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.
No New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can one lawyer serve as a municipality's corporation counsel and also as general counsel to a regional fire and rescue organization that the municipality belongs to?
No. The Committee found a per se, non-waivable conflict: corporation counsel owes loyalty to one municipality, while general counsel to the regional consortium owes loyalty to the whole, and their int…
Can the same lawyer serve as municipal prosecutor and as planning board attorney in the same municipality?
Yes. The Committee held there is no per se bar; a municipal prosecutor is limited-scope (not plenary) counsel, so the lawyer may also serve as planning board attorney, subject to case-by-case conflict…
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…
Can a prosecutor publicly display drugs, weapons, or other contraband seized in a criminal investigation?
No. The Committee held that public displays of seized drugs, weapons, or other contraband are extrajudicial statements that violate RPC 3.6 and 3.8, and that the 2004 rule amendments did not change th…
Does a government lawyer have a nonwaivable conflict of interest when advising the agency on a furlough or pay cut that also reduces the lawyer's own pay?
Generally no. The Committee concludes an economic interest shared by a whole class of government lawyers, like a furlough hitting all agency employees, does not disqualify them from advising or repres…
Can an attorney serve at the same time as county counsel and as mayor of a strong-mayor municipality in the same county?
No. The Committee found a per se conflict when an attorney serves both as county counsel and as mayor of a constituent Faulkner Act 'strong-mayor' municipality, so the attorney may not hold both roles…
Can a lawyer who also serves as a municipal police officer represent criminal defendants in private practice?
Not without limits. The Committee concludes that under RPC 1.8(k) and State v. Clark, a lawyer who is also a municipal police officer may not represent criminal defendants in matters arising in his mu…
Can a lawyer serve as a member of an elected board of education and as the municipal attorney in the same township at the same time?
Yes, on the facts presented. With the appearance-of-impropriety standard eliminated in 2004, the Committee finds no per se conflict; because an elected board of education is largely autonomous from th…
Can an assistant county counsel also serve as a member of the governing council of a municipality in the same county?
It depends on the facts. After the 2004 elimination of the appearance-of-impropriety standard, there is no automatic bar, but the Committee warns that the two roles produce divided loyalty and recurri…
Does the state Conflicts of Interest Law (N.J.S.A. 52:13D-17) override RPC 1.11(c)'s screening allowance for a firm that hires a former government lawyer?
The Committee concludes that under Winberry and Knight, the Supreme Court's RPC 1.11(c), allowing screening and notification, should prevail over the more restrictive statute, but it declines to rule …
After New Jersey abolished the appearance-of-impropriety rule, can a municipal attorney (or the firm) still represent a developer who owns property in that municipality on matters in other towns?
There is no longer a per se bar under the Rules. The Committee concludes that analysis under the current RPCs, after the appearance-of-impropriety doctrine was abolished, does not support an automatic…
In New Jersey, can a lawyer (or the lawyer's partners) who represents a municipal board or agency also represent private clients in that municipality's court or before its other agencies?
No. The Committee holds that a lawyer who represents a municipal body subject to the municipality's budgetary, membership, or decision-making control has the entire municipality as a client, so the la…
Can a lawyer serve as counsel to a municipal housing agency while an associate in the firm sits on the same town's council?
The Committee concluded that as long as the inquirer's associate serves on the municipal council and remains part of the firm, an appearance of impropriety bars the inquirer from serving as counsel to…
Can a municipal attorney represent individual town council members in their own private legal matters?
The Committee concluded a municipal attorney may represent a governing-body member in a private matter only if the member's and the municipality's interests are not intertwined; it is barred if the me…
Can a municipal public defender that decides who qualifies for free representation then charge a private fee to a defendant it found ineligible?
The Committee concluded that a law firm hired by a municipality as public defender should not represent for a fee a defendant whom it found, after reviewing the defendant's finances, does not qualify …
Will the ethics committee decide a conflict question about something the lawyer's firm has already done?
The Committee declined the township attorney's conflict inquiry on the same ground as Opinion 650: it rested on actual facts that had already occurred, and the Committee advises only on contemplated f…
Will the New Jersey ethics committee give an opinion about conduct a lawyer has already engaged in?
The Committee declined jurisdiction, explaining that it advises only on a lawyer's contemplated future conduct; completed or present conduct is for the disciplinary authorities (the Office of Attorney…
Can an attorney who also serves as a county clerk maintain a private law practice?
The Committee concluded that R. 1:15-2 bars a county clerk only from practicing in court, not from an office practice, but the attorney must refrain from dealings with their own clerk's office, such a…
If a board-of-adjustment member takes ad hoc legal work for the town, can he still represent private clients against the town?
The Committee concluded that a board-of-adjustment member who accepts ad hoc work as a special attorney for the town (including advising the mayor and council) becomes part of the municipality's 'offi…
Can a lawyer for a free public library's board of trustees represent private clients before the town's court and boards?
The Committee concluded that representing a free public library's board of trustees does not preclude the lawyer or the firm from representing private clients before the municipality's court, planning…
Can a firm that defends a town for its insurer also appear before the town's boards or file tax appeals against the town?
The Committee held that a firm retained by a municipality's insurer (or by a self-insured town's joint insurance fund) to defend tort suits is not part of the town's 'official family,' so it may appea…
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…
Can a lawyer who is county counsel and a school board attorney appear before municipal boards where his father is a township committeeman?
The Committee concluded the attorney is not prohibited from appearing before municipal agencies (other than the Board of Education he represents) merely because he is county counsel, is school board c…
Can the law partner of a municipal planning board's counsel serve as counsel to the municipal utilities authority in the same township?
The Committee applied its settled test that an attorney, or a partner of an attorney, cannot serve as counsel to two boards of the same municipality where there is or may be a conflict, rejected the a…
Can a lawyer become a school board's attorney right after the lawyer's partner finishes a term as a member of that board?
The Committee concluded that both the former board member and his law partner should not serve as the board's attorney for six months following the member's service, regardless of how the school-board…
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…
Can a lawyer who is also a police officer represent a defendant in the municipal court of the town where he serves as an officer?
The Committee concluded the representation is proscribed: allowing a police-officer attorney to defend in the municipal court of his own municipality would create the appearance that justice was not b…
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…
Can a firm that represents a regional municipal utilities authority appear for a private client before a zoning board of a member town?
No. The Committee deemed a regional utilities authority an agency of each member municipality, so its counsel may not appear for a private client before that municipality's zoning board of adjustment.
Can the law partner of a part-time municipal judge handle civil forfeiture actions for the county prosecutor arising from arrests in the judge's town?
No. The Committee held that statutory forfeiture actions are penal in nature, so the bar of R. 1:15-1(b) extends to the judge's law partner, but only as to the county where the judge's court sits.
Can the father or brother of an assistant prosecutor practice criminal law in the county where she serves as a prosecutor?
Yes. The Committee held that the family relationship alone does not bar criminal practice where the relatives never practiced together with the assistant prosecutor, who is one of more than twenty in …
Can a lawyer appear before a municipal judge who was his former law partner, where the firm still owes the judge a buyout and leases offices from him?
No. The Committee concluded that, absent permission from the Chief Justice, none of the lawyers in the firm may appear before the municipal court judge, given the family relationship and continuing fi…
Can a lawyer serve at the same time as a township solicitor and as part-time attorney for the county welfare board?
Yes, on these facts. Reconsidering Opinion 568 with fuller information, the Committee concluded its earlier finding was wrong: the municipal and county public-assistance functions are separate, so the…
Can a municipal court judge co-own an office building with the municipal prosecutor and municipal attorney of the same town, if they keep separate offices?
No. The Committee concluded the co-ownership would be the equivalent of sharing office space and present an absolute appearance of impropriety, given that a municipal judge would be a business partner…
Can a Deputy Attorney General prosecuting a licensee before a professional board contact the board's head ex parte about settlement?
No. The Committee held that the agency head who sits in judgment on the matter is the equivalent of a judicial officer, so ex parte settlement communications by the prosecuting DAG, or by another DAG …
Can the law partner of a municipal court judge serve as a public defender in a different municipality in the same county where the judge sits?
No. The court rules that bar a municipal judge from practicing in criminal, quasi-criminal, or penal matters extend to the judge's partners within the county where the judge's court is located, so the…
Can a criminal defense attorney who negotiates the contract for a county probation officers' association keep practicing criminal law in that county's courts?
No. While he represents the probation officers' association, the attorney may not appear in the criminal courts of that county, because the dual role would erode public confidence that justice is admi…
Can an attorney who is an independent-contractor county counsel on specific civil matters also serve as a municipal public defender and appear in other municipal courts in the same county?
Yes. Because he is an independent contractor on specific civil cases, not part of the county's official family, and the county is not a party to his criminal or public-defender work, the Committee fou…
Can an attorney who sits as an unpaid member of a regional planning board represent residents in court challenging an ordinance of a municipality that belongs to that board?
Yes. An unpaid board member may bring a court challenge to a constituent municipality's ordinance, especially where the challenge aligns with the board's own position; he simply may not appear before …
Can a law firm that serves as bond counsel to a municipality also represent private clients before that municipality's governing body or boards?
No. A firm acting as bond counsel for a municipality may not represent private interests before that municipality's governing body or agencies; the disqualification is firm-wide under RPC 1.10(a) and,…
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…
Can one attorney be both county counsel and a township prosecutor in that county, and can another be both a township solicitor and counsel to the county welfare board?
The Committee found no conflict in serving as both county counsel (civil) and township prosecutor (criminal), but held that the township solicitor could not also be county welfare board counsel and ha…
Can a city attorney who serves on the board of a legal services corporation defend the city against suits brought by that corporation's clients?
No. A city attorney who sits on the board of a regional legal services corporation may not defend the city in suits its clients bring against the city; the Committee concluded he should leave the boar…
Can a municipal prosecutor's law firm privately represent the same municipality's judge, or take fee-sharing referrals of the judge's negligence cases?
No. Both the municipal prosecutor's firm representing that municipality's judge in private matters and accepting fee-sharing referrals of the judge's negligence cases are improper, because the financi…
Can the attorney for a township zoning board defend both the board and the municipality when a resident sues to challenge a variance?
Yes. Where the township and its zoning board share mutual interests in defending the suit and have no grievances against each other, one attorney may defend both; RPC 1.7 does not change that result, …
Can county counsel also represent a municipal housing authority located within that same county?
No. Because a municipal housing authority is a creature of the municipality, and an attorney may not be counsel to both a municipality and the county in which it sits, the Committee held it ethically …
Can a municipal court judge share in the criminal-case fees earned by a law partner or associate who practices in counties other than where the judge sits?
No. Although a partner or associate of a municipal court judge may practice criminal law outside the county where the judge sits, the judge may not share in the fees generated from that criminal pract…
May an attorney serve as counsel to a municipal sewerage authority while his law partner represents a non-profit housing corporation that is suing that authority, and may the attorney stay in the civic club that sponsors the housing corporation?
No to both. The opinion concluded the appearance of impropriety bars the arrangement even after the partner withdrew from the pending suit, so the two lawyers had to choose which client to keep; and t…
May one attorney represent both a local K-8 school district and the overlapping regional high school district?
As issued, the opinion concluded no: it would breach professional ethics for one attorney (or his partner or associate) to represent both a municipal school board and the regional school board, becaus…
May municipal counsel defend individual municipal officials sued for willful civil-rights violations under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and may one lawyer defend several of them?
No. The opinion concluded municipal counsel should not defend individual officials in a willful Section 1983 action, because the municipality's potential indemnification claim makes their interests ad…
May a lawyer serve at the same time as assistant county counsel and as mayor of a municipality within that county?
No. The opinion concluded that because In re Opinion 415 bars a lawyer from being counsel to both a county and a municipality within it, an assistant county counsel cannot simultaneously serve as mayo…
May a municipal attorney defend both the municipality and its officials when they are sued for fraud, and when must special counsel be brought in?
The opinion concluded a municipal attorney may not defend both the municipality and its officials where the charges are fraud or willful misrepresentation, and that even when defending only the munici…
May a municipal prosecutor also prosecute complaints in the same municipal court on behalf of a paying private client (the complaining witness)?
Yes. The opinion concluded there was no impropriety in a municipal prosecutor prosecuting a matter in his own municipal court on behalf of a private client, because in both roles he appears on behalf …
If a New Jersey lawyer is barred from a county legal post because of an actual conflict, can the lawyer's partner take that post instead, and what if the conflict arises from the lawyer's seat on a county board?
No. The opinion concluded that where an actual conflict bars a lawyer (a municipal court judge, or a member of a county community college commission) from serving as assistant county counsel, the disq…
Can a lawyer join a firm that represents casino clients before the Casino Control Commission when the lawyer's spouse is an assistant counsel at that Commission?
Yes. The opinion concluded the employment is ethical and the firm may keep representing casino clients, as long as the spouse who is assistant counsel to the Commission stays out of any matter involvi…
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 one law firm represent a county utilities authority while a partner represents a municipality that belongs to that authority, and does hiring separate special counsel cure the conflict?
No. The opinion concluded a firm may not represent a county utilities authority while a partner represents a member municipality, and neither appointing separate special counsel nor forming a separate…
Can a criminal defense lawyer privately represent an assistant prosecutor, county investigator, or county detective in personal matters while practicing criminal defense in the same county?
No. The opinion concluded that members of the local criminal defense bar should not undertake private representation of a prosecutor's staff (assistant prosecutors, county investigators, county detect…
Does a board of education's attorney have a conflict of interest when his wife is a teacher paid out of the same school budget he defends?
Not on these facts. The opinion concluded there was little likelihood of any direct conflict where the school board's attorney supported a budget that funded his wife's teaching salary, finding the si…
Can an assistant county counsel have a partner who serves as a municipality's counsel in the same county, and can the assistant county counsel also be a municipal prosecutor there?
No to the first, yes to the second. The opinion concluded an assistant county counsel's partner may not be counsel to a municipality in the same county, but the assistant county counsel may also serve…
Browse New Jersey Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics opinions by topic
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.