Ohio Board of Professional Conduct Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, with full citations and source links on every page.
No Ohio Board of Professional Conduct opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can out-of-state attorneys send direct mail to Ohio members of a class action?
The opinion concluded that the Code does not bar direct-mail communication from named plaintiffs and their counsel to potential or actual class members during a class action, nor accepting employment …
Can a lawyer write to a business to offer to represent it or to be hired as in-house counsel?
The opinion concluded that an attorney may contact, by mail, an officer or manager of a business to offer general representation (where the business routinely uses lawyers) or to propose being hired a…
Can someone licensed to practice law in another state but not in Ohio use 'Esq.' on business correspondence in Ohio?
The opinion concluded that it is misleading, under DR 2-101(A), for a person licensed to practice law in another state but employed in Ohio as a collections manager to use 'Esq.' after his or her name…
Can a law firm keep a retired or inactive attorney's name in the firm name, on its letterhead, or as of counsel?
The opinion concluded that a firm may keep a retiring attorney's name in a long-established firm name even after the attorney takes retired or inactive registration status, and may list a retired-stat…
Can a lawyer join a for-profit referral service that advertises for clients, screens callers, and refers them to paying attorneys?
The opinion concluded that an attorney should not participate in a for-profit lawyer referral service that jointly advertises, screens callers, and refers them to attorneys who paid for the service, b…
Can a retired partner who has gone on inactive status to skip CLE still be listed as an inactive partner of the firm and keep receiving retirement payments?
The opinion concluded that retiring partners who take inactive status under Gov.Bar R. VI(8) become exempt from CLE, but listing them as inactive partners in a directory is misleading because it impli…
Can an Ohio lawyer send targeted direct mail letters soliciting people known to need legal services, such as those charged with a crime?
The Board concluded that, in light of Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association, a lawyer may use a targeted direct mail campaign to solicit clients known to need legal services, provided the letters are tr…
Can an Ohio lawyer use a telemarketing program that cold-calls people to find clients?
The Board concluded that telemarketing is an intrusive form of solicitation for pecuniary gain that creates the potential for overreaching, invades privacy, and pressures the recipient for an immediat…
Can lawyers who only share office space use a common letterhead if it carries a disclaimer that they are not partners?
The Board concluded that lawyers who share office space but are not partners should use separate letterheads, because a common letterhead implies a partnership or association in violation of DR 2-102(…
Can Ohio lawyers take part in a group TV ad that routes injury calls to the lawyer who paid for a geographic area?
The Board concluded that the Code contains no specific provision barring Ohio lawyers from group legal advertising, so lawyers may participate in a television campaign that routes calls to the attorne…
Can a law firm call itself 'Austintown Legal Center,' using a geographic place name in the firm name?
The Board concluded that a trade name is not permitted under Canon 2, but a law office organized to provide standardized and multiple legal services may include the phrase 'legal center' in its name u…
Can a lawyer use client testimonials in advertising?
The Board concluded that advertisements containing client testimonials were not permitted under the Code, reasoning that a testimonial creates an unjustified expectation that similar results can be ac…
What may a judicial candidate's campaign advertising say about titles, an opponent, shared ads, criticism, and fundraising?
The Board set guidelines under Canon 7: a non-incumbent should not use the title 'judge' without showing it is for a different court, must include an opponent's title, and should place 'for judge' aft…
Can a law firm offer discounted legal services to members of a teachers' association through a group legal service plan?
The Board concluded that a law firm may participate in a legal service plan offering a free consultation and discounted fees to members of teachers' associations under DR 2-103(D)(4), and may write ne…
Can a lawyer be listed in the phone book under a 'Fields of Practice' heading, and can the listing say the lawyer specializes in an area?
The Board concluded that a lawyer may be listed in a telephone directory under an 'Attorneys-Fields of Practice' heading and may state that the practice is limited to or consists in large part of a fi…
Can an attorney advertise on a billboard in Ohio?
The Board concluded that billboard advertising is a permitted form of advertising under former DR 2-101, relying on the rule's 'or otherwise' catchall, provided the billboard contains no false, fraudu…
Can a lawyer advertise for cases, like personal injury, that the lawyer does not actually handle but refers out to other firms?
The Board concluded that it is misleading under former DR 2-101(A) for a lawyer to advertise for work the lawyer does not handle, such as advertising for personal injury clients while referring those …
Can a lawyer pay to be listed in a 'Talking Yellow Pages' service that gives callers attorney names by random computer selection?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could advertise in the Talking Yellow Pages, because under DR 2-101(B)'s catchall it was a permitted form of advertising and, since the service did not recommend or e…
What does the 'Of Counsel' designation mean, and can a lawyer who is also a CPA indicate the second profession on letterhead or run both practices from one office?
The Board concluded that 'Of Counsel' indicates a continuing, close relationship with a lawyer or firm other than as a partner or associate, and that under former DR 2-102(E) a lawyer engaged in anoth…
Can a law firm send newsletters to companies and individuals who are not current clients?
The Board concluded that a law firm may send newsletters to non-clients, provided the newsletters contain no false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive statements or claims, because newsletters are a…
Can a legal research and writing service that works only for lawyers and law firms operate under a trade name, and can the person running it call themselves a lawyer?
The Board concluded that providing legal research and writing services exclusively for lawyers and law firms is not the practice of law, so the service can be marketed under a trade name, but a person…
Could a lawyer provide a free consultation to surviving family members as part of a funeral director's package, with the funeral director referring the family to the lawyer?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could not provide a free consultation as part of a funeral package, because former DR 2-103(C) barred requesting an organization to recommend the lawyer's services an…
Could an Ohio lawyer be listed in a legal directory or law list, and could that listing describe the lawyer as a specialist?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could ethically be listed in a legal directory or law list, treated as a form of advertising under former DR 2-101, so long as the listing was not false, fraudulent, …
Could a legal aid lawyer who charged no fee solicit indigent people known to need representation, by direct mail or in person, after an eviction case was filed against them?
The Board concluded that a legal aid lawyer who received no fee could ethically solicit indigent clients known to need legal services by direct mail only, provided the communication was not false, fra…
Could a law firm periodically send newsletters on general points of law to its established clients?
The Board concluded that a law firm could ethically send newsletters on general points of law to its established clients, so long as the newsletters contained no false, fraudulent, misleading, or dece…
Could a lawyer keep a family member's name on the firm letterhead after that person became a judge, when the two had never actually practiced together?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could not keep on the firm letterhead the name of a person who had become a judge and was not actively and regularly practicing law for the firm, citing former DR 2-1…
Under the former Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility, could a lawyer indicate on stationery that he had been certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could not indicate on letterhead that he was certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, because under former DR 2-105(A) and EC 2-13…
Under the former Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility, could a lawyer send a professional announcement card about a new firm association to commercial banks, savings and loans, and realtors with whom the lawyer had no specific prior contacts?
The Board concluded that under former DR 2-102(A)(2) and DR 2-105(A)(5), a lawyer could send a brief professional announcement card stating a new or changed association to banks, savings and loans, an…
Under the former Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility, could a lawyer become a member of the local Better Business Bureau if the BBB referred inquiries and complaints about lawyers to the local bar association?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could join the BBB provided the BBB continued its practice of forwarding inquiries and complaints regarding lawyers to a local bar association, because former DR 2-10…
Under the former Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility, could a lawyer or law firm advertise a legal seminar by direct mail to a targeted group and then conduct the seminar, and could the seminar be sponsored by the firm itself without bar association co-sponsorship?
The Board concluded that under former DR 2-101 and DR 2-104, a lawyer or law firm could promote a legal seminar through direct-mail advertising to targeted groups (such as members of a CPA society) pr…
Under the former Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility, could a lawyer send a written announcement to other lawyers offering to act as an associate or consultant in a particular branch of the law, and could the announcement promise a follow-up call?
The Board concluded that a lawyer could announce availability to other lawyers to act as a consultant or associate in a particular branch of law under former DR 2-105(A)(3), provided the announcement …
Under the former Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct, could opposing candidates for a judicial office engage in a public debate immediately before a partisan primary election, and what restrictions applied to the format?
The Board concluded that the former Code did not specifically prohibit or allow public debates between judicial candidates, but that Canon 7B(1)(c) limited candidates to promising faithful and imparti…
Browse Ohio Board of Professional Conduct opinions by topic
Legal ethics opinions from the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct 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.