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'm a town solicitor who prosecutes misdemeanors for the town. Is it a conflict of interest for me to prosecute a town employee who was arrested?
No conflict. The panel held that a town solicitor's only client is the municipality, not its individual employees, so prosecuting a town employee who is not the solicitor's client does not create a Ru…
My firm's intake staff interviewed a prospective client (a nurse) whose problem turns out to be the same death my existing clients are suing over. Does that intake create a conflict forcing me to withdraw from the family's case?
The panel concluded the intake interview does create a conflict requiring the attorney to withdraw from representing the Decedent's family. The nurse is a prospective client under Rule 1.18, and Rule …
A resident who once sued the quasi-municipal entity I represent, in a case that settled, just got elected to its board and says I must resign as counsel. Do the ethics rules require that?
The panel concluded the Rules of Professional Conduct do not require the attorney to resign. Under Rule 1.13, the attorney represents the Entity, not its individual board members, so there is no attor…
I prosecute cases for a town police department. Can I defend a client at a probation-violation hearing where I'd have to cross-examine officers from that same department?
The panel concluded the attorney may not represent the client at the hearing. Because the attorney regularly prosecutes for the Department, cross-examining and possibly impeaching Department officers …
A bankruptcy trustee accuses me of malpractice in a concluded case, but has filed no suit, and my client wants me to keep representing him. Do I have a personal-interest conflict that forces me to withdraw?
The panel concluded no conflict of interest exists under these facts. A bare malpractice allegation from a third party (the bankruptcy trustee), with no suit or action filed, does not create the kind …
My client claims my firm missed a filing deadline and wants to settle the malpractice claim for money plus finishing the other case for free. Can we accept that settlement under the ethics rules?
The panel concluded the proposed settlement comports with the Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 1.8(h)(2) permits a lawyer to settle a malpractice claim with a client or former client only if the pe…
I'm a real estate development expert who testifies before zoning and planning boards. Can I be both the expert witness and the advocate for clients in the same matters if I use separate LLCs?
The panel concluded the attorney may not serve as an expert witness in the same real estate development matters in which he or she represents clients as an advocate, nor vice versa. The zoning and pla…
A mortgage broker I do real estate work for wants me to be its resident agent, endorsing and disbursing insurance checks. Do the ethics rules let me take that role?
The panel concluded the attorney may become the Broker's resident agent, subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Serving as resident agent (receiving and endorsing insurance checks and disbursin…
A law firm trains me and helps on my cases, though we share no office or letterhead. Can I put that firm on my nonprofit's conflict-referral list?
The panel concluded the inquiring attorney may not refer conflicted prospective clients to the Firm unless the training relationship is terminated or affected clients give informed written consent. Th…
I sit on the board of a nonprofit that is being sued, and I want to represent it in the litigation. Do the ethics rules let me serve as both director and its lawyer?
The panel concluded the inquiring attorney is not prohibited from representing the Entity, provided he or she reasonably believes the representation will not be materially limited by the dual role, or…
I moved firms and want to sue a school district that is my old firm's client, but I never worked on its matters there. Does Rule 1.9 disqualify me?
The panel concluded the inquiring attorney may represent the client without the former firm's consent. Rule 1.9(b) disqualifies a migrating lawyer only when the matter is the same or substantially rel…
One of the lawyers who shares my letterhead is a part-time assistant town solicitor who prosecutes for the town. Can I still defend a client charged by that town's police if that lawyer is screened off?
The panel concluded the inquiring attorney is not precluded from representing the client. Because the lawyers shared letterhead, address, and email domain, they were a firm under Rule 1.0(c), so the a…
I've been referred a client to appear before a Supreme Court board, but my law partner is a sitting member of that board. If my partner recuses from the matter, is screened off, and takes no fee, can I still take the representation?
Yes. The panel held that although the partner's board membership creates a nonconsentable Rule 1.7 conflict that would ordinarily be imputed to the inquiring attorney under Rule 1.10(a), the partner's…
Opposing counsel in my client's divorce is also a probate judge before whom I represent a different client in an unrelated matter. Is that a conflict of interest that forces me to withdraw?
The panel concluded no concurrent conflict of interest exists, so the attorney need not withdraw from either representation. The two clients are unrelated parties in unrelated matters, so the represen…
I'm a town solicitor and a Town Councilor whose interests have turned adverse to the Council is undermining our case and may draw sanctions against the Council. How do I proceed under the ethics rules?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.13 the solicitor should tell the Councilor his or her interests are now adverse to the Town Council, that the solicitor no longer represents the Councilor, and th…
My firm represents private clients before a town's planning and zoning boards. If the firm also takes on prosecuting the town's misdemeanor cases, can it keep representing those private clients before the town's boards?
The panel concluded the two representations create a concurrent conflict under Rule 1.7(a), imputed firm-wide under Rule 1.10(a). The conflict is generally waivable if Rule 1.7(b)'s conditions are met…
In an immigration matter, my client's sibling (whom I don't represent) told me the sibling had filed a fraudulent application in my client's name years ago. Do I now have a conflict of interest that forces me to withdraw from representing the client?
No. The panel concluded no withdrawal is required. Because the sibling is neither a current client nor a prospective client under Rule 1.18 (the attorney told the sibling to retain separate counsel), …
I represent a client in a slip-and-fall case, and one of the defendants' witnesses turns out to be another current client of mine in an unrelated workers' comp matter. I need to depose and cross-examine that witness. Do I have a conflict, and must I withdraw?
Yes. The panel held a directly adverse concurrent conflict exists under Rule 1.7(a)(1), because the attorney must cross-examine one current client (the adverse witness) on behalf of another. The confl…
Can one law firm represent both the buyer and the seller in the same residential real estate sale if both sides consent, or is that a nonconsentable conflict of interest?
The panel held the described transactions violate the conflict rules. Representing both the buyer and the seller in the same real estate sale is a directly adverse concurrent conflict under Rule 1.7(a…
I switched to the firm that represents the estate I was adverse to for a former client. Can I work on the related trust matter, or does my firm have to screen me?
The panel concluded the attorney is personally disqualified under Rule 1.9(a) from the trust matter, but the former client can remove the disqualification with written informed consent; absent that co…
My firm is the Town Solicitor and also counsel to a municipal agency. Is representing both a conflict of interest?
The panel concluded there is no concurrent conflict under Rule 1.7 on these facts, because the Agency and the Town do not have adverse interests. The Town Council merely took a position on a type of d…
A board member filed an open-meetings complaint against the agency I represent. Can I defend the agency, given the complainant sits on its board?
Yes. The panel concluded the attorney may represent the Agency against the OMA complaint. Under Rule 1.13(a) the client is the organization, not its individual constituents, so the complaining Board m…
Can my firm place a lien on a client's property to secure unpaid attorney's fees?
Yes. The panel concluded a firm may place a lien on a client's property for the fees owed, but because acquiring a security interest adverse to a client is a business transaction, the firm must comply…
Our of-counsel attorney is a town solicitor. Can other lawyers in our firm appear before that town's zoning board and council?
The panel concluded it is a concurrent conflict under Rule 1.7(a), imputed to the whole firm under Rule 1.10(a), for other firm attorneys to appear before the municipality's planning board, zoning boa…
As town solicitor, can I represent the town council, zoning board, and a committee at once in a variance application where the committee seeks relief the zoning ordinance bars?
No. The panel concluded it is a non-waivable concurrent conflict under Rule 1.7 for the town solicitor to represent all three municipal entities in the variance application, because the Recreation Com…
Can a defense insurer require my client and me to sign a hold-harmless agreement indemnifying it for all liens as a condition of paying the settlement?
No. The panel concluded that conditioning payment of a personal injury settlement on the plaintiff's counsel personally signing a hold harmless/indemnification agreement violates Rules 1.8(e), 1.7(a)(…
After I withdrew from representing a joint venture, its remaining owner demands I disclose whether I helped my other client negotiate a sale. Must I?
No. The panel concluded that, absent the consent of the lawyer's client (Company A), Rule 1.6 prohibits the lawyer from disclosing information relating to Company A's potential sale, including whether…
I was a corporation's outside counsel years ago. May I now represent a buyer suing that corporation over a contract I never handled?
The panel concluded no conflict under Rule 1.9 because the buyer's breach claim is not the same as or substantially related to the lawyer's prior work for the corporation. The lawyer gained no specifi…
I'm a former judge back in private practice. May I represent clients in matters before the court where I served as a judge?
The panel concluded yes, subject to a limit. A former judge may represent clients before the court on which he or she served, but not in any matter in which the lawyer participated personally and subs…
May I represent a new client filing an amicus brief that supports my former client's appeal, where the two are on the same side of the issue?
The panel concluded no conflict under Rule 1.9. Even though the amicus matter is substantially related to (if not the same as) the prior representation, the new client's interests are not materially a…
Two solo lawyers who share office space want to share a secretary and a computer. Does that make them one firm for conflict-of-interest purposes?
The panel concluded the arrangement is permissible, but because the shared secretary will have access to both lawyers' protected client information, the two practices are treated as one firm for confl…
I represent a client against an opponent while job-hunting at a nonprofit that counts the opponent's parent company as a dues-paying member. Is that a conflict of interest?
The panel concluded no. Because the opponent's parent company is merely a dues-paying member with no governance role in the prospective employer, and that organization is autonomous and even takes pos…
Can I represent a client in a deal with a company that is an affiliate of my former firm's client, when my prior work for that client was unrelated to the current deal?
The panel concluded yes. Even assuming the former client and its affiliate share substantial operations and interests, the current transaction is not the same as, or substantially related to, the matt…
I represent a former city employee suing the city. Can I also serve as legal counsel to that city's council without a conflict of interest?
The panel concluded it is a conflict under Rule 1.7 to represent a client suing the city and also serve as counsel to the city council, because the lawyer would be directly adverse to a current client…
Can I serve on the board of a law-reform organization when my firm represents a client (a board of elections) that the organization has filed complaints against?
The panel concluded yes. Rule 6.4 lets a lawyer serve as a director, officer, or member of a law-reform organization even though the reform may affect a client's interests; the lawyer need only disclo…
My firm represents both the buyer and the seller as existing clients. Can two lawyers in the firm, with an internal screen, represent each side in the sale of a division of the seller's business?
The panel concluded no. The firm's representation of both current clients in the sale is a direct conflict under Rule 1.7(a)(1) because the sale is adversarial, and a firm is treated as one lawyer, so…
I once drafted powers of attorney for a woman's parents that named her as successor agent, but I never represented her. Can I now represent her husband in their divorce?
The panel concluded there is no conflict. Because the attorney never performed legal work for the wife, she is not a former client owing the attorney no duties; the former clients were her parents, to…
A prospective client told me useful information about my existing client's judgment debtor before I declined the new matter for conflict reasons. May I pass that information to my existing client so it can resume collection?
The panel concluded no. Under Rule 1.18(b), a lawyer who has consulted with a prospective client may not use or reveal information learned in the consultation except as Rule 1.9 would permit for a for…
I jointly represented a husband and wife in immigration matters, and now that they have separated the wife wants me to withhold from the husband a visa petition she filed for him. Must I honor that request?
The panel concluded no. Because the representation was a joint representation, each client is entitled to the file, and the client's file is property the client must receive under Rule 1.15(d). Confid…
I sit part-time as a municipal court judge for a city, and I also run a law firm. Can lawyers in my firm represent my son in a Superior Court lawsuit against that same city?
The panel concluded it is not a conflict under Rule 1.11 or Rule 1.7 for the part-time municipal judge's firm to represent the judge's son against the city. The judge did not participate personally an…
I recently left a job as an assistant city solicitor for private practice. Can I now represent private clients before the same city boards, agencies, and courts where I appeared for the city?
The panel concluded the former city solicitor and his or her firm are governed by Rule 1.11. The lawyer may not represent a private client in any matter in which he or she participated personally and …
My firm has been hired to defend an insured, but the plaintiff's lawyer works at a firm my firm currently represents in an unrelated matter. Is that a conflict of interest?
The panel concluded there is no automatic conflict. The attorney and firm must make a good-faith evaluation under Rule 1.7(a)(2) of whether the concurrent representation creates a significant risk tha…
I'm an assistant solicitor who advised the planning board that denied a project, and the board of appeals (which special counsel advised) upheld that denial. The applicant is now appealing both decisions to Superior Court and wants me disqualified. Can I defend the municipality, the planning board, and the board of appeals together?
Yes. The panel held Rule 1.7 permits the inquiring attorney, an assistant solicitor, to represent the municipality, its planning board, and its planning board of appeals in the applicant's Superior Co…
I'm a part-time prosecutor for City A one day a week, and my private criminal-defense practice wants to take on a client charged with a misdemeanor by City B's police, heard in the same district court division as City A's cases. Is that a conflict?
No, not per se. The panel held Rule 1.7 does not automatically bar the inquiring attorney, a part-time prosecutor for City A, from representing a criminal defendant charged by City B even though both …
My law partner wants to become counsel for the municipal pension board, but I represent union members who are suing the municipality over how the board calculates their disability benefits. Is that a conflict for the firm?
Yes. The panel held that a lawyer's proposed representation of a municipality's pension board presents a concurrent conflict of interest under Rule 1.7 where another lawyer in the same firm represents…
I'm on the city council, and an acquaintance wants me to represent his two sons on charges the city police brought against them. Can I take the case even though the city council appoints the solicitor who normally prosecutes these matters?
Yes, with conditions. The panel held a concurrent conflict exists under Rule 1.7(a)(2) because the representation could be materially limited by the attorney's responsibilities as a council member, bu…
I used to supervise other legal-services attorneys, and now that I'm in private practice, am I automatically conflicted out of any case involving a client one of my former subordinates once represented?
Not automatically. The panel held Rule 1.9(b) bars representing a person in the same or a substantially related matter in which a supervised attorney represented a materially adverse client only where…
My law partner sits on the city council, and I sit on one of the city's advisory commissions. Am I barred from representing clients before the city's boards, commissions, law department, probate court, or the city council itself?
No, not automatically. The panel held the inquiring attorney is not per se prohibited from representing clients before the municipality's boards, commissions, law department, probate court, or the cit…
I filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for my client's mother, and now the client wants me to file his own Chapter 7, but the trustee might try to unwind a property transfer he made to his mother. Is representing him a conflict because of my prior work for her?
No. The panel held it is not a Rule 1.9 conflict to represent the son in his own bankruptcy even though a property interest of the mother, a former client, could be affected, because the son's bankrup…
One of my clients told me not to pay a third party out of his settlement funds, but the third party says she's owed money out of those same funds. What do I do with the money, and can I keep representing both people?
The panel held the attorney must hold the disputed amount in trust (or pay it into the court registry and let a court decide) rather than side with either party, and that continuing to represent both …
I used to handle enforcement and cleanup litigation against a contaminated property's owners and operators while working for a state agency. Can I now represent someone who wants to buy that same property?
Yes, on these facts. The panel held that representing the DEM in enforcement, court, and bankruptcy proceedings against the former owners and operators over contamination is not the same 'matter' unde…
I represent two clients in separate divorces. One client's spouse alleges the two clients had an affair and wants to depose the other client. Can I keep representing both at that deposition?
Yes, on these facts. The panel held there is no Rule 1.7 conflict in representing both clients at the deposition, because both deny the alleged affair, their interests are not adverse and may be align…
I represent my municipality in labor and personnel matters. Can I take on a case against the municipality's school department for a different client?
No, not without the municipality's consent. The panel held that the school department is part of the same client the attorney already represents, so suing it on behalf of new clients creates a concurr…
My law partner used to work at the firm defending the other side in a case I've now been asked to try for the plaintiff, and my partner deposed the plaintiff back then (though wasn't lead counsel). Can I take the case?
Yes, under Rule 1.10(c). The panel held the law partner has a disqualifying Rule 1.9(a) conflict from deposing the plaintiff on behalf of the defendant at the former firm, but the inquiring attorney m…
I'm a full-time municipal zoning official (not a lawyer role) who also runs a part-time solo land-use practice. Can I put 'J.D.' on town paperwork, keep my private practice in that same town, share office space with a real estate developer who deals with me officially, and represent that developer's real estate matters in other towns?
Yes to all four, according to the panel, subject to observing the ordinary confidentiality, conflicts, and office-sharing disclosure rules, and subject to whatever the municipality's own rules, regula…
My new client's estranged wife sat in on our five-minute initial meeting where he handed over his file, but I never spoke with her, advised her, or took her on. Does her presence at that meeting create a conflict that blocks me from representing him at his deportation hearing?
No. The panel held that the estranged wife's mere attendance at the initial consultation did not make her a client or a prospective client under Rule 1.18, so it does not create a Rule 1.7(a) conflict…
I represent clients in a real estate lawsuit against a couple. Separately, I'm being asked to represent other individuals who may end up bringing a class action over legislation, and that couple would be unnamed members of that class. Is that a conflict?
No. The panel held it is not a Rule 1.7 conflict of interest to represent individuals who may become plaintiffs in an eventual class action where two unnamed members of that class are adverse parties …
I was a part-time assistant solicitor prosecuting misdemeanors and housing matters for a municipality. Now that I'm in private practice, can I represent people the municipality's police department charges, or people cited in housing court?
Yes, generally. The panel held the attorney may represent clients before the municipal court on housing matters and clients charged by the municipality's police department, provided the specific matte…
My client, who was insured through the carrier that retained me, is giving an account of the accident that's flatly contradicted by the police report and eyewitnesses. Do I have to withdraw?
It depends on what the lawyer actually knows. The panel held that Rule 1.16(a) requires mandatory withdrawal only if the lawyer knows the client is lying in furtherance of a fraudulent claim; if the l…
I run a marketing company on the side that serves doctors, chiropractors, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents. I've referred law clients to some of these same professionals for years. Now that they're becoming marketing-company clients, is it a conflict of interest for me to keep referring my law clients to them?
No, according to this opinion, at least where the lawyer has only an indirect financial interest (as the professionals' marketing services provider) rather than a direct financial interest in their bu…
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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.