South Carolina Bar Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the South Carolina Bar, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a lawyer keep representing both a husband and wife in their injury suit after the couple decides to divorce?
The committee concluded the Rules do not preclude continued dual representation of both spouses if the lawyer reasonably believes the conflict risk is minimal and the Rule 1.7(b) disclosure-and-consen…
Can a state agency staff lawyer also sit as a hearing officer on the panel that reviews protest matters involving his own agency?
The committee concluded a staff lawyer may not serve as a panel hearing officer while continuing to represent the agency, because the duty of impartiality conflicts unwaivably with zealous advocacy un…
Can a law firm whose lawyers volunteer to prosecute in a solicitor's office also defend clients being prosecuted by that same office?
The committee concluded the firm may not, even where no firm member would prosecute that client, even with screening, and even with both the solicitor's and client's consent, because the firm's ongoin…
Can a lawyer take court-appointed indigent criminal defense in one circuit when a firm member is a part-time solicitor in a different circuit?
The committee concluded it is not a violation for a firm's lawyers to be court-appointed to defend indigent criminal defendants in a different circuit from where a firm member serves as a part-time so…
Can a lawyer who contracts to represent one state agency sue a different, unrelated state agency on behalf of a town?
The committee concluded the lawyer is not prohibited from representing the town against the Department of Corrections, because that agency and the Social Services agency the lawyer contracts with are …
Is it a conflict to represent a wife in a divorce against a man the firm represented in a different divorce sixteen years earlier?
The committee declined to give a definite answer on the sparse facts, but said under Rule 1.9 the firm must not take the case without the former client's consent if the two divorces are substantially …
If a lawyer contracts to represent a state agency in one county, can the lawyer's firm be appointed against that agency in another county?
The committee concluded that because the statewide agency is the client, neither the contract attorney nor any member of the firm should represent a defendant or guardian ad litem in the agency's case…
Can a firm that jointly represented a couple in an adoption later represent the husband in their divorce and custody case over the wife's objection?
The committee concluded Rule 1.9 prohibits the firm from representing the husband, because the prior adoption matter is substantially related to the divorce and custody case, the spouses' interests ar…
After a lawyer withdraws from representing a conservator due to a conflict, can the lawyer's partner sue on the ward's behalf against a related party?
The committee concluded that because the withdrawing lawyer's conflict between the grandmother and the minor is imputed to his partner, the partner cannot represent the minor in the related litigation…
Can a lawyer's firm represent a wife in a divorce against a husband the firm formerly represented in a child-custody case?
The committee concluded the firm may represent the wife in a divorce-only matter if no duty of confidentiality to the husband would be violated, but representation is unlikely to be permissible withou…
Can one attorney represent the buyer, seller, and lender together at a real estate closing?
The committee concluded an attorney may represent all three parties to a real estate closing if the role is purely ministerial, with no negotiation, no problem jeopardizing the closing, no party relyi…
Can a law firm hire a sitting probate judge to practice law part-time outside of court hours?
The committee concluded a law firm may not hire a sitting probate judge as a part-time lawyer, because current law and Canon 4(F) of the Code of Judicial Conduct treat the probate judgeship as full-ti…
Can a lawyer advise a personal-injury client about, and help carry out, a company's purchase or assignment of part of the client's expected recovery?
The committee concluded that, assuming the financing is legal under South Carolina law, a lawyer may advise a client about it with candid disclosure of advantages and disadvantages under Rule 2.1, and…
Can a part-time city judge, or a member of the judge's firm, also serve as part-time city attorney if that attorney does not prosecute in city court?
The committee concluded a part-time city judge may not also serve as part-time city attorney, because the appearance of impropriety and overlapping duties bar it, and that imputed disqualification und…
Can a partner of a municipality's attorney represent both the attorney and the municipality as co-defendants in the same lawsuit?
The committee concluded that co-defendants may be represented together, but only if the lawyer reasonably believes neither client's representation will be adversely affected and both consent after con…
Can a lawyer who is also a CPA list both professions on the same business card, and what ethics rules apply to running both practices?
The committee concluded a South Carolina lawyer may also practice another profession if he meets both professions' requirements, and the rules do not prohibit showing both on one card or letterhead, t…
Can a South Carolina lawyer associate with an out-of-state lawyer to handle estate planning for South Carolina residents?
The committee concluded the two may serve as co-counsel so long as the South Carolina lawyer stays jointly responsible for the representation, did not learn the clients were improperly solicited, and …
Must an estate's attorney, or a lawyer serving as personal representative, tell a surviving spouse about the right to claim an elective share?
The committee concluded neither the attorney for the estate nor a lawyer acting as personal representative has an ethical duty to inform a surviving spouse of the elective-share right absent an attorn…
Can a lawyer take a contingency fee on the whole recovery and also a percentage of the subrogated insurer's share?
The committee concluded, following the South Carolina Supreme Court's decision in In re Jones, that a lawyer may not take both a contingency fee on the entire recovery and a percentage fee of the subr…
When a secretary who worked on a case moves to opposing counsel's office, is the new firm disqualified, and what must the old lawyer do?
The committee concluded the opposing firm is not imputedly disqualified merely because it hired the secretary and may continue, provided it makes reasonable efforts under Rule 5.3 to keep her conduct …
Can a former judge represent a party in a dispute over an order the judge himself entered while on the bench?
The committee concluded that under Rule 1.12 the former judge may not represent a party in a dispute over a consent order he entered as a family court judge, because entering even a consent order was …
Can a law firm sue a municipality when one of its lawyers sits on that municipality's city council?
The committee concluded that Rules 1.11 and 1.7(b) could preclude the representation; the firm may proceed only if the client consents after notice and the council-member lawyer is screened, with writ…
Can a closing law firm get a borrower to sign an advance waiver letting the firm later represent the lender against that borrower?
The committee concluded a firm may limit the scope of its representation of a borrower to closing the loan and obtain the borrower's advance written consent to later represent the lender in disputes, …
If a lawyer is retained by a county to prosecute magistrate-court cases, can he still defend criminal clients in the county's municipal courts?
The committee concluded the lawyer could defend clients in the county's municipal courts, because those charges are brought by municipal police rather than the county whose cases he prosecutes, though…
Can a lawyer keep suing a company that briefly became a former client when another firm lawyer represented it in an unrelated case?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may continue representing a client against a former client without the former client's consent where the new matter is not the same or substantially related to th…
Can a public defender's office employ as chief investigator the spouse of a sheriff's narcotics investigator?
The committee concluded the public defender's office could employ the investigator's spouse so long as she did not assist or have access to information from lawyers adverse to parties her spouse's div…
Can a lawyer hired by a conservator to sue for the ward also help the conservator fight the ward's petition to dissolve the conservatorship?
The committee concluded that a lawyer who brought an action for the ward at the conservator's direction may also help the conservator oppose the ward's petition to dissolve the conservatorship, so lon…
When a public defender becomes a prosecutor, can he discuss or prosecute the cases he handled as a defender?
The committee concluded the former public defender may not discuss cases he worked on with the solicitor's office except as to generally known client information, and must recuse himself from those ca…
Can a lawyer who, as an elected official, shares the power to appoint a board's members keep representing that board in litigation?
The committee concluded the Rules of Professional Conduct do not prohibit the lawyer from representing a commission whose members he shares the power to appoint, so he may continue representing it, th…
Can a part-time public defender handle a post-conviction case claiming another public defender in the same corporation erred at trial?
The committee concluded that where the part-time public defenders maintain separate offices and do not share employees or cases, they do not form a single firm for purposes of imputed disqualification…
Can a lawyer who is suing a former client for unpaid fees take a new client whose case is adverse to that same former client?
The committee concluded the lawyer may represent the new client against the former client only if the new matter does not require using information from, or injuriously affecting, the former represent…
Can a lawyer who is also a defendant, or who is a title insurance agent, represent other defendants in the same mass land-claim suit?
The committee concluded that, where the defendants' objectives appear identical, a lawyer who is also a defendant, or who serves as a title insurance agent, may represent other defendants under Rule 1…
When a firm sues the sole shareholder of a corporation that a newly hired lawyer once represented, is that a disqualifying conflict?
The committee concluded the answer turns on whether the new lawyer's past representation of the corporation effectively made the sole shareholder a client; if a lawyer-client relationship with the ind…
When opposing counsel in the same litigation join the same firm, can that firm keep representing one of the parties?
The committee concluded the firm may continue only if the lawyer who represented the other side withdraws, both clients consent after consultation, the firm reasonably believes the continued represent…
Can different lawyers in the same public defender office each represent one of several co-defendants in a criminal case?
The committee concluded a public defender office is treated as a law firm, so although there is no per se bar, ordinarily a single lawyer should not represent more than one co-defendant, and under Rul…
When can a part-time county or municipal attorney, or the attorney's firm, represent clients with interests adverse to the local government?
Modifying Opinion 91-05, the committee concluded that where the county or city attorney provided legal services to the specific part of government involved, neither the attorney nor the firm may take …
Can a lawyer draft a client's will naming himself personal representative with power to sell the home and bill at his hourly rate, and witness the will?
The committee concluded the lawyer may draft a will naming himself personal representative, with power to sell the home and to charge his regular hourly rate, because the appointment is not a gift und…
Can a firm defend abuse and neglect cases brought by a social-services agency when one firm member sits on the agency's board?
The committee concluded the agency is not the firm's client merely because a member serves on its board, but it is a third person to whom Rule 1.7(b) duties run; the firm may take these appointments i…
Can a lawyer own a consumer-loan company that lends to personal-injury plaintiffs, taking assignments of their recoveries, if it never lends to the lawyer's own clients?
The committee concluded that because the company would not lend to the attorney's own clients, the arrangement does not violate Rule 1.8 or Rule 7.2; the lawyer may refer clients to the lender and hon…
Can a lawyer who represents the buyer or lender at a real estate closing also act as the agent for the title insurer and keep the commission?
The committee concluded a closing lawyer may normally also serve as the title insurer's agent, but must disclose at the outset any adverse impact on the lawyer's judgment from the agency role or the c…
Can a lawyer who represented a mother in a custody case later represent a babysitter accused of abusing the child now in the father's custody?
The committee concluded there is no prohibition on the lawyer taking the new representation, provided the babysitter's interests are not materially adverse to the former client's and the lawyer does n…
When a lawyer properly represents both an injured plaintiff and the plaintiff's health insurer claiming subrogation, can the lawyer collect a fee from both?
The committee concluded that where dual representation of the plaintiff and the subrogated health insurer is itself permitted (under Opinion 91-25's conditions), there is no prohibition on collecting …
Can a lawyer who shares office space and a secretary with another lawyer sue that other lawyer's client?
The committee concluded that because the two lawyers are separate professional associations who do not hold themselves out as one firm (separate phone lines and letterhead), they are not a firm for im…
Can a lawyer who is a bankruptcy trustee in one division represent a creditor in other divisions, and what duties does a lawyer-trustee owe?
The committee concluded that a lawyer-trustee is not required to decline representing a creditor in other divisions of the Bankruptcy Court, provided he complies with Rule 1.7(b) and never represents …
Can a lawyer representing a wife in a divorce also represent a new client who turns out to be the husband's alleged paramour?
The committee concluded the lawyer cannot represent both, because the information that the second client is the husband's paramour creates a built-in conflict: revealing it would breach the second cli…
Can a lawyer advance money to a client to pay for a rental car before the client's insurance claim is settled?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may not advance money to a client for a rental car before settlement, because Rule 1.8(e) permits advancing only court costs and expenses of litigation, and a ren…
Can an attorney use powers of attorney from both the buyer and seller to sign the closing documents in a real estate transaction?
The committee concluded that if the attorney is employed merely to perform the ministerial act of signing the closing documents, the Rules are not implicated; but if he is expected to give legal advic…
Can a former judicial law clerk represent a client on appeal in a case the clerk worked on while clerking for the trial judge?
The committee concluded that Rule 1.12(a) bars a former law clerk from representing a client in a matter in which he participated personally and substantially as a clerk unless all parties consent aft…
Can an attorney who served as a minor's guardian ad litem then serve as the minor's counsel in a later commitment proceeding?
The committee concluded that under Rule 3.7 an attorney who is likely to be a witness as to his findings while serving as guardian ad litem is disqualified from serving as the minor's counsel during t…
Can a personal injury lawyer also represent the client's health insurer to recover its subrogated medical expenses from the same defendant?
The committee concluded that where the plaintiff is contractually obligated to reimburse the health insurer, a lawyer may represent both the plaintiff and the insurer to recover medical expenses from …
If a lawyer represents a partnership, is the general partner also a client for conflict purposes when the lawyer takes a case against a corporation that partner owns?
The committee concluded that whether the lawyer may take the second matter depends on whether his representation of the partnership might reasonably be perceived by the general partner as also represe…
Can a lawyer represent a co-defendant of a client represented by the lawyer's spouse, or by the spouse's office?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may represent a co-defendant of his spouse's client only after disclosing the marital relationship and obtaining the client's consent (Rule 1.8(i)), and may not p…
Can a part-time county public defender also represent criminal defendants in other counties?
The committee concluded there is no apparent conflict in a lawyer serving as public defender in one county while representing criminal defendants in other counties, provided the lawyer reasonably beli…
Can a former assistant solicitor, now counsel to the Foster Care Review Board, handle abuse/neglect matters he worked on as a prosecutor?
The committee concluded that under Rule 1.11(c)(1) the lawyer may not participate, on behalf of the Board, in any matter in which he participated personally and substantially as an assistant solicitor…
Can a lawyer who serves on county council, which sets magistrates' facilities and pay, practice before those magistrates, and can the lawyer's partner?
The committee concluded the Rules of Professional Conduct do not expressly prohibit a county council member from representing clients in the local magistrate's court, but State Ethics Commission opini…
Can lawyers refer clients who need to borrow money to a lender the lawyers helped set up, and pay the lender from the settlement?
The committee concluded that because the lawyers had no financial interest in the lender and merely represented it in setting up its business, the lender's acts are not attributed to them; so referrin…
Can a child-support agency lawyer pursue a defendant he once represented or whose confidential government information he holds, and can the agency be on both sides in unrelated cases?
The committee concluded that an OCSE lawyer may not pursue a defendant he personally represented in a prior OCSE child-support action (Rule 1.11(c)), nor pursue someone whose confidential government i…
Can a lawyer hire as a paralegal a former secretary of a corporation that is an adverse party in the lawyer's litigation?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may hire as a paralegal a former employee of an adverse corporate party, at least where the paralegal had no decision-making role, possesses no privileged informa…
Can a law firm lease its lawyers through an employee-leasing company whose fee is a portion of the lawyer's pay?
The committee adopted ABA Formal Opinion 88-356 in its entirety, concluding that a firm may use an employee-leasing company to obtain lawyer services where the company's fee is a portion of the lawyer…
Can a lawyer draft a client's will naming himself as personal representative and trustee, and then take commissions and legal fees from the estate?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may, at the client's direction, draft the will and name himself personal representative and trustee unless Rule 1.8(c) applies, may take a personal representative…
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Legal ethics opinions from the South Carolina Bar 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.