Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel, with full citations and source links on every page.
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I used to run labor relations for a state agency and now I'm in private practice. A former coworker facing termination wants me to represent him against the agency. The agency's lawyers say I have a conflict. Do I?
Not necessarily. The panel held that Rule 1.11, not Rule 1.9, governs, and a former government lawyer is disqualified from a matter only if he or she participated personally and substantially in that …
I represented a corporate client on zoning approvals for a development in one town back in 2005, and the matter is long over. The company later interviewed me (but hired someone else) for a new development in a different town, and now neighbors opposing that new project want me to represent them against the company. Is that a conflict?
No. The panel held that representing individuals who oppose a former corporate client's real estate development in a different town, after formerly representing the client in unrelated zoning matters …
I'm representing a terminated state-agency hearing officer in an employment dispute against the agency. I also represent a corporate client seeking a contested license from that same agency. The agency's lawyers say I have a conflict and must withdraw from all matters there. Do I?
No. The panel held the concurrent representations do not present a Rule 1.7 conflict because the corporate client's license matter is not directly adverse to the terminated hearing officer, and there …
Before I was elected to town council, I consulted with someone about a property dispute, investigated it, and declined to take the case. Now that same matter is coming before the council for a vote. Do I have to recuse myself, even though I never formally represented that person?
Yes. The panel held Rule 1.11(d) bars the attorney from participating, including voting, as a council member in a matter the attorney personally and substantially investigated in private practice duri…
I've been retained as special counsel for a municipality on two lawsuits, working alongside the town solicitor. Can I also represent private clients before that same municipality's zoning board of review or town council?
No, absent consent. The panel held that representing private clients before a municipality's zoning board or town council while also serving as the municipality's special counsel is a conflict of inte…
I used to be the probate judge in my town but wasn't reappointed. Can I now represent clients in matters before that same probate court?
Yes, with a limit. The panel held a former municipal probate judge may represent clients before the same probate court, provided the lawyer does not represent anyone in connection with a matter the la…
I'm currently representing a client in matters pending before a state agency, and I've applied for a legal counsel position at that same agency. Is applying or interviewing a conflict, and if I'm hired, can I work on the matters I used to handle for my client?
Applying and interviewing are not a conflict. If hired, Rule 1.11(d)(1) bars the lawyer from personally participating in matters the lawyer handled personally and substantially in private practice, th…
I represent a passenger pursuing an underinsured-motorist claim against another driver's insurer. That same driver now wants me to represent him in an unrelated slip-and-fall case. Is that a conflict of interest?
No, according to this opinion. Because the passenger's underinsured claim is a contract claim against the driver's insurance company, not against the driver personally, and the driver isn't pursuing h…
My firm represented a company on permits for a real estate project. The company sold its assets to a new corporation with different owners, and some of the old company's disgruntled shareholders are threatening to challenge the sale. Can we now represent the new owner on the same permits?
Yes. The panel found no Rule 1.9 conflict because the new owner's interests in the permits are not adverse to the former corporate client's; the adversity over the sale runs between the former client'…
I'm a solo/small-firm lawyer running for city council, and I regularly represent clients before the city's planning and zoning boards. If I'm elected, can I keep representing those clients before the boards?
The panel held there is no per se bar. Under Rule 1.7(b) the lawyer may represent clients before the planning and zoning boards case by case, provided the lawyer reasonably believes the representation…
I drafted a will and trust for a now-deceased client and represent the trustee. The trust now needs a second co-trustee, a longtime friend I've also represented personally on unrelated matters and who belongs to my church, which may benefit from the trust. Both want me to continue as counsel. Can I, and does my proposed disclosure letter cover the ethics requirements?
Yes to both. The panel held there is no Rule 1.9 conflict representing the second trustee because the prior personal representations are not substantially related to the trust and foundation matters, …
I want to represent veterans before the Court of Veterans Claims. My brother-in-law is a supervising attorney on the opposing federal agency's litigation team (though he's promised my cases won't go to his team), and my sister is a staff attorney at the board whose decisions get appealed to that court. Do these family ties create a conflict?
The brother-in-law relationship isn't covered by Rule 1.8(i), which lists only parent, child, sibling, or spouse, so representation is permitted given the assurances his team won't handle the cases. T…
As a former assistant public defender, I once represented a murder defendant who later testified against a co-defendant under a plea deal. My future law partner currently represents that co-defendant. The co-defendant is willing to waive any conflict and have me screened. If I join the new firm, will my old conflict spread to the whole firm, and does screening fix it?
The conflict does impute to the new firm, and screening alone does not fix it. The panel held Rule 1.10(b) imputes the inquiring attorney's conflict to the new firm because the two defendants' interes…
My insurance-company client assigned me to defend Physician A in a malpractice suit; Physician A was later dismissed. Now the same insurer wants me to represent Physician C, a non-party witness in the same case who's worried about being added as a defendant, at a deposition. Can I represent Physician C when my former client Physician A was a co-defendant in the same lawsuit?
It depends on whether the two physicians' interests are actually adverse. The panel held the attorney must first determine whether Physician C's interests, or testimony, are materially adverse to form…
Years ago, before I became town solicitor, two residents consulted me about the town's plan to close a landfill and monitor groundwater there. I never took on their representation. Now, as solicitor, I'm handling a dispute over siting a new municipal facility on an adjacent lot, and those same two residents are opposing it as part of a citizens group. Do I have a conflict?
No. The panel held the current facility-siting controversy is not the same or substantially related to the earlier landfill-closure and groundwater consultation, so Rule 1.9 does not bar representing …
I used to represent a husband and wife together on the wife's immigration status. The applications were withdrawn and the marriage has now broken down. The wife wants me to represent her in a new application where she'll claim the husband subjected her to extreme cruelty. Can I take that case?
No, and the conflict can't be waived. The panel held Rule 1.9 bars the representation because the wife's new application is substantially related to the prior joint immigration applications and materi…
My law partner is married to the municipality's deputy police chief, who also handles some prosecutions. Our firm won't touch cases where the spouse investigated, and I take other police-department criminal cases after disclosing the relationship. Does this policy comply with the conflicts rules?
Mostly, but the firm's policy needs one addition. The panel held the policy complies with Rule 1.7(b) once the inquiring attorney and the law partner also satisfy Rule 1.7(b)'s waiver conditions, reas…
I serve as guardian for one individual. That person's mother, who has objected to some of my spending decisions in the past, now needs her own guardian, and her daughter wants me to represent her as guardian for her mother, or serve as guardian myself if the daughter can't. Is that a conflict?
No conflict of interest. The panel held the lawyer's responsibilities as guardian for the individual do not materially limit representing the individual's sister as guardian for their mother, or servi…
I prepared a will years ago for an elderly client whose mental health has since declined, with suspected Alzheimer's. One of the client's adult children wants me to represent them in a guardianship petition over my own client. Is that a conflict, and if not, who do I end up representing?
Not a conflict. The panel held Rule 1.14 permits the lawyer to represent the petitioner seeking guardianship over the lawyer's own client if the lawyer reasonably believes guardianship is in the clien…
The town solicitor and manager asked me to represent the municipality in a Superior Court lawsuit, but I already represent private clients in matters before the town's zoning and planning boards. Is that a conflict?
Yes. The panel held representing the municipality in the lawsuit would be a Rule 1.7 conflict because the attorney's existing zoning and planning board clients occupy a position adverse to the municip…
I'm a part-time municipal court judge and a partner at my law firm. My municipality just did a property revaluation, taxpayers are asking my firm to handle their appeals, and I want to appeal my own valuation too. Any conflict?
No conflict in contesting your own valuation, and the firm can take the appeals with consent. The panel held nothing bars the judge from contesting a personal property revaluation, and the firm may re…
I'm a town solicitor and my office is prosecuting two juveniles for a fire that destroyed my neighbors' home. My office has recused itself from that prosecution. Can I represent my neighbors in a related civil suit against the juveniles' families?
Yes, but only with consent from both sides. The panel held Rule 1.11 does not bar the representation once the solicitor's office has stepped back from the prosecution, but Rule 1.7 still requires the …
A current client wants me to represent him against his ex-wife in post-divorce Family Court proceedings. My ex-wife's sister happens to be another current client of mine in her own divorce matter, and she says representing her ex-brother-in-law would be a conflict. Is she right?
No. The panel held there is no Rule 1.7 conflict, because the two clients' interests are not directly adverse to each other and the representation of one is not materially limited by responsibilities …
I represent several plaintiffs, including a survivor and the estates of decedents, in consolidated lawsuits arising from the same incident. Some clients' accounts of the facts contradict each other and each side's testimony could defeat the other's claim. Is that a conflict?
Yes, if the positions are truly opposed. The panel held Rule 1.7(b) creates a conflict of interest where the representatives of the decedents' estates and the survivor take diametrically opposed posit…
I represent clients before my town's council and planning and zoning boards. If I get elected town moderator, a role limited to running the financial town meeting, can I keep representing those clients before the council and boards?
Yes. The panel held the town moderator's duties, based on the town charter, are ministerial and ceremonial, so they do not present a material limitation under Rule 1.7(b) to representing clients befor…
A lawyer in my firm handled the closing and will testify at trial about what a disputed letter agreement meant. Can I still act as trial counsel for the same client in that case?
Yes, in most circumstances. The panel held Rule 3.7(b) lets the inquiring attorney continue as trial counsel while a law partner testifies, unless that partner's testimony is likely to substantially c…
I used to represent a school committee at a termination hearing. Now the committee is being sued over that termination and two individual members who voted against it want me to represent them personally. Can I, or can someone else at my firm?
No. The panel held the school committee is the attorney's former client under Rule 1.9, the pending lawsuit is the same or substantially related to the termination hearing, and the conflict is imputed…
Years ago I helped a company get regulatory approval for one parcel of land. Now a different company wants me to represent it on an adjacent parcel before the same agency, and my former client objects. Is that a conflict?
It depends on whether the two representations are substantially related. The panel could not determine that connection from the facts given and held that if the matters are not substantially related, …
Two of my former clients will testify against my current client in a boundary dispute. I represented those former clients in unrelated matters years ago. Is that a conflict?
No. The panel held Rule 1.9 does not bar the representation because the boundary dispute is unrelated to the earlier corporate and personal injury matters, so long as no confidential information from …
Can I represent new clients in a boundary dispute against a former client, when the disputed property is the same real estate I handled for that former client in an earlier divorce case?
No. The panel held Rule 1.9 barred the representation because the boundary dispute over the same real estate is substantially related to the earlier representation, so the former client's consent afte…
As a former state agency lawyer now in private practice, can I represent private clients bringing the same type of statutory claims against my old agency, as long as I wasn't personally involved in their specific cases?
Yes. The panel held Rule 1.11 bars a former government lawyer only from the particular matters they personally handled, so representing clients in the same kind of case is permitted, though Rule 1.9(b…
I share office space with two attorneys who are solicitors for a municipality. Can I appear before that municipality's zoning board even though their conflict would normally be imputed to a law firm?
Yes, on these facts. The panel held that because the three attorneys maintained separate, independent practices with no indicia of a joint firm, their office-sharing arrangement was not a 'firm' under…
If a Rhode Island lawyer withdraws from representing a client, can the lawyer then represent someone else in a claim against that same client?
Not without the first client's consent. The panel held this stays a current-client conflict under Rule 1.7, not a former-client issue under Rule 1.9, because the lawyer withdrew from the first represe…
The insurer that hired me to defend its insured wants me to follow litigation guidelines that require its pre-approval before I do research, file motions, or take depositions. Can I agree to that?
The panel concluded that the specific guidelines submitted, which required the insurer's pre-approval for reasonable and necessary legal services, impermissibly interfered with defense counsel's indep…
Can I buy a piece of real estate directly from my own clients, and what do I have to do first to make it ethical?
The panel concluded the attorney may purchase the real estate from the clients under Rule 1.8(a), provided the transaction is fair and reasonable and fully disclosed in writing, the clients are advise…
Two of the parties fighting over a right-of-way are both former clients of my firm, on opposite sides. Can my firm represent either one?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.9 and Rule 1.10, and absent consent, the firm may represent neither the buyers of the dominant parcel nor the servient-parcel owners, because both are former clie…
I'm a state agency lawyer suing a city, and a colleague at my agency sits on that city's council. Do I have a conflict of interest?
The panel concluded the agency lawyer may represent the State against the city under Rule 1.7(b), provided the lawyer reasonably believes the representation will not be adversely affected and obtains …
My firm's lawyers used to represent Company A on its waste-disposal cleanup cases at other sites. Can we now represent other companies against Company A at a new landfill site without Company A's consent?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.9 the firm's lawyers had a former-client conflict because the new clients' interests were materially adverse to Company A and the matters were substantially relat…
I'm a solo lawyer affiliated 'of counsel' with another attorney who also works as a business broker and refers his brokerage clients to me. Are his conflicts imputed to me so that I can't represent those clients?
The panel concluded that because the two lawyers kept separate offices and practices and had no access to each other's files, they were not a 'firm' under Rule 1.10, so Attorney B's conflicts were not…
I'm a lawyer who is also a licensed investment adviser and securities sales rep. Can I sell investment services and give legal advice to the same client, represent the investment firm I work with, and trade referrals with it?
The panel advised against providing both legal and investment services to the same client because the lawyer's financial stake in the investments makes Rule 1.8(a)'s fairness requirement impossible to…
I'm a lawyer for a state child-support agency. Can I represent the state to recover overpaid support from a custodial parent I already represent, and can my office take the opposing parent's case after a custody switch?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.7(a) barred the agency attorney from representing the state against his own client in the recoupment proceeding, and that withdrawing would not cure it; in the second s…
I represent one family in a tort suit against an abuser and another family in a criminal-injuries-compensation claim over the same abuser. Do I have a conflict of interest representing both?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.7 did not preclude the representations because the two sets of clients' interests were not directly adverse and the representation of one was not materially limited by …
I used to be a prosecutor and handled this defendant's case. Now in private practice, can I represent him at his parole hearing, can my firm take it if I'm screened, and can I collect a referral fee if I send it out?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.11(a) was an absolute bar to the former prosecutor personally representing the individual (RI's rule has no government-consent provision), that the firm could take the …
I'm a part-time deputy probate judge for a town and I also have a private law practice. Can I represent clients before that same town's zoning board?
The panel concluded that the part-time deputy probate judge could represent clients before the municipality's zoning board if, under Rule 1.7(b), he reasonably believed the representation would not be…
Years ago I did some work for the seller in a real estate closing while representing the buyer. Now the buyer faces an adverse-possession claim. Can I represent the buyer in a third-party warranty claim against that seller?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.9(a) prohibited the lawyer from representing the buyer against the seller, because the seller was a former client whose interests were materially adverse in a substanti…
Years ago I represented a union on contract and labor matters. Can I now represent a former union officer suing that union for defamation over statements it made recently?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.9 permitted the representation because the earlier contract and labor-relations work and the new defamation suit over 1997 statements were not the same or substantially…
While I worked for the Attorney General I told an assault victim that the police weren't prosecuting and that he could privately prosecute. Now in private practice, can I represent that victim in a suit against the perpetrator?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.11(a) did not bar the former Attorney General lawyer from representing the victim privately, because his earlier conversations advising the victim of his options did no…
I'm opening a real estate referral company I'll co-own with another lawyer, in my law office. Can I do the legal work on transactions where my company or its agents earn a commission, and if not, can I refer that work to lawyers in my building?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.7 barred the lawyer from providing legal services in a real estate transaction in which his referral company or its affiliated agents and brokers received a commission,…
My former firm is suing my current client to collect old legal fees, and I worked at that firm while the fees accrued (though I did none of that work). Can I defend the client in the collection action?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.7(b) the lawyer could represent the client if he reasonably believed the representation would not be adversely affected by his own interests or responsibilities t…
Four years ago my firm represented Able in a car-accident injury claim. Can we now represent Baker, a passenger injured in a different accident, in a claim adverse to Able?
The panel concluded that Able was a former client under Rule 1.9, but because the earlier accident claim and the new one were not the same or substantially related matters, the firm could represent Ba…
Eight years ago I got Client A sole custody in her divorce. Can I now represent Client B, the present wife of Client A's ex-husband, in Client B's own child-support case against a different ex-spouse?
The panel concluded that Client A was a former client under Rule 1.9, but the continued representation of Client B was permitted because the custody matter and the new child-support matter were not th…
My firm was hired by an insurer to defend both the insured and the driver, but the driver never responded and now the insured has given me information adverse to the driver. Can I drop the driver and represent the insured?
The panel concluded that Rule 1.7 prohibits the lawyer from representing the insured whether or not the lawyer withdraws from representing the driver, because the two clients' interests are directly a…
I represent A on a personal injury claim and A's spouse B on a loss-of-consortium claim, but A and B are now divorcing and B may claim part of A's lost-wages recovery. Can I keep representing both, even with a signed conflict waiver?
The panel concluded that the lawyer could not represent both A and B, because the divorce gave B an interest in A's recovery that was directly adverse under Rule 1.7(a), and the representation of A wo…
I once jointly represented a husband and wife in a narrow insurance complaint that has ended. Now the husband wants me to represent him in their divorce. Is the wife a former client, and can I take the case?
The panel concluded that the wife was a former client under Rule 1.9 and that the lawyer could represent the husband in the divorce, because the earlier insurance-complaint matter and the divorce were…
My spouse is an associate at a big firm but doesn't work on family-court cases. Do I and my firm need client consent to handle a family-court matter where a different lawyer at my spouse's firm is opposing counsel?
The panel concluded that disclosure and consent are not required unless an actual conflict exists or is reasonably foreseeable; because the spouses are not opposing each other, Rule 1.8(i) does not ap…
A colleague at my firm drafted and witnessed a will and will likely testify in a contested probate over the testator's capacity. Can I still represent the executor or estate in that proceeding?
The panel concluded that under Rule 3.7(b) the lawyer may represent the executor or estate in a probate proceeding in which another lawyer in the firm is likely to testify, because the advocate-witnes…
I left my old firm, where a colleague represents the wife in a pending divorce. The husband now wants to hire me, and I never worked on the wife's file. Am I disqualified?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.10(b) the lawyer is not disqualified from representing the husband if the lawyer acquired no knowledge of information protected by Rules 1.6 and 1.9(b) about the …
A year ago I represented Marina A in a dock dispute on its south side. Now a long-time client wants permits for a new marina on Marina A's north side, and Marina A objects. Is that a conflict?
The panel concluded that the two matters were not substantially related, because the prior representation concerned only a south-side dock dispute while the new matter concerned a north-side pier and …
I used to represent a police union and some of its members in grievances. Now the ousted police chief wants me to handle his removal appeal, and union members will testify against him. Is that a conflict?
The panel concluded there was no conflict precluding the representation, because none of the fifteen misconduct allegations against the chief was the same or substantially related to the lawyer's prio…
Opposing counsel says I can't represent the wife in this divorce because I once gave her a refrigerator and drafted a family partnership that included both spouses. Do either of those create a conflict?
The panel concluded there was no conflict: drafting the family partnership was intermediary work for common clients under Rule 2.2, the partnership interests were not marital assets and not substantia…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel 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.