New York State Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the New York State Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a part-time prosecutor also serve as court-appointed counsel for indigent parties in a neighboring county's Family Court?
Sometimes, case by case. The committee concludes there is no per se bar, but the part-time prosecutor may not take delinquency, PINS, or any matter involving law enforcement personnel the prosecutor w…
Can a lawyer who serves on a county legislature defend criminal cases in that county when the legislature controls the police or DA budget, and are the lawyer's firm colleagues disqualified too?
No to the lawyer, even for plea bargaining and regardless of county size. The committee concludes the lawyer/legislator may not handle criminal cases involving police or prosecutors the legislature fu…
Can a former prosecutor defend a criminal defendant on the same charges the prosecutor personally handled while in the DA's office?
No. A lawyer who participated personally and substantially in prosecuting a defendant on certain charges may not later defend the same person on those charges. The conflict under DR 9-101(B)(1) is per…
A lawyer sits on a municipal board and is 'of counsel' to a law firm. Can the lawyer or the firm appear before that board on behalf of private clients?
The lawyer-member may not appear before the board. Because an 'of counsel' lawyer is 'associated' with the firm, the firm's appearance is restricted too: any DR 5-101 conflict imputes to the firm (wai…
Can a government lawyer attend and advise at a meeting with a represented contractor's non-lawyer staff, and when does the lawyer 'know' a party is represented?
The opinion concludes a government lawyer may silently attend such a meeting and advise the lawyer's own client if reasonable advance notice is given to opposing counsel and the lawyer does not commun…
Can a New York lawyer who serves as a certified impartial hearing officer also represent parents in special-education hearings, and can the lawyer advertise the certification?
The opinion concludes the lawyer may do both, but may not represent clients in any school district where the lawyer sits as a hearing officer, in matters the lawyer handled as a hearing officer, or wh…
Can a government agency lawyer be required to take on more cases than the lawyer can competently handle?
The opinion concludes that a lawyer who represents a government agency may not accept more matters than the lawyer can competently handle, and may not consent away the duty of competence; the lawyer m…
Can a former prosecutor now in a public defender or Legal Aid office defend people who were charged while the lawyer worked at the DA's office?
The opinion concluded that a former prosecutor may defend criminal defendants charged during the lawyer's DA tenure as long as the lawyer did not participate personally and substantially in that defen…
Can a municipality's lawyer at a General Municipal Law 50-h hearing warn a pro se claimant who faces related criminal charges that the testimony could be self-incriminating?
The opinion concluded a municipal lawyer must first confirm the claimant is not being advised by counsel about the hearing before communicating directly; if the claimant is unrepresented on that subje…
Can a legal aid office share data pulled from clients' mental health evaluations with a bar association committee for a statistical study without getting client consent?
The opinion concluded the office may provide extracted information for a statistical summary only if it is in a form that no recipient could link to a particular client; if any client could be identif…
Can a lawyer who represents a foster care agency in terminating parental rights then represent the prospective adoptive parents who want to adopt that child?
The opinion concluded no: a lawyer representing a foster care agency in surrender or termination-of-parental-rights proceedings may not represent the prospective adoptive parents either at the same ti…
Can a lawyer who serves on a county legislature still practice criminal defense in that county if the lawyer abstains from voting on the DA's budget and discloses that?
The opinion concluded no: abstaining from votes on the district attorney's budget and disclosing the intent to abstain does not cure the bar on a lawyer-legislator practicing criminal law where the le…
Can a lawyer who investigates public corruption for a municipal department of investigation take part in partisan political activity?
The opinion concluded no: a municipal examining attorney with subpoena power who investigates public corruption and refers matters for prosecution is subject to the same bar on partisan political acti…
Can a part-time city or county legislator defend criminal cases that require cross-examining police or opposing a prosecutor whose budget the legislature controls?
The opinion concluded no: a lawyer who sits on a municipal legislature with budgetary or appointment authority over a prosecutor's office or police department may not take a criminal defense matter re…
Can a part-time village attorney who handles prosecutions serve as a political party committeeman or circulate designating petitions for candidates?
The opinion concluded no: a part-time village attorney who performs a prosecutorial function may not serve as a party committeeman or circulate designating petitions, because prosecutors must avoid pa…
Can a court-appointed lawyer withdraw and tell the court that the indigent client lied about being too poor to hire counsel?
The opinion concluded that assigned counsel may not disclose client confidences or secrets in the motion papers to support withdrawal, but may disclose a client secret if the court orders it; a confid…
Can an assistant district attorney work on the campaign to re-elect their boss, the incumbent district attorney?
The opinion reaffirmed N.Y. State 675: an assistant district attorney may not actively participate in the incumbent district attorney's reelection campaign, because partisan political activity is inco…
Can an assistant district attorney campaign for the incumbent district attorney's re-election?
The opinion concluded that an assistant district attorney may not take part in campaign activities for the incumbent district attorney's re-election, such as circulating petitions or campaigning publi…
A part-time City Court judge shares a law firm with a part-time assistant district attorney. What criminal and civil work can each of them, and the rest of the DA's office, take on?
The opinion concluded that because the part-time assistant DA cannot defend criminal cases anywhere in the state, the associated part-time judge (and the whole firm) is also barred from criminal defen…
Can administrative law judges serve as arbitrators in outside proceedings, given that the Code of Judicial Conduct bars full-time judges from acting as arbitrators?
The opinion concluded that the Code of Judicial Conduct's flat bar on judges acting as arbitrators should not be applied rigidly to administrative law judges; ALJs may serve as arbitrators where it is…
May a town or village justice use a confidential law clerk appointed and paid by the county, and is there a conflict when the district attorney appears before the justice?
The opinion concluded that a justice may use a county-appointed law clerk where the clerk is 'court personnel' subject to the justice's sole direction and control, or qualifies as a disinterested expe…
Can a lawyer employed by a county Department of Social Services bid to buy real property the department is selling at public sale?
The opinion concluded that the lawyer may not bid, because the lawyer and the public-body client have differing interests in the sale, the public body cannot consent to the conflict, and the lawyer ha…
When may a part-time public defender in New York accept a criminal defendant as a private paying client?
The opinion concluded that a part-time public defender may privately represent a defendant who sought the lawyer out for private representation, even if the defendant also explores appointed counsel, …
Can a New York assistant district attorney rent office space from, or go into business with the spouse of, a defense lawyer who practices in the same county?
The opinion concluded that there is no per se bar; an assistant district attorney may rent non-law office space from an assistant public defender and may employ, or take investment from, the spouse of…
Can a law firm that serves as bond counsel to a municipality also represent private clients in matters against that same municipality?
The opinion concluded that a firm serving as bond counsel to a municipality may not simultaneously represent private clients against that municipality (before its zoning board, in tax certiorari, or i…
Can a state-employed lawyer belong to a union with non-lawyer members, and can a lawyer-union-member prosecute disciplinary cases against other state employees in the same union?
The opinion concluded that a state-employed lawyer may belong to a union that includes non-lawyers so long as no Disciplinary Rule is violated, but a lawyer who is a union member may not represent the…
When may a New York district attorney or assistant DA attend a political party's functions?
The opinion concluded that a district attorney who is not involved in his own re-election campaign may attend a political party's political or social functions, as a paying or invited guest, only in l…
Can a New York lawyer who is attorney for the town's zoning and planning boards also serve as a town justice?
The opinion concluded that an attorney serving by town-board appointment as counsel to the zoning board of appeals and the planning board may not also serve as a town justice, because litigants could …
Can a New York district attorney attend a political party's functions when not running for re-election?
The opinion concluded that a district attorney not running in his own re-election campaign may not attend the political or social functions of any political party, as either a paying or invited guest,…
Is a special district attorney appointed for one case subject to the same restrictions on private criminal defense work as a regular part-time prosecutor?
The opinion concluded that a special district attorney appointed under County Law section 701 is sui generis, not a part-time prosecutor, so the per se limits on private criminal practice do not apply…
Can a district attorney who is not running for reelection publicly endorse a candidate to succeed him?
The opinion concluded that a district attorney who is not a candidate for reelection may publicly endorse a successor candidate, as a limited exception to the rule against prosecutors' partisan politi…
Can a part-time local government attorney who prosecutes ordinance violations also defend criminal cases privately?
The opinion concluded that a part-time local attorney may take private criminal defense work only if the conduct he prosecutes for the locality includes no Penal Law or other state-statute offenses an…
Can a lawyer who serves as a tax-assessment hearing officer, or others in his firm, represent private clients in those same proceedings?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer serving as a small-claims real property tax assessment hearing officer, and the lawyers in his firm, may not represent private clients in tax-assessment matters in …
Can a prosecutor campaign for other candidates while running for re-election?
The opinion concluded that a prosecuting attorney may not actively campaign for other candidates for public office, even during the year the prosecutor is himself a candidate for re-election.
After leaving a Legal Aid Society, can a lawyer represent the same indigent clients for a fee in private practice?
The opinion concluded that a former Legal Aid staff attorney may represent prior clients privately, but not for a fee on the same matters they handled at the Society while those clients still qualify …
Can a public defender's office handle an appeal arguing that its own former lawyer gave ineffective assistance at trial?
The opinion concluded that no, where an appeal must attack the competence of trial counsel from the same public defender's office, the office is disqualified, and the fact that several lawyers work th…
Can the same lawyer serve at once as a part-time assistant district attorney and a probation officer in the same county?
The opinion concluded that no, the prosecutor's role is fundamentally incompatible with the probation officer's role, so one lawyer may not hold both positions in the same jurisdiction; disqualificati…
Can a part-time judge with criminal jurisdiction represent private clients in criminal matters?
The opinion concluded that a part-time judge may engage in private criminal practice to the extent the Rules of the Chief Administrator allow, overtaking the committee's earlier flat ban, because the …
Can a part-time county public defender sue the county that employs him on behalf of private clients?
The opinion concluded that a part-time county public defender may represent private clients in civil litigation against the county, because his clients are indigent defendants rather than the county, …
Can a part-time city attorney with prosecutorial duties stay in the role when his law partner becomes chair of a local political committee?
The opinion concluded that a part-time city attorney with prosecutorial duties may not continue in that role once his law partner becomes chairman of a local political committee, because the committee…
Can a deputy town supervisor represent private clients in tax or other litigation against the town?
The opinion concluded that a deputy town supervisor may not represent private clients in tax certiorari or other litigation against the town, because his role gives him influence over the town's affai…
Can an assistant county attorney privately represent a client in a matter he had handled for her in his official capacity?
The opinion concluded that an assistant county attorney who represented a wife in support proceedings in his official capacity may not privately represent her against the same former husband on the sa…
Can a county attorney privately represent property owners challenging their real property tax assessments?
The opinion concluded that a county attorney may not represent private property owners in proceedings to review real property assessments, because the owner's goal of lower taxes conflicts with the co…
Can a former assistant DA, now in private criminal defense, represent defendants his old office charged, and is his firm disqualified?
The opinion concluded that a former assistant DA is disqualified only from matters in which he had substantial responsibility or access to non-public information; his firm is not automatically disqual…
Can an assistant town attorney serve as counsel to the town's zoning board when the town board has sued that board?
The opinion concluded that, although an assistant town attorney may ordinarily advise the zoning board of appeals, he may not represent it once the town board sues it, because he cannot exercise indep…
Can a lawyer who sits on a town zoning board represent private clients before other town agencies?
The opinion concluded that there is no per se bar: a lawyer-member of a town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the lawyer's firm, may represent private clients before other town agencies in matters unrelat…
Can a lawyer become part-time town attorney while the firm represents a client suing the town?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may accept appointment as part-time town attorney while the firm represents a client in litigation involving the town only if the town retains independent counsel f…
Can an assistant county attorney who has no personal prosecutorial duties be an active member of a political club?
The opinion concluded that an assistant county attorney may not be an active member of a political club even if that lawyer personally has no prosecutorial duties, because the county attorney's office…
Can a part-time city attorney appear before a city agency to advance his own real estate purchase?
The opinion concluded that a part-time city attorney who advises the mayor and common council may not appear before the city's urban renewal agency to obtain a plan modification letting him buy a buil…
Can one lawyer serve as attorney for both a town and a village located within that town?
The opinion concluded that it is not per se improper for a lawyer to be both town attorney and attorney for a village within the town, but the lawyer must decline or refrain where a substantial likeli…
Can a law firm's name-change announcement say the change was prompted by a partner becoming a judge?
The opinion concluded that a firm may state in a change-of-name announcement that the change resulted from a partner assuming judicial office, because it gives useful information about the reason for …
Can a state estate-tax attorney handle a private client's federal estate-tax matter, given the state and federal returns are linked?
The opinion concluded that a state estate-tax attorney barred from private state estate-tax work is also barred from a client's federal estate-tax work, because reducing the federal tax necessarily re…
Can a former deputy town attorney later represent private clients in tax certiorari cases against the same town?
The opinion concluded that a former deputy town attorney may represent private clients in tax certiorari proceedings against the town only as to property for which he had no substantial responsibility…
Can a part-time district attorney pool his public salary with his law firm partners?
The opinion concluded that a part-time district attorney may share his official salary with his private law partners, because such sharing among partners is well understood by the public and creates n…
Can a part-time town attorney handle private real estate deals in his town when clients may need town permits or variances?
The opinion concluded that a part-time town attorney may not represent private clients before town agencies, but may handle a private real estate matter that might require town permits only with care,…
Can a lawyer who represents a party in a public-sector arbitration also sit on the arbitration panel as that party's nonneutral member?
The opinion concluded that a party's lawyer may serve as a nonneutral (partisan) member of a public arbitration panel convened under Civil Service Law section 209, because EC 5-20 restricts only servi…
If a lawyer takes case-by-case retainers from a county social services department, is the lawyer disqualified from all private matters against the county, or only matters involving that department?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer retained case by case by a county department with its own counsel is disqualified only from private matters adverse to or involving that department, not from other …
Can a town attorney keep representing the town while his law partner brings a personal lawsuit against that same town?
The opinion concluded that a town attorney may not continue to represent the town while his partner sues the town personally; the conflict and appearance of impropriety remain even with outside counse…
What private legal work can a part-time county legislator take on without a conflict with the county he serves?
The opinion concluded that a part-time county legislator may take private matters where there is no actual or potential conflict, no improper influence, and no basis for public suspicion of advantage,…
Can a county legislator defend criminal cases in the same county, and does it matter how the district attorney's office is funded?
The opinion concluded that a county legislator may not defend criminal cases in his county where the district attorney's office is funded through a 'line item' budget that fixes prosecutorial salaries…
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Legal ethics opinions from the New York State Bar Association 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.