State Bar Association of North Dakota Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the State Bar Association of North Dakota, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Must a lawyer who represents adoptive parents and can see confidential genetic-parent information in the court file disclose it to the adoptive-parent client on request?
No. The committee concluded a lawyer for adoptive parents is statutorily obligated under N.D.C.C. 14-15-16 to keep the genetic parents' identifying information confidential unless that statute's discl…
When a court asks a public defender about contacts with an absent client, what may the lawyer disclose, and can the lawyer still represent the client on the original and new bail-jumping charges?
A public defender may disclose only nonprivileged facts about contacts with the client, and only when the court orders the answer, not on a mere question, under Rule 1.6(c)(5). On the limited facts, t…
Can a North Dakota lawyer use an outside collection agency to collect unpaid client fees, and how should the lawyer pay the agency and protect client confidences?
Yes, with two limits. The committee concluded a lawyer may use an outside collection agency or third-party recovery service for unpaid accounts receivable, but the payment to the agency may not be a p…
Does a firm's past collection work for a company bar it from defending a lawyer in a disciplinary case arising from that company's later sale?
No, on the facts. The committee concluded the firm's former collection work for the company was not the same as or substantially related to the lawyer's disciplinary proceeding (which arose from a sal…
Where can a North Dakota lawyer deposit credit card payments for earned fees versus advance retainers, and must a subordinate lawyer report a supervisor's credit card trust-account practice?
Credit card payments for already-earned fees and costs go in the firm's general operating account. For refundable advance retainers, the committee called it the most practical approach to route the cr…
Must a lawyer share information about a criminal client's case with the client's court-appointed guardian when the client objects?
The committee concluded that, because a court had given the guardian full authority over the client's legal matters, the lawyer does have an obligation to communicate with the guardian even over the c…
Can an indigent-defense lawyer be required, even with a written waiver, to report a client's financial information to the funding commission when it could be disclosed in open court?
The committee concluded that disclosing a client's confidential financial information to the funding commission, knowing it would be filed in open court and could be used against the client, would vio…
When another state's disciplinary authority demands client trust-account information, must a lawyer produce it or does confidentiality bar disclosure?
Rule 8.1 requires a lawyer to respond to a disciplinary authority's lawful demand, but it does not require disclosing information protected by Rule 1.6. The committee concluded the lawyer cannot invok…
Can a lawyer let a former client (someone she represented in a mental-health commitment) live in her home to help with the transition to independent living?
The committee concluded that no North Dakota Rule of Professional Conduct directly addresses this and that the arrangement does not violate the rules, so long as the lawyer does not take a position ad…
If a client secretly makes a side deal that renders a signed court stipulation false, must the lawyer tell the court, and can the lawyer reveal it?
Under the version of Rule 3.3 the committee applied, because the false stipulation amounted to the client's own offer of false evidence, the lawyer's duty was to seek to withdraw without disclosure, n…
Can a law firm sue a company it did transactional work for years ago on behalf of a personal-injury plaintiff, when the firm also represents a bank that lent the company money?
The committee concluded the firm could treat the company as a former client because more than two years had passed with no contact, so Rule 1.9 did not bar a new, unrelated personal-injury suit agains…
Can a lawyer who once did legal work for a company later sue that company's parent corporation, or the company itself, on behalf of the company's former owners?
Prior work for a subsidiary does not automatically make its corporate parent a former client; whether the parent counts as a client turns on alter-ego and unity-of-interest factors. On the facts prese…
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Legal ethics opinions from the State Bar Association of North Dakota 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.