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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May a lawyer admitted only in New Jersey and DC who works as a salaried associate at a New York firm simultaneously run a solo New Jersey practice, and what New York-rules duties attach to the conflicts, advertising, and trust-account aspects?
The opinion concludes the New York Rules do not bar simultaneous employment at two firms, but Rule 1.10 imputes conflicts across both firms (no screening cure available), Rule 7.1 governs any advertis…
What conflicts of interest does a New York per diem (appearance counsel) attorney face when switching between representing plaintiff lenders and defendant debtors in collection matters?
The opinion concludes that a per diem lawyer may not oppose a current client in any matter, or a former client in a substantially related matter, without informed consent confirmed in writing; persona…
May a New York disability-rights lawyer who relies on fee-shifting awards enter agreements with compensatory-service providers under which the providers pay a portion of the lawyer's fees, and refer clients to those providers?
Per the Committee, yes if the client gives informed consent under Rule 1.8(f) and informed consent confirmed in writing under Rule 1.7(b) for the Rule 1.7(a)(2) personal-interest conflict, provided th…
May a New York attorney's nonlegal entity (here, one providing tax filings) share a percentage of revenue with a nonlawyer technology developer, and pay referral fees to other attorneys who refer clients to the entity?
Per the opinion, yes if the entity avoids being treated as a law firm under Rule 5.7. The attorney owners must give the Rule 5.7(a)(4) written disclaimer and otherwise avoid any reasonable client beli…
Can a lawyer at a firm that represents municipalities also take court appointments as assigned counsel for indigent criminal defendants?
The committee concluded the lawyer may accept assigned-counsel appointments if he complies with the conflict rules; where the firm represents a municipality that is or was a party to a potential assig…
Can a New York lawyer who owns part of a title agency represent a client in a real estate deal while the agency also acts as title agent in the same deal?
The committee concluded the lawyer may not do both in the same transaction unless the lawyer's role at the title agency is purely ministerial and involves no negotiation for the underwriter; whether t…
Can a lawyer be both the named plaintiff (class representative) and class counsel in a class action?
The Rules do not bar a lawyer from proceeding pro se while representing aligned co-parties, but whether a lawyer may be both class representative and class counsel is governed by class action law, not…
Must a prosecutor disclose a past romantic relationship with a police witness who may testify in one of her cases?
Yes, when the relationship could be used to impeach the witness. The opinion concludes Rule 3.8(b) requires a prosecutor to timely disclose a past romantic relationship with a law enforcement witness …
Can a state agency lawyer work on an enforcement action against a company the lawyer represented in private practice before joining the agency?
Only sometimes. The opinion concludes the agency lawyer has a conflict only if he would normally have acquired confidential information in the prior representation that is material to the enforcement …
Can a part-time county Department of Social Services attorney represent private clients in Family Court matters where DSS is involved?
Not where DSS has an interest or plays a meaningful role; that conflict is non-consentable. Where DSS is involved but has no real interest, the lawyer may proceed only after a Rule 1.7(b) analysis wit…
Can a lawyer accept real estate clients referred by an associate at the firm who is also a licensed real estate broker?
Yes, conditionally. The opinion concludes a lawyer may accept clients referred by an associate who is also a real estate broker, provided the lawyer does not share legal fees or real estate commission…
Can a part-time assistant public defender whose cousin and law partner is a part-time town judge appear in that town court or at arraignments transferred there?
He may not appear in the town court where his cousin/partner or the co-judge presides, but he may handle a defendant's arraignment in a centralized arraignment part (when neither presides) even if the…
Does a lawyer who used to work at a Legal Aid office have a conflict against a party another Legal Aid lawyer represented while she was there?
Only if she personally acquired confidential information material to the new matter and the matters are substantially related. Without both, there is no conflict under Rule 1.9(b).
Can a part-time town attorney with no prosecutorial duties represent criminal defendants at arraignment in a centralized arraignment part where a justice of his town sometimes presides?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a part-time town attorney who has no prosecutorial responsibilities may, as a part-time public defender, represent criminal defendants at arraignments in a county's cen…
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…
Can a county public defender's office hire the county's former district attorney, and how are conflicts handled?
Yes. The opinion concludes a former DA may work as an assistant public defender in the same county but may not personally handle a matter in which he was personally and substantially involved as DA or…
Can a lawyer use a company he owns to buy a client's litigation claim and then have a law firm prosecute it?
The opinion concludes a lawyer may not buy the claims of his own firm's clients and then retain that firm to litigate them, because Rule 1.8(i) bars acquiring a proprietary interest in litigation the …
Can a criminal defense lawyer represent a client in a case where her romantic partner, a deputy sheriff, was an investigating or supporting officer?
It depends on the facts. The opinion concludes the lawyer must assess under Rule 1.7(a)(2) whether the relationship creates a significant risk to her independent judgment; the conflict may be consenta…
Can a lawyer represent the executor of an estate and also represent a beneficiary of that estate, including jointly defending them in litigation?
The opinion concludes that representing the executor and a beneficiary in an unrelated matter is not a concurrent conflict, but jointly representing the executor and a co-beneficiary as co-defendants …
Can a New York lawyer who works only as a real estate broker, and provides no legal services, accept referral fees from an investment advisor?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a New York lawyer who provides only nonlegal real estate broker services, and gives the client a Rule 5.7(a)(4) written notice that the services are not legal services,…
Can a New York lawyer form a law partnership with an Italian law firm whose lawyers are not admitted in the United States?
Yes. The opinion concludes a New York lawyer may partner with the Italian firm if, on independent inquiry, the lawyer is satisfied the Italian lawyers' training and ethical standards are comparable to…
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…
Does a part-time county lawyer have a conflict of interest if his private practice requires him to subpoena a county department he does not represent?
No. The opinion concludes that separate county departments are treated as separate clients under Rule 1.7(a)(1), so subpoenaing a department the lawyer does not represent and that is separately counse…
Can an assistant public defender appear in a town court where a relative or law partner is the part-time judge, and is the disqualification imputed to the whole office?
The opinion concludes the judge's law-partner cousin cannot represent office clients in that town court, and the judge's son-in-law cannot appear there but may work outside court with party and judici…
Can a town attorney represent a private client on zoning matters before a neighboring town if the client also has property interests in the town the attorney serves?
Yes if there is no personal-interest conflict, or a consentable one with informed consent from both the town board and the client; a positional conflict alone does not bar it, but Rule 1.11(f)(2) forb…
Can a full-time assistant county attorney take private or assigned-counsel Family Court cases where the county is not a party?
Yes, with limits. The opinion concludes such a lawyer may take Family Court matters where the county is not a party if no Rule 1.7(a) conflict exists or, if a waivable conflict exists, both the county…
Can a lawyer who owns a real estate company act as the lawyer on closings referred by a broker at that company, where the broker and the company split the commission?
No. The opinion concludes that because the lawyer has a financial interest in the brokerage commissions his company splits with its brokers, serving as the closing lawyer creates a per se non-waivable…
Can a New York lawyer mediate a divorce, then represent one party to draft the settlement papers, and offer limited-scope services to pro se clients from an out-of-state office?
Yes, with conditions. The opinion permits a lawyer-mediator to later represent one party with all parties' informed written consent, permits limited-scope ghostwriting for pro se clients (disclosure r…
Can an estate-planning lawyer own a separate company that manages the assets of trusts the lawyer sets up for clients?
Yes, with safeguards. The opinion concludes the lawyer's interest in the management company is a consentable Rule 1.7 conflict requiring informed written consent at the outset, that nondistinct nonleg…
Can a New York lawyer advise a recreational cannabis business, take equity in lieu of fees, and personally use marijuana, even though it remains federally illegal?
Yes. The opinion concludes that, given current federal enforcement forbearance, a lawyer may help clients comply with New York's Recreational Marijuana Law, may use and home-grow marijuana personally,…
When two jointly represented clients give the lawyer opposite instructions, can the lawyer follow one of them, especially if the other may have diminished capacity?
No. The opinion concludes that when jointly represented co-purchasers give mutually exclusive instructions, their interests differ and the lawyer cannot continue representing both under Rule 1.7; one …
Can lawyers co-own a divorce mediation business with a nonlawyer, accept referrals from it, and enter a reciprocal referral agreement with it?
Lawyers may co-own a mediation business with a nonlawyer only if it provides solely nonlegal services and employs no lawyers to give legal advice; they may accept referrals and enter a non-exclusive r…
Can a part-time assistant county attorney whose office handles only civil work take assigned defense of state parole-violation cases?
Generally yes. The opinion concludes that there is no per se bar when the county attorney's office does no criminal prosecution, the lawyer appears before no county officials, and county law is not at…
Can an assistant county attorney moonlight as a paid consultant for the software vendor whose contract with the county the lawyer helped negotiate and implement?
Not unless law expressly allows it. The opinion concludes that Rule 1.11(d)(2) bars the lawyer from negotiating private employment with a vendor party to a matter the lawyer handles, and the arrangeme…
Can a public defender appear before a part-time town justice who also works full-time in the county attorney's office that advises the public defender?
Maybe. The opinion concludes the two offices are not a single law firm on these facts, so Rule 8.4(f) does not bar the appearance, but the public defender may have a Rule 1.7(a)(2) personal conflict i…
Can a retired judge, or the judge's new firm, represent a party in the same easement dispute the judge ruled on a decade earlier?
The opinion concludes the former judge is personally and non-waivably disqualified under Rule 1.12(a) from the same matter, but the firm to which the judge is of counsel may take the representation un…
Can a real estate lawyer take closing referrals from her own paralegal, who is also a broker earning a commission on the deal?
Yes, if the lawyer has no stake in the commission and the referrals do not create a significant risk to her independent judgment under Rule 1.7(a)(2); if such a risk exists she needs informed written …
Can a law firm refer its clients to a litigation financing company owned by the spouse of a lawyer who is Of Counsel to the firm?
No. The opinion concludes that because the Of Counsel lawyer could not personally advance litigation funding to clients under Rule 1.8(e), he cannot refer clients to his spouse's financing company, an…
Can a government lawyer apply for and negotiate a private-sector job with a company that is an adverse party in a matter the lawyer is currently handling for the agency?
No. The opinion concludes that a lawyer currently serving as a government employee may not negotiate for private employment with a party the lawyer is personally and substantially handling a matter ag…
Can a lawyer also work as a wealth manager, charge the same clients for both, send clients to a financial planner for a referral fee, or sell financial products to non-clients?
The opinion concludes a lawyer may not provide legal and wealth management services to the same client for separate fees (an unconsentable conflict), may not take a referral fee for sending a law clie…
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…
Can a lawyer refer a client to a litigation funding company owned by the lawyer's sibling for a non-recourse loan to cover litigation expenses?
Yes, with a written waiver. The opinion concludes the referral is not barred by Rules 1.8(e) or 1.8(i) because the lawyer has no interest in the sibling's company, but it creates a Rule 1.7(a)(2) pers…
When a municipal corporation counsel learns that municipal employees may have misappropriated public funds, what must the lawyer do, and does having represented those employees in their official capacity change the answer?
The opinion concludes that corporation counsel's client is the municipality alone, so the lawyer should report credible allegations of serious employee wrongdoing up to the highest municipal authority…
Can a New York lawyer who also works as a village police officer represent defendants in traffic court, in the county where the officer serves or in other counties?
No in the same county. The opinion concludes the officer may not represent traffic court defendants in the county where the village police department sits, because that Rule 1.7(a)(2) conflict is not …
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…
Can one law firm represent two clients in separate but related criminal cases arising from the same events, where each client is a witness in the other's case, and can the conflict be waived?
The opinion concludes that concurrently representing both clients is a conflict because their interests differ, and the conflict is imputed firm-wide; whether it can be waived is highly fact-intensive…
Can a lawyer take a spot on a counterparty's list of designated counsel for the funders in a financing deal, paid from the deal proceeds, when the counterparty tries to limit the lawyer's role?
The opinion concludes a lawyer may serve as designated counsel recommended and paid by the counterparty only if the third party does not interfere with the lawyer's independent professional judgment a…
Can lawyers at the same firm file amicus briefs on opposite sides of the same issue before the same court?
Not when the lawyers are representing clients (including firm lawyers as clients), because Rule 1.7(b)(3) bars one firm from being on both sides of a proceeding and that bar is imputed firm-wide; but …
Can a part-time village attorney defend private clients on traffic and criminal charges in the same town court where fines from village offenses are shared with the village?
Yes, if the village attorney does not represent the village in those courts and the financial overlap is managed. The opinion holds the fine-sharing formula can create a Rule 1.7 differing-interests r…
Can a lawyer keep a private practice while serving as town supervisor, and represent private clients located in or appearing before the town?
Yes, subject to other law, but the opinion holds the lawyer may not represent any private client in a matter involving the town, may not act officially on matters handled privately, may not negotiate …
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 divorce lawyer take a mortgage on the client's house to secure unpaid legal fees without going back to the court?
Not on the lawyer's own. A fee mortgage in a divorce matter must satisfy both Rule 1.8(a) (a fair, fully disclosed business transaction with the client) and Rule 1.5(d)(5)(iii), which requires a signe…
Can a New York lawyer also work as a financial planner for the same clients, advertise the planning service, and take referral fees from investment firms?
A lawyer may provide both legal and financial-planning services if no significant conflict exists, but may not take brokerage commissions on products bought by legal clients, which is a nonconsentable…
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 real estate lawyer and a spouse who is a real estate broker send each other client referrals?
Yes, with limits. The lawyer may take referrals from the broker spouse only if the spouse is uninvolved in the transaction and follows the lawyer-solicitation rules, and may refer clients to the spous…
Can a government lawyer who pays union dues as an agency-shop member prosecute discipline cases against employees that union represents?
Yes, unless in a given matter a reasonable lawyer would find a significant risk that agency-shop status would impair the lawyer's judgment for the agency. If such a risk exists, the lawyer may still a…
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 lawyer agree to be paid for a client's criminal defense out of the client's personal injury recovery in another matter the same firm handles?
Yes, if the lawyer complies with Rule 1.8(a). Securing hourly criminal fees against a personal injury recovery is a permitted Rule 1.8(i) contract lien, but it is a business transaction creating diffe…
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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.