Oregon State Bar Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Oregon State Bar, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a hearings officer, agency adjudicator, or judge apply or negotiate for a government legal job while a matter involving the prospective employer is pending before them?
Under Oregon RPC 1.12(b), an adjudicator who participates personally and substantially in a matter may not negotiate for employment with a party or a party's lawyer in that matter, though merely apply…
When may a lawyer make public statements about a pending civil or criminal case, and when do pretrial press conferences cross the line under the trial-publicity rule?
A lawyer's extrajudicial statement violates Oregon RPC 3.6 only if the lawyer knows or should know it will be publicly disseminated and have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an immin…
What must an indigent-defense lawyer do about an excessive court-appointed caseload, and when are supervising or contracting lawyers responsible?
A lawyer who cannot meet the basic duties of competence, diligence, and communication to each client has an excessive workload and must control it, by declining new appointments, transferring cases, o…
Can a prosecutor make the decision to prosecute conditional on the complaining witness agreeing not to civilly compromise the case, and can the prosecutor instead suggest a civil compromise?
No to the first, yes to the second: conditioning prosecution on a witness's promise not to enter a statutory civil compromise is conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice under RPC 8.4(a)(4…
Is a public defender office treated as a law firm for conflicts, so that one lawyer's former-client conflict disqualifies the whole office, and does it change when the lawyer leaves?
Yes. A public defender organization is a firm under Oregon RPC 1.0(d), so a lawyer's former-client conflict under Oregon RPC 1.9 is imputed to the whole office under Oregon RPC 1.10(a) and cannot be c…
Can a government lawyer advise an agency investigator to contact a represented licensee, and may the lawyer warn the licensee's attorney about the contact?
The opinion concludes an assistant attorney general may advise an agency investigator about contacting a represented licensee directly (the agency, as a party, may contact another party even though it…
Can a plaintiff's lawyer interview current and former employees of a state agency defendant without the Attorney General's consent?
A current agency employee is off-limits under Oregon RPC 4.2 only if the employee is part of management or their conduct is at issue; other current employees, and former employees, may be contacted wi…
Can a lawyer adverse to a public body contact a government employee for copies of public records without the public body's lawyer's consent?
Yes. A limited request to a public employee to obtain a specific public record is a communication authorized by law under the Public Records Law, so Oregon RPC 4.2 does not bar it; but substantive que…
Can a prosecutor or a co-defendant's lawyer contact a represented defendant about a separate, unrepresented charge, and may a prosecutor use undercover agents against a represented suspect before charging?
No to the first two: under RPC 4.2, neither a co-defendant's lawyer nor a prosecutor may talk to a defendant about another charge on which the defendant is unrepresented if the defendant is represente…
Can a part-time special prosecutor also represent private clients adverse to the state, city, or county, and can the prosecutor obtain an advance blanket waiver of future conflicts from the state?
Yes. A special prosecutor's only government client is the state, so the lawyer may represent private clients against the state in unrelated matters with the affected clients' written informed consent,…
When a lawyer moves between criminal defense practice, a district attorney's office, or the bench, which conflicts follow the lawyer, and when are they imputed to the new firm or curable by screening?
A lawyer carries former-client and former-government conflicts when switching sides, and may take a conflicting matter only with the affected clients' written informed consent. A defense lawyer's conf…
Can a law firm represent criminal defendants when one of its lawyers is the city councilor or mayor and city police officers will be witnesses?
Yes, qualified. The city is not the firm's client, so RPC 1.7(a)(1) does not apply, and cross-examining a city police officer does not by itself create a conflict; the firm should watch for personal r…
Can a lawyer who serves as a part-time municipal judge represent private clients before the town council or defend a client by cross-examining police officers who appear before that judge?
Qualified yes to both: neither representation is barred outright, and on the facts given there is no RPC 1.7 conflict (one client per matter) and no improper use of public office, but the lawyer must …
Can a lawyer who is also a state legislator take a fee from a client to push legislation that benefits the client?
No. The opinion concludes a lawyer-legislator may not accept a fee to seek legislation for a client, because the arrangement is bribe-giving and bribe-receiving under Oregon law and is barred by RPC 1…
Can a lawyer communicate ex parte with an administrative law judge during a contested-case hearing, and does an Attorney General's office lawyer have more latitude to do so?
The opinion concludes RPC 3.5(b) appears to apply to administrative law judges as it does to court judges, so private-party ex parte contact on the merits is barred unless authorized by law; the APA's…
Can a county counsel who advises county employees on county business also negotiate the county's collective-bargaining agreement against those same employees?
The opinion concludes county counsel may negotiate the collective-bargaining agreement because the county is the lawyer's only client; advising employees on county business does not make them clients,…
In a state support-enforcement case, is the custodial parent the lawyer's client whose instructions the lawyer must follow?
No, qualified. The opinion concludes that in support-enforcement proceedings the client is the State of Oregon, not either parent, so the government lawyer owes the former wife no client-type duty and…
When can an Oregon lawyer advise, supervise, or take part in a covert investigation that uses misrepresentation, and can the lawyer go undercover personally?
Oregon RPC 8.4(b) is a safe harbor that lets a lawyer advise or supervise lawful covert activity only when the lawyer in good faith believes there is a reasonable possibility of unlawful activity; it …
Can a lawyer who is a public employee take part in a lawful labor strike against the government agency that employs them?
Yes, qualified. The opinion concludes nothing in the rules bars a public-employee lawyer from a lawful strike, but the lawyer must avoid neglecting client matters (by giving adequate advance notice so…
Can a lawyer who used to work in the state appellate public defender's office take postconviction appeals alleging ineffective assistance by that office's lawyers?
Generally yes, with qualifications. The opinion concludes the lawyer may take such appeals, but a personal-interest conflict under Oregon RPC 1.7(a)(2) arises if loyalty to former colleagues would mat…
Can a part-time deputy district attorney take private clients in matters connected to cases the office is prosecuting?
No, while still in office. The opinion concludes a deputy DA may not represent a private party in a civil matter involving substantially the same controversy as a pending prosecution, under ORS 8.720 …
Can a prosecutor threaten to file more serious charges if a defendant refuses a plea offer or files pretrial motions?
Yes, qualified. The opinion concludes that threatening charges already supported by probable cause as part of plea negotiations facilitates the administration of justice and does not by itself violate…
Can a county counsel's office communicate ex parte with, and prepare draft findings for, a county land-use hearing officer it helped hire?
Yes, qualified. Ex parte communication between county counsel and the planning division, hearing officer, or commissioners is not improper if authorized by ordinance or other law, by extension of the …
Can a district attorney offer a plea bargain conditioned on the defendant waiving civil remedies against the arresting officers or resolving a related civil forfeiture?
Yes, qualified. Because the criminal charges are already pending, the offer is not a threat to present charges under RPC 3.4(g), and a simultaneous-settlement offer is not per se prejudicial to the ad…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Oregon State Bar 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.