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 New York lawyer pay an online platform that scores users' anonymized workplace-experience entries and connects the lawyer with a user (with the user's consent) without violating the solicitation, advertising, or fee-payment rules?
The opinion concludes the resulting lawyer-user communication is neither a solicitation nor an advertisement (the user initiates it by consenting to disclosure), and the lawyer's payment is a permissi…
Can a former in-house lawyer act as a False Claims Act whistleblower (qui tam relator) against a former employer-client using information learned during the representation?
The committee concluded that a New York lawyer may not act as a relator in a False Claims Act qui tam action against a former client where the supporting information was obtained during the prior repr…
Can a New York lawyer ask former clients to write Google reviews and offer them a small gift for doing so?
The committee concluded a lawyer may ask a former client to write a Google review and may offer a nominal gift, provided the lawyer does not draft the review or condition the gift on its content, and …
Can a lawyer at a nonprofit immigration clinic share a client's intake information with the nonlawyer staff of an affiliated shelter?
Only on conditions. The opinion concludes a New York lawyer at an immigration clinic may not share information from the representation with a shelter's nonlawyer staff unless the information is not pr…
Can a nonprofit criminal defense organization set up and run GoFundMe pages to help its indigent clients cover living expenses after release?
Yes, with conditions. The opinion concludes a nonprofit defense organization may administer GoFundMe pages for indigent current clients under Rule 1.8(e)(4)'s humanitarian exception if the assistance …
Can a lawyer write and publish an article about legal issues from a former client's case?
Yes, after the representation ends, as long as the article does not reveal the client's confidential information without consent. Legal knowledge and genuinely 'generally known' facts are not confiden…
When a government agency funds a lawyer's representation of clients, can the lawyer report the clients' confidential information back to the funder?
Only with informed consent. The opinion concludes a lawyer may share information with a funding agency if it is not confidential under Rule 1.6(a), but may not disclose a client's confidential informa…
Can a lawyer keep representing a current criminal client who will testify before a grand jury against the lawyer's former client?
Only if the former client gives informed written consent and the disclosure needed to get it would not prejudice the current client. Because withdrawal would avoid the need for consent, the opinion sa…
When a joint representation ends, must a New York lawyer give each co-client the other co-client's communications and documents from the file?
Yes for material from the joint representation, because co-clients are presumed to share it; but not for confidential information the lawyer received from one client before the joint representation be…
Can a New York lawyer send a client's retainer agreement and invoices to a credit card company to fight a chargeback of legal fees?
Yes, but only if the material is not confidential, the client consents, or the lawyer reasonably believes disclosure is necessary to collect the fee; disclosure must be limited or redacted, and the Fe…
Can a lawyer let a smartphone app access the contacts list when it contains clients whose identity is confidential?
Only with due diligence. The opinion concludes a lawyer may not grant an app access to contacts containing confidential client information unless, after reviewing the app's policies, the lawyer conclu…
What must a lawyer do to protect non-party clients' confidential data on a hard drive a court has ordered produced for forensic analysis?
The opinion concludes the lawyer must notify the non-waiving clients of the order, consult them about reasonable steps to avoid or limit production, and take those steps before complying; once reasona…
When a county defunds its public defender's office, can the office hand its open and closed client files to the county's assigned counsel program?
No, not without client consent. The opinion concludes that the assigned counsel program is not a lawyer or law firm, so the office may deliver open files only to the client or successor counsel and mu…
How must a former government lawyer respond to a subpoena or court order seeking confidential information from a matter they handled in government service?
The opinion concludes a former government lawyer may disclose a former client's confidential information when reasonably believed necessary to comply with a court order, but must first consult the for…
Does a lawyer who gives free, limited-scope legal help through a nonprofit program still get Rule 6.5's relaxed conflict rules if the program pays the lawyer a nominal fee?
Yes. The opinion concludes that paying participating lawyers a nominal or below-market fee does not displace Rule 6.5's actual-knowledge conflicts standard, but the third-party payment triggers Rule 1…
Does a lawyer for an executor owe duties to the estate's beneficiaries, and what may the lawyer do if the executor appears to be hiding assets from the Surrogate's Court?
The opinion concludes the lawyer's only client is the executor, not the beneficiaries; the lawyer may withdraw for non-cooperation or suspected fraud, must disclose the executor's fraud to the tribuna…
Can a New York lawyer ask a client to name an emergency or alternate contact person, and reach out to that person when the lawyer cannot otherwise reach the client?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a lawyer may ask a client to designate an alternate contact and, when ordinary means fail, may contact that person and disclose that the lawyer has been unable to reach…
Can a legal aid society avoid conflict imputation between its divisions and programs by screening them, or by treating each division or program as a separate law firm?
The opinion concludes that screening cannot defeat conflict imputation under Rule 1.10(a), but certain screening elements can help show that a not-for-profit legal services organization's divisions ar…
Must a lawyer delete backup copies of a former client's data on request, and can the lawyer first require a release or indemnity?
The opinion concludes a lawyer generally may keep copies of client-owned documents, but that interest can yield to a legitimate destruction request (here, a settlement requiring it); the lawyer may re…
Can a lawyer who drafted a real estate contract hand it to the client's broker without the client's consent, and does the lawyer's own interest in withholding it create a conflict?
No to disclosure without consent. The opinion concludes a lawyer-drafted sale contract is confidential information the lawyer must protect absent the client's informed consent, and the lawyer's own pe…
Can a government lawyer look for outside work, and later take a job, advocating to change the very laws the lawyer helped administer?
Generally yes. The Rules do not bar a government lawyer from organizing or later joining a law-reform project, subject to protecting confidential information, avoiding personal conflicts under Rule 1.…
Can a New York lawyer who is also a licensed engineer run both practices in one entity, name the firm after the engineering work, and avoid the Rules for the engineering clients?
A lawyer-engineer may run both practices in one entity from one office, but the firm name may not reference the engineering practice. Because engineering is distinct from legal work, the lawyer can ke…
Can a lawyer the insurance company assigned to defend an insured withhold information from the insured to protect the insurer's financial interests?
No. The insured is the client, and the lawyer's duties under Rules 1.2(a) and 1.4 to communicate fully cannot be limited to protect the paying insurer; doing so would be the interference Rule 1.8(f) f…
Can a county attorney also sit on, and chair, the board of a county-sponsored community college that the county attorney's office represents?
If no law bars the dual roles, the lawyer may serve only after assessing, each time the county's and college's interests overlap, whether the board role creates a significant Rule 1.7 risk; a disquali…
Can a former county social-services lawyer go into private practice and oppose that same agency, including in support-enforcement cases?
Yes, unless the lawyer was personally and substantially involved in, or holds confidential information about, the same specific matter while in government service. Rule 1.11(a)'s narrow same-matter te…
Can a law firm draft a will for an expert it regularly calls to testify for its clients, and must it disclose that relationship?
Yes, and generally no disclosure is required. Drafting a will for a treating provider the firm calls as a witness does not create a disqualifying conflict, and the firm need not volunteer the relation…
May a lawyer who took custody of another lawyer's client files solicit those clients for legal work?
Yes. A lawyer who holds a prior lawyer's client files only as a custodian, not through a sale of practice, may offer legal services to those clients if the lawyer reviews the files only as needed to f…
May a lawyer who drafted a couple's trust tell the beneficiaries that the surviving spouse, as trustee, misappropriated the trust assets, when the lawyer learned this from the successor trustee who consulted as a prospective client?
No. The successor trustee was a prospective client, so the lawyer owes her the same confidentiality owed to a former client under Rules 1.18 and 1.9. The information is confidential and no exception i…
Does a lawyer have to respond to a query from the disinherited son of a deceased client, who is neither a client nor a party to the will, asking the lawyer to confirm she drafted it?
No. The New York Rules impose no general duty to communicate with third parties, only two narrow exceptions that do not apply here. The lawyer has no obligation to respond to the son, and disclosing t…
If a divorce lawyer learns after the judgment that the client omitted a material asset from a sworn Statement of Net Worth, must the lawyer do anything about it?
Yes. The lawyer must take reasonable remedial measures that are still available, even after the case has ended, starting by urging the client to correct the statement. If the client refuses, the lawye…
Does a government agency lawyer satisfy the duty to report another agency lawyer's misconduct by reporting it to the agency's internal ethics office?
Reporting to the internal ethics office is consistent with Rule 8.3, but it does not by itself discharge the duty unless that office is a tribunal or an authority empowered to investigate or act. The …
Can a lawyer disclose a client's confidential information, such as billing time sheets, to support a fee claim in a fee dispute?
Yes, a lawyer may disclose confidential information reasonably necessary to establish or collect a fee, but must take all reasonable measures, such as redaction or seeking the court's guidance, to lim…
Can a criminal defense lawyer advise a client about drug treatment and a court diversion program, and recommend it even if failing carries harsher penalties?
Yes. Under Rule 2.1 the lawyer may advise on non-legal considerations like treatment and must competently explain the risks and alternatives, but under Rule 1.2(a) must follow the client's decision; d…
Can a lawyer represent a company against a competitor that is a former client, when the former client benefits if the new client loses?
Yes, if the new matter is not the same as or substantially related to the former representation. The opinion concludes that purely economic competition does not make a former client's interests 'mater…
What ethics rules govern the office of an insurance company's in-house legal department that defends the company's policyholders?
The in-house lawyers must protect the insureds' confidential information, avoid conflicts, and comply with the other Rules. That means physically and electronically separating the department's work an…
Must a New York lawyer report a judge's violation of the Rules of Judicial Conduct to the Commission on Judicial Conduct?
No. The opinion concludes a lawyer has no disciplinary duty to report a judge's violation of the Rules of Judicial Conduct, because Rule 8.3(a)'s reporting duty covers 'another lawyer,' not judges; th…
Can a lawyer give a client's file to the client's former lawyer so that lawyer can defend against the client's ethics complaint, when the client objects?
No, absent an exception. The opinion concludes the file is the client's confidential information, and nothing in the Rules permits or requires the lawyer to hand it to former counsel over the client's…
Can a New York lawyer give a prospective client the names of other clients the lawyer has represented as references?
Only with care. The opinion concludes a lawyer may name clients in advertising with their prior written consent, and absent consent may disclose a client's identity only if it is not confidential info…
Can a defense lawyer reveal a deceased client's statement that might exonerate a co-defendant who is trying to vacate her plea?
Sometimes. The opinion concludes the statement is confidential information protected even after the client's death, but the lawyer may disclose it if the client gave informed consent (including a stan…
Can a lawyer tell a deceased former client's son that the lawyer never drafted a will for the father and has no original will?
Yes. The opinion concludes that the fact a lawyer did not draft a will and did not refer the client to other counsel is not 'confidential information' under Rule 1.6(a), and even if it were, disclosur…
Can a New York lawyer form a partnership with a foreign patent professional such as a Japanese benrishi?
Only conditionally. The opinion concludes the New York lawyer must first independently confirm that the foreign professional's education is essentially equivalent to a New York lawyer's and that the f…
In a joint representation, can a lawyer give one co-client the file and keep that request secret from the other co-clients?
It depends. The opinion concludes co-clients are presumed to share information and to have full file access, but where one co-client asks the lawyer to keep the file request secret from the others and…
What does a firm owe a prospective client who turns out to be the adversary of an existing client, and must it tell the existing client about the consultation?
The firm owes the prospective client confidentiality under Rule 1.18(b) for information learned in the consultation. Whether the consultation must be disclosed to the existing client, or bars continue…
Can a lawyer report a client's bill-payment history to a credit-bureau-style database that other law firms can see?
Yes, but only with the client's informed, uncoerced consent. A client's payment status is confidential information, and the fee-collection exception does not cover this reporting, so the lawyer needs …
Can legal-aid lawyers for unaccompanied immigrant children report client names and case details to a grant funder's database, and can a child consent to that disclosure?
They may disclose if the information is not privileged and disclosure would not be embarrassing or detrimental, or if the client (or a parent or guardian) gives voluntary informed consent. A young chi…
When moving to withdraw, can a lawyer file the client's own court papers from another case to support the motion, even if doing so makes the client look unstable?
It depends on whether the papers are confidential information under Rule 1.6. A lawyer should reveal no more than necessary: if the court accepts that 'professional considerations' require withdrawal,…
Can a city attorney buy property the city took in tax foreclosure and is reselling, and what conflict rules apply?
Yes, if the purchase complies with government-ethics law, the lawyer does not advise the city (or supervise those who do) on property sales, and the lawyer holds no confidential city information beari…
Does using a sign-language interpreter to communicate with a deaf client waive the attorney-client privilege, and may a lawyer use one?
Whether the privilege is waived is a question of law the committee does not decide, but it notes courts have repeatedly held that using an agent to facilitate communication does not waive it. If using…
Can in-house counsel be interviewed by an agency investigating the company, and can the lawyer still act as advocate if it becomes a hearing?
In-house counsel may submit to an agency interview about the company's alleged wrongdoing where the facts disclosed are not confidential information. But if the investigation becomes a proceeding befo…
Are the separately incorporated local offices of a national legal services project one law firm for conflict and confidentiality purposes?
Yes, on these facts. A national legal services project whose local sections share a single case management system giving every attorney access to all clients' information, and whose regional attorneys…
When a lawyer buys a retiring attorney's practice and inherits original wills, what must the lawyer do, and can the wills be filed with the surrogate's court?
The lawyer must take reasonable steps to locate and notify the testators or others with an interest in each will, and may review or disclose confidential information from a will only as needed for its…
Does a lawyer for an estate executor owe duties to the beneficiaries, and what can the lawyer do if she suspects the executor is hiding assets?
The executor is the lawyer's only client; the lawyer owes no duty to a beneficiary absent an agreement otherwise. The lawyer may not assist conduct she knows is fraudulent or make a false statement, a…
Can a lawyer reveal client confidences to rebut a former client's negative online review?
No. The self-defense exception in Rule 1.6(b)(5)(i) lets a lawyer reveal confidential information only to defend against a formal accusation, such as a lawsuit, disciplinary complaint, or similar proc…
Can a lawyer who also mediates divorces write a novel based on what they learned from mediation clients?
Only if no one can identify the clients. Because the inquirer's mediation was not distinct from the legal work of drafting the divorce papers, Rule 5.7(a)(1) subjects the mediation to the confidential…
Can a lawyer use a cloud-based tool to post and share closing documents with the other parties to a transaction?
Yes, if the technology gives reasonable protection to confidential client information; if it does not, only with the client's informed consent after disclosure of the risks. The lawyer must take reaso…
Can a law firm let its lawyers access client files remotely so they can work from home?
Yes, if the firm determines that the technology and devices used give reasonable protection to confidential client information, in which case client consent is not needed. If the firm cannot reach tha…
Do the usual conflict rules apply to a lawyer who gives short-term pro bono advice through a bar association program?
Under Rule 6.5, the conflict rules bind a limited-services pro bono lawyer only when the lawyer has actual knowledge of a conflict, and even then the conflict is not imputed to others in the firm; the…
Must a New York lawyer disclose a client employee's false statements in a visa application to the federal agency if the client refuses?
The opinion concludes Rule 3.3's duty to remedy false statements to a tribunal does not apply, because a visa or work-permit application is not an adjudicative proceeding before a tribunal; other rule…
Can a New York law firm take on new clients against an entity it represented before, over that entity's objection?
It depends on whether the entity is a current or former client. The opinion concludes a firm may not oppose a current client absent written informed consent, but may oppose a former client in a matter…
Can a lawyer who is executor of a deceased attorney's estate inspect and disclose confidential information in stored wills in order to return them to the right people?
Yes. Because the executor did not come into possession of the wills incident to his own practice, the Rule 1.15(c) notification duty and Rule 1.6(a) confidentiality bar do not apply to him; he may ins…
Browse New York State Bar Association opinions by topic
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.