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 …
Can a state's attorney's office also run the community service program that monitors the sentences it helped obtain?
No. The committee concluded that taking on the community service coordinator role creates an irreconcilable conflict under Rule 1.7, because the program is funded in part by fees from people sentenced…
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 North Dakota prosecutor accept a small thank-you gift from a crime victim, and do the ethics rules address it?
The committee concluded that North Dakota's Rules of Professional Conduct do not address whether a prosecutor may accept a gift from a victim. It pointed the prosecutor to a statute (N.D.C.C. 11-16-05…
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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.