Oklahoma Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Oklahoma Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can an Oklahoma lawyer advertise specific jury verdict or settlement amounts they have obtained?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded a lawyer may list specific verdict or settlement amounts in advertising if the statement does not breach the duty of confidentiality, is factually accurat…
Can a lawyer employed as in-house counsel for an aircraft title company also represent the company's customers by rendering title opinions they pay for directly?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded that the title company's staff lawyer may also render title opinions for the company's customers if the lawyer reasonably determines the dual representati…
Can an insurance defense lawyer represent an insured when the insurer sends the lawyer's bills to an outside auditor?
No. The committee concluded that defense counsel may not agree to represent an insured knowing the insurer will send counsel's invoices to an outside auditor, because seeking the client's informed con…
If a lawyer and client had no romantic relationship before the representation began, can the lawyer start a sexual relationship with the client during the case?
Probably not without violating the Rules. The committee concluded that a lawyer who begins sexual relations with a client, where no consensual sexual relationship predated the lawyer-client relationsh…
May a lawyer who is an employee (staff attorney) of a liability insurer represent the insurer's insured in a defense?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded that a staff attorney employed by a liability insurer may represent the insured if the lawyer discloses all limitations on the representation, the insurer…
May a lawyer in a personal-injury case talk privately (ex parte) with the opposing party's treating physician?
Yes, in itself. The committee concluded that an ex parte communication with an adverse party's physician is not per se unethical; the bare fact of communicating does not violate the Rules of Professio…
May a lawyer donate old client files to a historical or educational institution because they have historical significance?
Generally no. The committee concluded that client files probably contain confidences and secrets protected by DR 4-101, so a lawyer may not turn them over to a historical or educational institution wi…
Can a lawyer serve as a Selective Service Government Appeals Agent when the role requires protecting both the registrant and the Government?
Yes, but only with clear up-front disclosure. The committee concluded the role is incompatible with an attorney-client relationship, so the lawyer had to tell both the registrant and the Government at…
May a person qualified as both lawyer and doctor hold out in both professions, are all firm members responsible for one member's misconduct, and may a building be named 'Medical-Legal Building'?
The committee concluded that a lawyer-physician must choose to hold out as one or the other because practicing both is too fraught with conflicts and confidentiality dangers; that firm members who kno…
May a lawyer who once represented an estate's administratrix later represent heirs in a proceeding against her?
No. The committee concluded that a lawyer who formerly represented the administratrix may not represent heirs against her, even if she reposed no confidences in him, because he was in a position to ac…
May a lawyer defend a suit brought by someone who earlier consulted his partner about bringing that same suit but did not retain the firm over a fee disagreement?
It depends. The committee concluded the firm is disqualified only if the partner received information helpful to the defense; if the partner did not discuss the merits or acquire usable facts, the def…
What should a lawyer do when the estate administrator he represents has concealed and sold estate property without accounting for it?
The committee concluded the lawyer should first advise the administrator-client to inventory everything, account for items sold, and make restitution; if the client refuses, the lawyer should inform t…
May a lawyer represent a claimant against a former employer when, before admission to the bar, the lawyer investigated and handled that same claim as the employer's lay claim agent?
The committee concluded no, without the former employer's consent. A claim agent who investigated a claim acquires confidential information so nearly like that of a lawyer that Canon 6's bar on repres…
May a lawyer provide legal services to members of an automobile club under a membership plan where the club pays for and limits the fee?
The committee concluded a lawyer may serve a club on matters common to all members, but furnishing legal services to individual members on their own affairs through the club ran afoul of Canon 35's ba…
Must a lawyer disclose a client's identity to government investigators when the client only sought advice about possibly unlawful conduct?
No. The Board concluded that a lawyer properly refused to disclose to a Customs agent the name of a client who had sought advice about possibly smuggled goods, because nothing showed the client announ…
When may an office-sharing lawyer take a suit related to a matter his office-mate handled, and when is the original lawyer disqualified from the other side?
The Board concluded an office-mate may take the suit if the original lawyer is not disqualified, but that lawyer may not represent the opposing side if he learned related confidences representing the …
After representing taxpayers who fought a school-district annexation, could the lawyer later represent the annexing district resisting their effort to withdraw?
No. The Board concluded the lawyer could not, on the same annexation controversy, switch to represent the school district resisting the former clients' withdrawal; Rule 8 forbids later employment adve…
Could a lawyer agree to take stolen jewels as a fee so a felon would reveal their location, planning instead to tip off authorities and return them?
No. The Board concluded a lawyer is never justified in planning to double-cross a person he agrees to serve as a lawyer; preserving client confidence is paramount even to recovering stolen property fo…
May a lawyer refuse to disclose the whereabouts of a client who jumped bail and is living as a fugitive under an assumed name?
No. Adopting an ABA committee opinion, the Board concluded that a lawyer's knowledge of a bail-jumping fugitive client's whereabouts is not privileged, that the lawyer has a duty to disclose it to the…
May a former city attorney who defended the city in nuisance suits over its sewage plant later represent those same plaintiffs suing the city for continuing the same nuisance?
The Board concluded no. Under Rules 38 and 8, a former city attorney could not accept employment against the city in a matter he had passed upon and defended while in office, even for damages arising …
May a lawyer employed by the State Banking Department as a liquidating agent take a client's case suing the State on relation of the bank commissioner over a different insolvent bank?
The Board concluded yes, but only if the lawyer had not obtained any information about the facts of the proposed suit through his department employment; if he had, accepting the case would be improper…
Could a lawyer who had defended one co-defendant now defend the other co-defendant, after the first client pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the State?
No. The Board concluded the lawyer could not defend co-defendant 'A' after representing 'B,' who had confided in him and then turned State's witness against 'A'; the duty to preserve a former client's…
Could a lawyer who had represented a company in two pending suits accept employment to sue that same company for a new client?
The Board concluded it depended on confidences: if the lawyer had gained any knowledge of facts affecting the new suit through the prior representation, accepting it was improper; if not, no rule barr…
Could the lawyers who drafted a client's will later represent a claimant seeking to share in the estate against the terms of that will?
The Board concluded no. Representing a common-law-wife claimant against the will the lawyers had drafted for the decedent would contravene Rule 8's bar on conflicting interests and the duty under Rule…
Can a lawyer accept a new client to defend a suit that his own former client has brought on a closely related matter?
The Board concluded the lawyer could not accept the new retainer, because Rule 8 forbids later taking employment from others in matters adversely affecting an interest of a former client as to which c…
After a law firm dissolves, can one of its former partners represent the party adverse to a client the firm had represented under retainer?
The Board concluded it would be improper under Rule 8 for the former partner to represent the adverse party, in the pending suit or in a related bankruptcy, because the firm's retainer and confidences…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Oklahoma 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.