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…
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 …
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'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the solicitor should tell the Councilor his or her interests are now adverse to the Town Council, that the solicitor no longer represents the Councilor, and th…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…
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 …
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…
A police department's internal investigator wants me to answer questions about my former client, a police officer, and is threatening to draw adverse inferences and call me as a witness if I refuse. Do I have to talk to the investigator?
No. The panel held Rule 1.6 prohibits the inquiring attorney from disclosing information relating to the representation of the police officer to the department's investigator absent the client's conse…
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…
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 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 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…
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…
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…
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'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'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'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…
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…
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 …
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…
I'm town counsel and the council changed its billing procedure. Can an individual council member who disagrees with that decision demand my unredacted, itemized billing statements from before the change?
No, not without the council's consent. The panel held the municipality, acting through its council, is the lawyer's client, so the lawyer must follow the council's direction on redaction and has no ob…
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'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 …
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 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…
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…
As a former city solicitor, can I sue that city for a former employee on a matter I never handled? And can I represent a different city while my of-counsel affiliate is that city's solicitor and I have clients suing that city?
The panel concluded that the former solicitor could represent the employee against City A, because the lawyer did not participate in the matter as solicitor under Rule 1.11(a) and it was not substanti…
As a state agency staff attorney suing a third party on an assigned benefits claim, I got court-ordered medical test results, and the individual now wants to drop the case and forbids me to reveal them. Must I disclose the results to the court or third party?
The Panel concluded the attorney must preserve the individual's confidences under Rule 1.6 and may not reveal the test results to the third party or the court, and may no longer pursue the action beca…
If I win a seat on the town council, may I still appear before the town's Probate and Municipal Courts and Planning and Zoning staff, and represent criminal clients in cases involving the town's police, during my term?
The Panel concluded no in either case: applying Rule 1.11's rationale by analogy to concurrent government service, the council member may not appear before the town's courts or Planning and Zoning sta…
A staff attorney at my agency gave a friend free advice in a custody case. The agency now represents the friend's opponent. Can another staff attorney represent the friend?
The panel concluded that no member of the agency's staff may undertake the representation, because the informal advice created an attorney-client relationship, making the friend a client whose interes…
I'm a state child-support agency lawyer. I represent the state for one parent and, for a fee, a second parent, both owed support by the same father whose injury settlement can't cover both. Can I keep representing the second parent?
The panel concluded that because a single personal-injury settlement had to be apportioned between the state and the non-welfare parent, the two representations became directly adverse under Rule 1.7(…
I'm counsel to a school committee and gave legal advice to its superintendent, whom the committee has now suspended. Can I answer the committee's special investigator's questions about him?
The panel concluded that under Rule 1.13 the lawyer's client is the school committee, not the superintendent, so the confidentiality duty owed to an attorney-client relationship under Rule 1.6 does no…
I used to work at a state agency that was investigating someone my firm now represents. Can I work on that client's criminal and civil matters, or must I be screened?
The panel concluded that the former government lawyer may not personally represent the client in either the criminal or the related civil matter under Rule 1.11(a), because the lawyer participated in …
I'm a part-time lawyer and also a town's full-time police officer and prosecutor. Can I defend criminal defendants and practice in the Administrative Adjudication Court?
The panel concluded that the lawyer may represent criminal defendants so long as neither responsibilities to other clients nor the lawyer's own interests materially limit the representation under Rule…
I'm a solo lawyer who was appointed a city's probate judge. Can I represent private clients before that same city's zoning board on unrelated matters?
The panel could not address the judge's conduct under the Canons of Judicial Ethics because that is outside its jurisdiction; as to the lawyer's conduct it applied Rule 1.7(b) and questioned whether t…
I'm a solo lawyer who was appointed clerk (and sometimes acting judge) of a town's probate court. Can I still appear before that town's boards and agencies for private clients?
The panel did not give a flat answer but flagged Rule 1.7(b): the representation may be materially limited by the lawyer's responsibilities to, and interests in, the municipal employer, and it questio…
I work part-time for one state agency and in private practice I want to represent a former employee of a different state agency in an unrelated matter. My agency and the client don't object, but opposing counsel does. Can I continue?
The Panel concluded that under Rule 1.7(b) the attorney may continue to represent Client B, because that representation is not directly adverse to, or materially limited by, the attorney's other respo…
I represented a city and its zoning board members in a federal suit. The members now want the whole file, including my work product, but city officials tell me not to hand it over and the city pays my fees. What must I produce?
The Panel concluded the zoning board members are clients entitled to the file under Rule 1.17, so the attorney must furnish papers prepared for the client's benefit and all 'end products' the client p…
I represent a family suing Town A's school committee. My fiance is a town solicitor for Town A but does not represent the school committee. Does Rule 1.8(i) bar me from continuing, and from unrelated matters?
The Panel concluded the attorney is not barred under Rule 1.8(i) from representing the clients, because that rule addresses a spouse (not a fiance) who is the lawyer for an adverse party; it cautioned…
As an assistant town solicitor, I want to offer my breathalyzer-refusal prosecution services to other towns. Can I pitch police chiefs or solicitors directly, and can I mail the offer to each town's solicitor?
The Panel concluded that under Rule 7.3(a) the attorney may not solicit prospective clients in person when the motive is pecuniary gain, so a direct solicitation to town police chiefs is improper, but…
I am a police-department lawyer and Assistant City Solicitor. Can I do paid research for private law firms or take referral fees in cases involving my city?
The Panel concludes the attorney, who is City A's lawyer as an Assistant City Solicitor, may not represent anyone directly adverse to City A under Rule 1.7, and that under Rule 1.11 he may not do firm…
Our city law department defends municipal employees in a negligence suit but has also prosecuted some of them. Can we keep representing those employees?
The Panel concludes the municipal law department may not continue to represent employees it has prosecuted or who are in positions adverse to the municipality, because their interests are directly adv…
I am legal counsel to a town's school committee. Can I represent a client before a state agency where the town itself is the adverse party?
The Panel concludes Rule 1.7(a) does not preclude the representation, because the attorney's client-lawyer relationship is with the school committee, not Town A, so representing the client against the…
My partner is counsel to a town's water supply board. Can either of us represent private clients before that town's zoning board of review?
The Panel concludes that because the attorney's client-lawyer relationship is only with the water supply board -- not the zoning board or the municipality -- and the agencies are not interconnected, b…
I am a state legislator and my proposed law partner is counsel paid by the legislature. Can we form a law partnership?
The Panel concludes the proposed formation of a law partnership or association by a legislator-lawyer and a lawyer paid as legislative counsel does not in itself violate the Rules of Professional Cond…
My wife and I are sole practitioners with separate practices, and she is counsel to a state agency director. Can I represent her private client before a state board she has never represented?
The Panel concludes the spouses are not a law firm, so Rule 1.10 imputation does not apply, and Rule 1.8(i) does not disqualify the husband because the wife is not the lawyer representing the adverse …
I represent a client suing a state agency. That same agency wants to hire me as a special prosecutor in an unrelated matter. Can I take it on?
The Panel concludes that under Rule 1.7 the attorney may represent the state agency as special prosecutor so long as the lawyer reasonably believes the other client will not be adversely affected and …
The mayor appointed me to a narrow municipal committee overseeing one fund. Can my firm keep suing the same municipality and appearing before its boards in unrelated matters?
The Panel concludes that, because the lawyer serves as a member (not counsel) of a narrowly-defined committee and the firm's matters are unrelated to it, the firm is not precluded from representing cl…
One of my partners is a part-time municipal court judge. Can the rest of our firm represent clients whose interests are adverse to that municipality?
The Panel concludes that no firm member may appear before the judge or in any matter the judge handled as judge unless the judge is screened under Rule 1.11(a); otherwise the Rules impose no black-let…
A director of a state agency is suing the agency in his individual capacity. Does the agency's counsel have to withdraw?
The panel concluded that counsel's withdrawal would not cure the conflict created by the director being on both sides; instead, another government officer not subject to the director's authority shoul…
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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.