State Bar of Nevada Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the State Bar of Nevada, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a Nevada lawyer require a client or prospective client to sign a non-disclosure agreement before giving legal advice?
No. The Committee concludes a Nevada lawyer may not require a current or prospective client to sign an NDA as a condition for receiving legal advice, because the confidentiality duty exists for the cl…
Does Nevada allow a lawyer to obtain a client's advance waiver of future conflicts of interest, and what must the waiver contain?
Conditionally yes. The Committee concludes that prospective (advance) conflict waivers are permitted under Nevada RPC 1.7 if they meet every requirement for waiving a present conflict, including that …
Can a personal injury lawyer own a business that buys and sells the medical liens of other lawyers' injury clients?
No. The Committee concludes it is unethical for a lawyer who handles personal injury cases to be in the business of buying and selling other attorneys' clients' medical liens, because the lawyer's per…
Is a Nevada lawyer who is hired to provide lobbying services, rather than legal services, still bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct?
The Committee concluded that a Nevada lawyer hired to act as a lobbyist is likely subject to the Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct, because legislative lobbying is sufficiently law-related, even th…
Can a lawyer accept an anonymous lump-sum cash payment that is meant to cover legal fees for the lawyer's clients and a co-defendant represented by a different lawyer?
The Committee concluded that accepting an anonymous lump-sum cash payment intended to cover fees for both the lawyer's clients and a co-defendant represented by another lawyer raises conflict and conf…
Can a lawyer who is also a licensed clinical social worker practice law through the same LLC she set up for her social work practice?
The Committee concluded that yes, an attorney may practice law and operate as a licensed clinical social worker under the same LLC, provided she does not represent the same clients in both capacities …
Can a criminal plea agreement require the defendant to waive all ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims except those affecting the plea itself?
The Committee concluded that no, a plea agreement may not waive ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims beyond the plea itself; any waiver must exclude all such claims. Defense counsel has a personal…
May a lawyer who serves on a company's board of directors prepare an estate plan for a client who wants to name that same company as a beneficiary?
The Committee concluded that no, a lawyer-director should not prepare an estate plan naming that company as a beneficiary, because the lawyer's fiduciary duties to the company and inside financial kno…
Can a lawyer own and operate a nonlegal ancillary business, such as a medical-management company, and refer the lawyer's own clients to it?
The Committee concluded that a lawyer may own and operate a nonlegal ancillary business so long as the lawyer's conduct conforms to the ethics rules and the business is not a vehicle for improper soli…
When a lawyer switches firms in Nevada, when is the new firm conflicted out, and can screening cure it?
The Committee concluded that a lawyer who moves firms is personally disqualified under Rule 1.9 from a matter adverse to a former client he represented or about which he gained confidential informatio…
Can a lawyer who sits on a company's board of directors prepare an estate plan for a client who wants to name that same company as a beneficiary?
The Committee concluded that no, a lawyer who is a director of a company should not prepare an estate plan naming that company as a beneficiary, because the lawyer's fiduciary duties to the company (l…
Can a lawyer take a security interest in a client's real property to secure payment of the lawyer's fees?
The Committee concluded that yes, but only if the lawyer satisfies the business-transaction safeguards of SCR 158(1) (now NRPC 1.8(a)): the transaction must be fair and reasonable, fully disclosed in …
Can a lawyer take out a loan from a bank to pay a client's litigation costs and have the client reimburse the loan and its interest?
The Committee concluded that yes, a lawyer may borrow from a third-party lender to fund a client's litigation costs if it is a recourse loan the lawyer is obligated to repay regardless of the case out…
Can a retainer or fee agreement give the lawyer full authority to settle the client's case without the client's approval?
The Committee concluded that no, a provision in a fee or retainer agreement delegating full and absolute settlement authority to the attorney violates NRPC 1.2(a). The decision whether to settle belon…
Can a lawyer refer a personal injury client to a company that advances money repaid out of the settlement?
The Committee concluded that it is ethically proper for an attorney to refer a personal injury client to an independent company that advances money repaid from the settlement, so long as the attorney …
Who owns the insurance defense file, the insured or the insurer, and how long must a lawyer keep it?
The Committee concluded that because the policyholder is the client, the policyholder has the greatest claim to the file and is entitled to the original on request (with copying costs generally borne …
Can an insurer demand information from defense counsel that it could use to deny the insured's coverage?
The Committee concluded that it is improper for a law firm retained by an insurer to defend a policyholder to give the insurer case information the insurer could use to deny the policyholder's coverag…
Can a criminal defense lawyer urge a victim or witness to avoid a subpoena or not testify?
The Committee concluded that a defense attorney who discourages a domestic battery victim from testifying, urges the victim not to cooperate with the prosecutor, or tries to influence the victim's tes…
Must an insurance defense lawyer tell the insurer that the insured client committed fraud in obtaining the policy?
The Committee concluded that the insured client's communication about potential insurance fraud is confidential under SCR 156 and may not be revealed to the insurer without the client's consent, and t…
Can a lawyer run a side business placing temporary secretaries and clerks in other law offices?
Only with safeguards. The Committee concluded a lawyer may operate a temporary legal-staffing business if he does not place temps in offices where he has adverse matters pending, ensures the employees…
Can a lawyer take an ongoing referral fee from an investment advisor for steering a client's funds there?
The Committee concluded that the conflict in a lawyer taking an ongoing fee from an investment advisor who manages a client's funds is not waivable, because the lawyer cannot keep acting as the client…
Can a lawyer cut his fee in half if the client donates the savings to the lawyer's church?
No. The Committee concluded that offering to waive half a fee on the condition the client donates the savings to a church is impermissible fee-splitting with a nonlawyer under SCR 188, even though the…
Can a legal services nonprofit keep clients' unclaimed trust-account funds under its retainer agreement?
No. The Committee concluded a nonprofit legal services corporation cannot contract to take clients' unclaimed trust funds after three years, because that is not a reasonable fee and gives the lawyer a…
Can a lawyer whose partner is a part-time deputy district attorney take criminal defense cases?
No. The Committee concluded that a private lawyer in partnership with a part-time deputy district attorney may not defend anyone charged under Nevada law in any Nevada court, because the deputy is sta…
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Legal ethics opinions from the State Bar of Nevada 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.