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.
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Can a part-time magistrate, or the magistrate's law partners, practice law in the same court where the magistrate serves?
The opinion concluded that a part-time common pleas or municipal magistrate may not practice law in the court the magistrate serves or where the appointing judge serves, but the magistrate's partners …
Can a retired judge who can be recalled to the bench work as a paid legislative lobbyist for judges' associations?
The opinion concluded that a retired judge eligible for recall to judicial service may not serve as a paid legislative agent (lobbyist) for the Common Pleas Judges' Association and the Association of …
When can a judge form a campaign committee, and can it spend retained funds or recruit volunteers outside the fundraising window?
The opinion concluded that an incumbent judge may form a judicial campaign committee before the Canon 7(C)(4) fundraising window (becoming a 'judicial candidate' bound by Canon 7), the committee may s…
Can a full-time judicial law clerk also practice law part-time, and how does it affect the judge's cases and appointments?
The opinion concluded that if a court permits a judicial law clerk to practice law part-time, the clerk may not represent clients in matters before the judge served or before other judges in the same …
Can a magistrate running for judge use the title 'magistrate' and wear a judicial robe in campaign advertisements?
The opinion concluded that a magistrate who is a judicial candidate may truthfully use the title 'magistrate' (and must identify the court division served), but may not wear a judicial robe in a campa…
Can a judge or judicial candidate use judicial campaign funds to buy a ticket to another candidate's fundraiser?
The opinion concluded that buying a ticket to another candidate's fund raiser is a contribution to that candidate, not a campaign expenditure, so a judge or judicial candidate could not use judicial c…
Can an Ohio judge sign a written endorsement of a local domestic-violence response protocol for police, prosecutors, and judges?
The opinion concluded that a judge may consult on and participate in domestic-violence task forces, but it is not prudent under Canons 1, 2(A), 3(A)(1), and 7(B)(2)(c), (d), (e) for a judge to make a …
Can an Ohio judge answer phones, sit on a VIP panel, or solicit donations during a public charity telethon?
The opinion concluded that a judge may not participate in a public fund-raising telethon, including answering phones to take donations, serving on a VIP telephone panel, or soliciting donations from f…
After becoming a full-time Ohio judge, can a lawyer keep running a family farm and keep preparing tax returns as a CPA?
The opinion concluded that a full-time judge may continue a spouse-co-owned farm (raising cattle, selling hay, grain, and seed) as permitted management of real estate, but may prepare tax returns as a…
Can an Ohio judge be paid for teaching CLE courses or for giving motivational speeches?
The opinion concluded that a judge may accept compensation for teaching CLE courses under both the Code of Judicial Conduct and Ohio Ethics Law, but that compensation for motivational speeches, while …
Can an Ohio judge accept a free (waived registration) invitation to a trial lawyers association CLE seminar, and must it be reported?
The opinion concluded that a judge may accept a waived registration fee to attend a trial lawyers association seminar under the Code of Judicial Conduct and Ohio Ethics Law; the gift need not be repor…
Can an Ohio judge write letters of recommendation for law school applicants, the judge's law clerks, or candidates for a federal judgeship?
The opinion concluded that a judge may recommend a law school applicant, a law clerk seeking attorney employment, or an individual seeking a federal judgeship when the judge has firsthand knowledge of…
Can Ohio judges accept a free set of the entire Revised Code from a publisher that does business with the court?
The opinion concluded that a court, justice, or judge may not accept a year's complimentary use of casebound editions of the entire Revised Code from a publisher that does business with the court, bec…
After Ohio banned honorariums for public officials, can a judge still accept pay for teaching a law-related college course?
The opinion concluded that compensated teaching of a law-related college or university course is not a banned 'honorarium' under R.C. 102.03(H) because teaching is not the same as a speech, so a judge…
Can an Ohio judge let his or her picture appear on a DARE program trading card?
The opinion concluded that it is improper under Canons 1, 2, and 5 of the Code of Judicial Conduct for a judge's picture to appear on a DARE program trading card. Decided under the former Ohio Code of…
Can a part-time county court judge, or the judge's firm, practice law in the county court where the judge sits by assignment?
The opinion concluded that a part-time county court judge may not practice law in the county court where the judge sits by assignment until the assignment ends, and neither may the judge's partners an…
Can a municipal court deputy bailiff privately own a business that evicts tenants for landlords for a fee?
The opinion concluded that it is improper under Ohio Ethics Law for a municipal court deputy bailiff to privately own a business that evicts tenants for landlords for a fee while serving the court. De…
Can an Ohio judge appoint a relative to represent indigent criminal defendants?
The opinion concluded that a judge may not appoint an attorney related within the third degree of consanguinity to the judge or spouse to represent indigent defendants, because it is nepotism under Ca…
Can an Ohio judge appoint a lawyer who is employed by the judge's adult child, and must the judge then recuse?
The opinion concluded that a probate or juvenile judge may appoint an attorney who works as an associate for the judge's son if the appointment is merit-based and the son is not entitled to a share of…
Can a referee running for judge use the title 'referee' or 'senior referee' in campaign ads?
The opinion concluded that a sitting referee running for judicial office may use the title 'referee' or 'senior referee' in a campaign advertisement, but the ad must identify both the court where the …
Can court referees and magistrates solicit financial support from law firms for their association's educational conference?
The opinion concluded that it is improper under Ohio Ethics Law (R.C. 102.03(D) and (E)), Canon 2B, DR 8-101(A)(3), and Canon 5B(3) for referees and magistrates to solicit or accept low registration f…
Can an Ohio judge sign a candidate's nominating petition or introduce a partisan candidate at a political dinner?
The opinion concluded that an incumbent judge may sign nominating petitions or declarations of candidacy for judicial and partisan candidates, and may attend a political dinner and be introduced as a …
Does an Ohio judge have to recuse when a lawyer who chairs the judge's campaign committee appears before the judge?
The opinion concluded that a judge is not required to disqualify when a lawyer who is the judge's campaign committee co-chairperson, or members of that lawyer's firm, appear before the judge, but sugg…
Can an Ohio judge who serves as executor or administrator of a family member's estate also prepare and file the probate documents?
The opinion concluded that a judge serving as administrator or executor for a family member's estate should not prepare and file the probate documents, because preparing and filing those documents is …
Can a judge let their name appear on a list of supporters endorsing a candidate for bar association office?
The opinion concluded that a judge should not endorse a candidate for elective bar association office by allowing the judge's name, with or without a judicial designation, to appear on a list of suppo…
Must the clerk and deputy clerk of the Ohio Court of Claims file annual financial disclosure statements?
The opinion concluded that the clerk and deputy clerk of the Court of Claims are not required by R.C. 102.02 to file annual financial disclosure statements, but must file them under Canon 6(C) and the…
Can a judge help organize and advise a business joint venture and introduce its potential customers?
The opinion concluded that a judge's active involvement in advising, planning, and organizing a proposed joint venture, and introducing potential clients and businesses to each other, would fall withi…
Can a full-time judge prosecute patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office?
The opinion concluded that preparing, filing, and prosecuting patent applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is the practice of law, so full-time judges of any Ohio court of record ar…
Can a part-time judge appoint a lawyer from the judge's own law firm to serve as a court referee?
The opinion concluded that R.C. 2921.42(A)(1) of Ohio's ethics law prohibits a part-time judge from appointing an attorney in the judge's own law firm to the position of referee, because the appointme…
Can a judge serve as executor of a close friend's estate?
The opinion concluded that a judge may serve as executor of a close friend's estate, when named in the will, if the relationship was characteristic of a close familial relationship under Canon 5D, the…
Does a judge have to step aside from a case where a bank is a party if the judge owns a small amount of that bank's stock in a retirement plan?
The opinion concluded that a judge's ownership of bank stock is a financial interest requiring disqualification under Canon 3 C(1)(c) when the bank is a party, even where the stock is held in a retire…
Must a judge step aside when a doctor or counselor who treats the judge or the judge's spouse testifies as a significant witness?
The opinion concluded that disqualification is not automatically required when a health care professional who treats the judge or the judge's spouse appears as a significant witness, but a judge shoul…
Can a municipal judge sit on the board of a nonprofit that contracts with the city to provide services to the judge's own court?
The opinion concluded that the Code of Judicial Conduct, Ohio Ethics Law, and related statutes prohibit a municipal judge from serving as a member or officer of the board of a nonprofit corporation th…
Can a sitting judge be a partner in a for-profit business that provides continuing legal education, and can a judge teach for pay?
The opinion concluded that a judge may not be a partner in a for-profit partnership providing continuing legal education, because Canon 5 C(2) bars a judge from serving as an officer, director, manage…
Must a judge step aside when a lawyer in the case works with the judge's spouse, or rents office space from the judge?
The opinion concluded that disqualification is not automatic when a lawyer in a proceeding is employed by, associated with, or in partnership with the judge's spouse; it turns case by case on whether …
Can a part-time county court judge represent a criminal defendant in another county's court, even one who previously appeared before the judge?
The opinion concluded that, under appropriate circumstances, a part-time county court judge may represent a defendant on a traffic charge pending in a municipal court of another county, and that repre…
Under Ohio's former Code of Judicial Conduct, could a court referee make political donations, and were there limits on who they could give to?
The opinion concluded that referees, who are treated as judges for compliance purposes, could make political donations, including to a political party, but could not directly or indirectly donate to a…
Must a probate judge disqualify from an uncontested estate when one of the lawyers is related to the judge within the third degree?
The Board concluded that under Canon 3C(1)(d)(ii) a judge must disqualify when a lawyer in the proceeding is related to the judge or the judge's spouse within the third degree, and that a probate judg…
Can an Ohio judge serve as a trustee of a charitable foundation that funds law school scholarships, and what limits apply to fund-raising and use of the judge's name?
The Board concluded that a judge may serve as a trustee of a charitable scholarship foundation if it would not ordinarily come before the judge, may be listed among the trustees without selective emph…
Can a part-time judge pro tempore serve as an officer or board member of a political party organization in Ohio?
The Board concluded that Canon 7(A)(1)(a) bars a judge, a judge pro tempore, or a judicial candidate from acting as a leader or holding office in a political organization, and that a judge pro tempore…
Can an Ohio judge ask the local bar association to help with a program without creating an appearance of impropriety?
The Board concluded that a judge may suggest or encourage a local bar association to become involved in a program relating to the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice, but a judge m…
Must an Ohio judge who is a party in a lawsuit recuse from cases where a litigant is represented by the judge's own attorney?
The Board concluded that a judge who is personally a party in litigation must recuse from any case where a litigant is represented by the judge's own attorney, at least while the attorney-client relat…
Can an Ohio judge or judicial candidate announce personal views on a disputed issue like abortion during a campaign?
The Board concluded that under Canon 7B(1)(c) of the former Code of Judicial Conduct, judges and judicial candidates could not announce their views on disputed legal or political issues, and that abor…
If a judge files a disciplinary complaint against a lawyer, is the judge disqualified from that lawyer's cases, and must the lawyer's clients be told?
The Board concluded that a judge has a duty under Canon 3(B)(3) and DR 1-103 to report lawyer misconduct, and that filing a disciplinary complaint against a lawyer does not, by itself, disqualify the …
Can a probate judge serve on a community mental health board after a new law routes mental-health referrals through that board?
The Board concluded that, because a 1989 amendment to Ohio Rev. Code Ch. 5122 directs probate courts to refer mentally ill persons to community mental health boards, a probate judge or anyone performi…
Can a judge be paid to teach law courses at a college or university?
The Board concluded that under Canon 4A a judge may teach courses on the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice, and under Canon 6 may receive reasonable compensation if the source o…
Can a judge serve as trustee of a court-created trust fund that resolves asbestos injury claims against a bankrupt manufacturer?
The Board concluded that Canon 4C does not prohibit a judge from serving as trustee of a claimants' fund created by an out-of-state bankruptcy court to resolve asbestos claims, since the alternative d…
Can a judge be paid for writing newspaper articles on legal topics?
The Board concluded that under Canon 4A a judge may write articles on the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice, and under Canon 6 may receive reasonable compensation as long as the…
Can the spouse of a county court judge serve as a common pleas judge in the same county?
The Board concluded that nothing in the Code of Judicial Conduct prevents spouses from both serving in a judicial capacity, so the spouse of a county court judge may serve as a common pleas judge in t…
Must a judge disqualify in cases involving the police department that employs the judge's spouse?
The Board concluded that a judge must disqualify when the judge's police-officer spouse is likely to be a material witness in a proceeding (Canon 3C(1)(d)(iv)), subject to remittal under Canon 3D, but…
Must a new judge give up shares in the law firm or legal professional association the judge came from, even if the shares earn no income?
The Board concluded that a judge who keeps any interest in a former legal professional association, even through a trust producing no income, creates the appearance of impropriety and risks frequent d…
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…
Must a judge disqualify when the lawyer in the case is the judge's brother-in-law, and can the parties waive it?
The Board concluded that a judge must disqualify from any proceeding in which a person within the third degree of relationship appears as a party or lawyer, which includes a spouse's brother, but may …
Can an Ohio judge serve on the board of trustees of a college or university?
The Board concluded that a judge may serve as a trustee of a college or university, with two limits: the judge should not serve if the institution is likely to appear before the judge or to be regular…
Is it nepotism for a court to keep a long-time employee who married the court's judge, or for a judge to appoint the qualified spouse of a current court employee?
The Board concluded that retaining a long-term court employee who is now married to the judge of that court may create the appearance of impropriety but is not per se nepotism under Canon 3B(4), and t…
Can a full-time probate or juvenile court referee draft wills or trusts for relatives?
The Board concluded that a full-time referee is a judge for purposes of the Code of Judicial Conduct and is precluded from practicing law under Canon 5F, and that preparing wills is the practice of la…
Can a retired judge who is not eligible for recall to the bench endorse candidates and take part in political campaigns?
The Board concluded that a retired judge who is not eligible for recall to judicial service is not governed by the Code of Judicial Conduct and therefore may endorse or participate in the campaign of …
Under Ohio's judicial-conduct rules, could a judge or judicial candidate's campaign committee contribute to other candidates, and could a judge contribute to a political party?
The Board concluded that, unlike the ABA's version, Ohio's Code of Judicial Conduct did not bar a judge or judicial candidate, or the candidate's campaign committee, from contributing to other candida…
Under the former Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct, could a sitting judge be a partner or shareholder in a business that consulted, for pay, candidates running for elective office?
The Board concluded that a judge should not engage in the business of consulting candidates for political office. Canon 5C(2) barred a judge from serving as an officer, director, manager, advisor, or …
Could a retired Ohio judge who registered to serve as a private judge still be eligible for appointment as a visiting judge by the Chief Justice?
The Board concluded that a retired judge who registered for referrals as a private judge under Ohio Rev. Code 2701.10 was not precluded from being assigned as a visiting judge by the Chief Justice of …
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.