State Bar of New Mexico Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the State Bar of New Mexico, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a New Mexico lawyer publicly comment on or criticize a judge or candidate for legal office?
The opinion concluded that lawyers are encouraged to give honest, candid opinions about judges and candidates for legal office, but must not make statements they know to be false or that are made with…
Can a New Mexico lawyer secretly record a witness who has said the interview is off the record?
The opinion concluded that under those facts, no; where the lawyer knows the witness believes the interview is off the record, secretly recording it (or having an agent do so) deceives the witness and…
Is it unethical for a lawyer to secretly record a conversation when New Mexico courts have approved one-party-consent recording as lawful?
Reconsidering its 1988 opinion, the committee concluded a prosecutor following the statutes may secretly record without acting unethically, and that secret recording by other lawyers is not unethical …
Can a lawyer mail a witness a document that looks like a court subpoena, but was never issued or authenticated by the court, to pressure the witness into appearing?
The committee concluded the practice is forbidden, because making a witness believe a self-prepared document is compulsory court process violates the rules against prohibited inducements, disobeying t…
Must a lawyer disclose a client's financial fraud when the lawyer himself was used to give a third party a false assurance the client never intended to honor?
The opinion concluded that although disclosure of a client's crime causing only financial harm is ordinarily optional, disclosure became mandatory here because the lawyer had communicated with the thi…
When a lawyer learns another lawyer may have committed serious misconduct, such as offering to pay witnesses to slant testimony, what level of knowledge triggers the mandatory duty to report it?
The opinion concluded that offering money to influence testimony is a serious violation that must be reported, and that the mandatory duty to report under Rule 16-803 is triggered when the lawyer has …
May a lawyer secretly tape-record interviews with potential witnesses, and interview them without disclosing that it is to gather facts for a possible lawsuit?
A divided committee concluded that secretly recording a witness interview is an implicit misrepresentation and unethical, and that if witnesses are unlikely to realize they are being interviewed by a …
When an insurance company mistakenly tenders a settlement check ten times the intended amount, must the plaintiff's lawyer disclose the apparent error?
The opinion concluded the lawyer should disclose the apparent error, because a client has no right to take unfair advantage of an obvious mistake and the lawyer's duty is to act honestly and avoid a p…
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Legal ethics opinions from the State Bar of New Mexico 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.