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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Can a state's attorney who used to be a public defender prosecute a person they once represented, when the new charge is unrelated to the old case?
Sometimes, but only after a careful Rule 1.9 analysis and safeguards. The committee concluded a prosecutor may handle a case against a former client if the new matter is not the same or substantially …
If a lawyer agreed to store a client's tangible personal property 'temporarily' and the client is now unreachable, must the lawyer keep storing it, or can the property be treated as abandoned?
The lawyer must keep safeguarding it. The committee concluded that Rule 1.15 requires the lawyer to hold the client's tangible personal property with a fiduciary's care until it can be delivered to th…
When a lawyer leaves a firm and some clients choose to follow, does the lawyer automatically represent them, and can the lawyer require new fee agreements?
No automatic relationship, but the lawyer may represent them. The committee concluded that clients who chose to follow a departing lawyer are former clients of the old firm, not automatic clients of t…
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…
If a prosecutor is conflicted out of a matter because it is adverse to a former client, are the other lawyers in the same state's attorney's office also disqualified?
The committee concluded that a state's attorney who formerly represented a party may not handle the office's same matter against that former client under Rule 1.9(a), and that because the lawyers in a…
Does a part-time state's attorney's earlier civil work for someone bar the attorney from later prosecuting that former client?
The committee concluded the question turns on whether the prior civil work is 'substantially related' to the criminal charges, or whether confidential information from it would be used against the for…
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 opposing counsel in a divorce claims my firm once represented the other spouse, must I withdraw when no clear attorney-client relationship with that spouse was ever formed?
The committee held that, because it does not act as a fact finder and was given no facts showing the other spouse had ever formed an attorney-client relationship with the firm (no express agreement, 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…
Does a law firm's earlier insurance-coverage opinion for a company create a conflict that bars the firm from later bringing a shareholder derivative or class action on that company's behalf?
Because a derivative action is brought in the right of the corporation, the committee concluded the firm represented the same client (the company) in both matters, so no Rule 1.9 conflict arose on the…
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.