
Can a former township attorney who drafted a zoning ordinance amendment and defended it in court later represent the property owner who opposed it, in a variance application against that same amendment?
No. The opinion concluded the former township attorney had substantial responsibility, as a public employee, in a matter so closely related to the variance application that representing the applicant …
Can a Deputy Attorney General who had substantial involvement in a suit against the State join the law firm representing the plaintiffs while that suit is pending, if he is screened and the Attorney General consents?
No, not while the litigation is pending. The opinion concluded the Supreme Court's Notice to the Bar bars representing conflicting interests in a matter involving the public interest even with consent…
Can a former deputy attorney general who helped draft an agency's rules later represent a private client appealing or challenging those same rules?
No. The opinion concluded that because the lawyer, as a deputy attorney general, had substantial responsibility in drafting the agency's rules, DR 9-101(B) bars him from later representing a private a…
Can a law firm represent an ex-wife on a post-divorce motion when one of its partners once worked at the opposing firm, and the ex-wife once worked there as a legal secretary?
Yes. The opinion found no conflict for either firm, because the post-divorce motion was a new matter unrelated to the prior representations of the husband or wife and involved only facts arising after…
Can a law firm sue a person in an unrelated matter when a partner of the firm had earlier consulted with that person about a different, declined case?
Yes. The opinion concluded there was no conflict where the prior consultation involved a wholly unrelated malpractice matter the firm declined to take, and no confidential information from that consul…
Can an attorney appear before a municipal planning board when one of the board's voting members is a current or former client?
Yes. The opinion concluded the attorney may ethically appear before the planning board even though a voting member is a present or past client; the responsibility falls on that board member not to sit…
Can a lawyer who handled an estate's administration then sue that estate, with the administrator he represented as the nominal defendant, to reach the decedent's insurance?
The opinion declined to approve it. Although the conflict might be more apparent than real where insurance covers the claim, the Committee was unwilling to hold the lawyer could accept the representat…
Can a lawyer sue a former client in an unrelated case, and can a lawyer who currently represents a married couple later handle a divorce for one spouse?
Mixed. The opinion concluded the lawyer could sue a former client in an unrelated accident case where the prior representation had ended, but he could not, even with consent, turn from representing a …
Can a lawyer who once drew reciprocal wills for a husband and wife later represent the husband in a divorce against the wife?
Yes, on these facts. The opinion concluded the lawyer could represent the husband in the divorce because all of his information for the wills came from the husband and the wife gave him none, so there…
Can a lawyer who is sued by a former client over his own apartment rent represent himself and his wife pro se, or must he hire independent counsel?
Yes, he may appear pro se. The opinion concluded that an attorney sued by a former client may represent himself and his wife in the action, because he has the same fundamental right to self-representa…
Can a lawyer who worked on a malpractice suit against a physician at his old firm later represent that physician in an unrelated divorce after moving to a new firm?
No. The opinion concluded it would be improper for the former associate and his present firm to represent the physician in the matrimonial action, because the physician's interests are hostile to the …
Can a firm represent a husband in a divorce when it represented his current wife in her earlier divorce from a previous spouse about five years before?
No. The opinion concluded the attorney should withdraw and represent neither party, because in the wife's earlier divorce the firm might have learned confidential information about her assets, inherit…
Does leaving the Attorney General's office or another state agency bar a lawyer or law clerk from later working for a firm that is in litigation against the State?
No, not per se. The opinion concluded that the bar applies only where the person had substantial responsibility for the adversarial litigation while in public employment; if so, either the lawyer cann…
When a lawyer moves from the plaintiff's firm to the defendant's firm in the same lawsuit, must the new firm withdraw even if the lawyer is screened off from the case?
Yes. The opinion concluded the new firm must immediately withdraw, because DR 5-105(D) imputes the lawyer's individual disqualification to the whole firm and the appearance of conflict persists despit…
May a law firm contact former criminal-defense clients to tell them about a new expungement law under which they might be eligible for relief?
Yes. The opinion concluded the communication is consistent with DR 2-104(A)(1), which lets a lawyer accept employment from a former client based on unsolicited advice when the advice is germane to the…
May an attorney bring a third-party forgery claim for his litigation clients against a bank he currently represents, and has represented, in unrelated matters?
No. The opinion concluded the attorney should ask the court to be relieved from the trial; neither dual written consent nor referring the third-party motion to another lawyer would cure the conflict a…
May a lawyer who formerly served a public body represent private clients before that same body, and should a special rule bar all such appearances?
The Committee concluded that existing standards already bar a former public lawyer only from matters in which he had substantial responsibility while employed, and that no new blanket rule prohibiting…
May a firm represent a husband in a divorce when it previously represented the wife and the couple together in personal injury and business matters, and the wife objects?
No. The opinion concluded the firm should not represent the husband, following earlier opinions that precluded a firm from representing one spouse in a matrimonial matter after representing both, even…
Can a former assistant prosecutor later represent a man he convicted, in a civil-service appeal where that conviction is the reason the man lost his retirement benefits?
No. The opinion concluded the representation is improper under DR 5-105 and DR 4-101, because the conviction he obtained is the very basis of the benefits denial, raising both a confidential-informati…
After an associate leaves a firm, can he represent a former client of that firm in fighting the firm's bill for legal work the associate himself did while employed there?
Effectively no. The opinion concluded that while a client may always choose new counsel and the new lawyer need not collect the old firm's fee, a lawyer must not encroach on the prior attorney's pract…
Can a lawyer represent a wife in her divorce after he was briefly retained by the woman named as correspondent (an adversary aligned with the husband) in an earlier phase of the same dispute?
No. The opinion concluded the lawyer should withdraw, because he had earlier represented the correspondent, whose interests were adverse to the wife, and switching sides in related matrimonial litigat…
Can a lawyer who once defended one co-defendant now represent the other co-defendant, whose interests are adverse, on a related charge?
Only on strict conditions. The opinion concluded it would be unwise for the lawyer to represent the new co-defendant unless he is convinced beyond doubt the matters are unrelated, no confidences are i…
Can a lawyer represent a wife in a divorce against a husband for whom the lawyer once did unrelated work, like a home purchase and a single collection call?
It depends on confidences. The opinion concluded that, assuming the lawyer obtained no confidences about the husband's finances or resources in the earlier unrelated matters, it would not be improper …
Can a lawyer who handled a company's workers' compensation defense later represent those same employees in new compensation claims against the company?
No. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who formerly defended a corporation in its employees' compensation matters, and had access to the corporation's injury files, may not now represent those employ…
Can a lawyer defend a criminal client when the witnesses against him are officers of a company the same lawyer also represents, if everyone knows and consents?
Yes, on these facts. The opinion concluded that with full disclosure and the client's consent, and no confidences from prior work usable against the client, the lawyer may continue to represent the cr…
Can a lawyer represent a workers' compensation claimant against an employer the lawyer's office also represents in other matters?
No, while the representation continues. The opinion concluded that it is improper to represent a comp petitioner against an employer the attorney still represents; if that representation has fully end…
Can a law firm represent a client against people it previously represented only in an unrelated routine matter such as a change of name?
Yes, on these facts. The opinion concluded there was no conflict because the firm's prior representation of the now-adverse parties was a routine change-of-name proceeding wholly unrelated to the pres…
Can a legal services organization represent a wife in a divorce when its predecessor office had earlier represented the husband in unrelated matters?
No. The opinion concluded that a legal services corporation and its predecessor are treated like a single law partnership, so the predecessor's prior attorney-client relationship with the husband bars…
Can a lawyer bring a negligence suit against a person he once defended in an unrelated, now-dismissed municipal court case?
Yes. The opinion concluded the attorney may bring the negligence action against a former client where the prior matter (a dismissed assault charge) was entirely unrelated in parties and subject matter…
After withdrawing from an estate's administrator who defies a distribution order, can the lawyer represent the other heirs against that former-client administrator?
No. The opinion concluded that when the administrator-client refuses to obey the court's distribution order and the lawyer's instructions, the lawyer has grounds to withdraw, but after withdrawing he …
Can a lawyer who represented a widow on behalf of her late husband's estate later sue that same estate on the widow's own injury claim?
No. The opinion concluded a conflict exists, in violation of Canon 6, when an attorney who represented the widow on behalf of her deceased husband's estate then represents her in a claim against that …
May a lawyer who defended a man in a murder case later represent that man's wife in a divorce action against him?
The opinion concluded the attorney should not undertake the divorce action for the wife of his former criminal client, because his murder defense necessarily involved confidences and secrets, includin…
May a lawyer who arranged and closed a mortgage loan for a longtime client foreclose that mortgage for the lender against that same client?
The opinion concluded it would be improper for the attorney to foreclose the lender's mortgage against the borrower, because the attorney had represented the borrower in about three prior matters and …
Can a lawyer's firm defend a wrongful-death action when a partner once represented the deceased in a marital dispute with the plaintiff widow?
The Committee concluded the representation was improper. The partner's knowledge from representing the deceased husband in the prior marital separation was chargeable to the firm and would be used aga…
After leaving office as county counsel, can a lawyer represent a private client in an action against the county board of freeholders?
The Committee concluded he may not if the new matter relates in any way to matters he handled as county counsel. A public-agency former client cannot consent to the conflict, and the lawyer must resol…
Can a lawyer who counseled a husband and his second wife about their failing marriage later represent the wife in a divorce against the husband?
The Committee concluded he may not. Having counseled the husband and likely received his confidences while trying to save the marriage, the lawyer could not represent the second wife against him, and …
Can a lawyer who approved a sales agreement for a buyer later represent the seller in suing that buyer for default under the same agreement?
No. The Committee concluded it is improper, because the representation might require the lawyer to assert a claim under the very agreement he approved for the former client, and a lawyer should not at…
Can a lawyer give a former client's information and a substitution of attorney to another lawyer without the former client's consent?
No. The Committee concluded the former lawyer may not furnish the requested information or give the substitution without informing the former client and obtaining his consent, because the matters may …
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Legal ethics opinions from the New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics 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.