Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a Tennessee lawyer agree to a settlement non-disparagement clause that makes the lawyer a party and limits future use of information learned in the case?
No. Tennessee Formal Ethics Opinion 2025-F-171 concludes it is improper for a lawyer to propose or accept a settlement provision that makes the lawyer a party bound by a non-disparagement clause restr…
Can a lawyer in a products liability case agree to a settlement term that requires the allegedly defective product to be destroyed?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2019-F-167 holds that it is improper for an attorney to propose or accept a settlement provision in a products liability case that requires destruction of the product alleged to …
Can a lawyer agree to a settlement confidentiality clause that bars the lawyer from referring to the incident, the product, or the defendants' identity in other cases?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2018-F-166 holds that it is improper for a lawyer to propose or accept a settlement confidentiality clause barring future use or disclosure of publicly available information (suc…
Can a lawyer agree to a settlement term that requires turning over the lawyer's own work product to the opposing party?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2016-F-161 concludes that a lawyer may not propose or accept a settlement provision requiring the lawyer to turn over work-product materials if doing so will restrict the lawyer'…
Can a lawyer who served as a child's guardian ad litem later represent another interest, such as adoptive parents, in a matter involving that child?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2013-F-157 concludes that a lawyer who served as a child's guardian ad litem may later represent another interest, such as adoptive parents in an adoption, only if that represent…
Can a district attorney prepare an expungement petition for a person, as a statute requires, without creating a conflict of interest with the State?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2012-F-155 concludes that a district attorney may prepare expungement petitions as the statute requires only by avoiding the formation of an attorney-client relationship with the…
Can a settlement require the plaintiff's lawyer to guarantee that medical liens are paid, or to indemnify and hold the defendant harmless from those liens?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2010-F-154 concludes that a plaintiff's lawyer is obligated under RPC 1.15(c) to safeguard settlement funds in which a third person has a matured legal or equitable interest (a p…
When a paralegal or other non-lawyer staffer changes firms in Tennessee, can the new firm use screening to avoid being disqualified?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2003-F-147 concludes that under RPC 1.10 a firm may use screening procedures to avoid imputed disqualification in limited circumstances, that imputed disqualification and screeni…
Can a part-time assistant district attorney who prosecutes state crimes also defend criminal defendants in the same county's courts?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2002-F-146 concluded that part-time assistant district attorneys who prosecute state criminal matters in a county's municipal courts may not also represent criminal defendants in…
How are conflicts of interest involving government attorneys decided in Tennessee, and what happened to the rule on prosecutors defending criminal cases?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2002-F-107(b) restated that, in matters involving governmental interests and differing interests, a conflict of interest is a factual question decided case-by-case, and it modifi…
Can an insurance company require the defense lawyer it hires for an insured to always appeal, demand a jury, or refuse mediation, even against the insured's interest?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2000-F-145 concluded that a defense lawyer retained by an insurer to represent an insured may not accept conditions directing trial strategy (always appealing adverse General Ses…
What settlement-release clauses are off-limits in Tennessee personal injury cases, including ones that limit a plaintiff lawyer's future practice?
Formal Ethics Opinion 98-F-141 addressed four release clauses in personal injury and medical malpractice settlements: confidentiality clauses are not prohibited by any disciplinary rule (the public-po…
Can a lawyer represent an injured client and also the client's health insurer asserting a subrogation claim for the same medical bills?
Formal Ethics Opinion 95-F-136 concluded that a lawyer may represent both an injured client and the client's health insurer claiming a subrogation interest in the client's medical bills, but only if i…
Can a lawyer charge a contingent fee to collect child-support arrearages, and can the lawyer loan money to the opposing party to enable payment?
Formal Ethics Opinion 94-F-134(a) reaffirmed that a lawyer collecting past-due child support may not loan funds to the adverse ex-husband to enable him to pay, because doing so gives the lawyer a prop…
Can a lawyer loan money to the opposing party so that party can pay the lawyer's client, and can the lawyer charge a contingent fee to collect child support?
Modified. As originally issued, Formal Ethics Opinion 94-F-134 concluded that a lawyer collecting past-due child support on a one-third contingent fee could not loan funds to the adverse ex-husband to…
Can an insurance company use its own salaried in-house lawyers to represent and defend the company's individual insureds?
Vacated. As originally issued, Formal Ethics Opinion 93-F-132 concluded it was improper for in-house attorney employees of an insurance company to represent individual insureds in matters arising unde…
In a bar-association divorce-mediation and legal-aid program, may lawyers represent both spouses in an irreconcilable-differences divorce?
Formal Ethics Opinion 93-F-130 advised the Knoxville Bar Association's domestic-relations mediation program that, following Formal Ethics Opinion 81-F-16, an attorney may represent both parties to an …
When a government attorney provides Title IV-D child support enforcement services, does the attorney have an attorney-client relationship with the parent receiving those services, and can the same attorney later act against that parent?
The opinion concluded that attorneys employed in DHS's Title IV-D child support programs represent the State only; under T.C.A. Section 71-3-124 and the Board's prior Opinion 83-F-55, there is no atto…
Can effective screening procedures avoid imputed disqualification of an entire law firm when a lawyer, paralegal, or other staff member who worked on a matter at a former firm joins a firm now opposing that matter?
The opinion concluded that screening is a viable method to avoid imputed disqualification under DR 5-105(D), overruling the Board's prior categorical rejection of screening in Opinion 87-F-110. It ado…
Can a Tennessee lawyer accept employment from an insurer to represent an insured if the insurer imposes conditions limiting or directing the scope of pre-trial discovery?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer retained by an insurer to represent an insured may not accept the employment subject to conditions limiting or directing the scope and extent of the representation,…
When one assistant district attorney is disqualified from a case, must the entire District Attorney General's office be disqualified too?
The opinion concluded that vicarious disqualification of an entire District Attorney General's staff when one staff member is disqualified is not governed by a per se rule and must instead be decided …
Could a law firm avoid disqualification by screening a paralegal who had performed substantive work on pending matters for the opposing party's former counsel?
Vacated; overruled in part by Opinion 89-F-118. As originally issued, the opinion concluded that screening and isolation procedures could not avoid an attorney's ethical disqualification when the atto…
After Tennessee courts rejected blanket per se rules for government-lawyer conflicts, how does the Board decide whether a governmental attorney or public official, or a law partner, has a disqualifying conflict?
The opinion vacated and set aside Formal Ethics Opinion 86-F-107's sweeping per se prohibitions on governmental attorneys, public officials, and their associates representing other clients, following …
Can a lawyer who served as substitute trustee at a non-judicial foreclosure sale, selling the property to the lender-client, later make an offer to buy that same property from the lender?
The opinion concluded that an attorney who acted as substitute trustee at a non-judicial foreclosure sale and sold the property to the lender-client may later offer to purchase that property from the …
Could a city alderman, city judge, city attorney, city prosecutor, or county sheriff's-department lawyer, or their law partners, represent private clients in courts or matters where officers of their governmental employer were witnesses?
Vacated; set aside the next year by Opinion 86-F-107(a). As originally issued, the opinion adopted strict per se prohibitions: lawyers serving as city alderman, city judge, city attorney, city court p…
Did the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Evans v. Jeff D. change Tennessee's ethics guidance on settlements that condition relief on a waiver of the plaintiff's attorney's fees?
No. The Board readopted its prior opinion's conclusion, in 85-F-96, that settlement negotiations including attorney's-fee provisions are not inherently improper if counsel fully advises the client, ad…
Could a Tennessee county commissioner who is also a lawyer represent criminal defendants prosecuted by the county's own law enforcement officers?
As originally issued, the opinion concluded that an attorney serving as an elected county commissioner could not represent criminal defendants prosecuted by county law enforcement officers, because th…
When is a lawyer's new representation adverse to a former client too closely related to the earlier representation to be ethical?
The opinion held that representing a party adverse to a former client is improper only if a substantial relationship exists between the former and present matters, determined by examining the scope an…
When an insurer hires an attorney to defend an insured, can that attorney also represent the insurer's interests once a coverage dispute arises over tendering policy limits into court?
The opinion held that the insured, not the insurer, is the attorney's client, so the attorney may not represent or advise either the insured or the insurer once a conflict arises between them over cov…
Is it ethical for a settlement negotiation to include terms about the plaintiff's attorney's fees, including a defense offer conditioned on the lawyer waiving fees?
The opinion held that settlement negotiations including provisions for attorney's fees are not inherently improper and may be appropriate, provided plaintiff's counsel fully advises the client of ever…
If a lawyer voluntarily withdraws from a case for a personal reason, such as a family connection to the opposing side, can another lawyer in the same firm take over the representation?
Yes. The opinion held that when a lawyer's withdrawal results from the lawyer's own discretionary, personal decision rather than from a Disciplinary Rule requiring withdrawal, the vicarious disqualifi…
Can a court-appointed defense lawyer accept the appointment when the lawyer also personally represents the county sheriff, and the sheriff's deputies will testify for the prosecution against the indigent defendant?
No. The opinion held it is unethical for the attorney to accept the court appointment to defend the criminal case while personally representing the sheriff in a related civil matter, because the deput…
Can a sitting Speaker of the State Senate and Lieutenant Governor, who is also a lawyer, represent private claimants suing the State for damages?
No. The opinion held that an attorney-public official may not breach the fiduciary duty owed as a public official by representing private interests adverse to the public body the official represents, …
Can a county attorney secretly draft a pro se petition and agreed order for a county official seeking salary increases for county employees, funded by the county budget the attorney also handles?
No. The opinion held it is improper for the county attorney to assist a county official in filing a pro se petition against the county executive, or to help prepare and execute an agreed pro se order …
Can a Tennessee lawyer take a one-third contingency fee out of each periodic payment in a structured settlement, rather than all at once from the up-front cash?
Yes. The opinion held the attorney may take his contingency percentage from each periodic settlement payment as it is received, take the entire fee upfront capped at his percentage of the settlement's…
Can a Tennessee lawyer team up with a financial brokerage firm so its agents refer clients to the lawyer for estate planning?
No. The opinion held that all three proposed arrangements, ranging from the lawyer being billed as a brokerage 'team member' to billing clients directly from his own office, use the brokerage firm as …
Can a Tennessee lawyer lease office space from a corporate client and share the client's reception room and receptionist?
Yes. The opinion found no impropriety in leasing office space from a corporate client and sharing a common reception room and receptionist/typist, provided the physical layout makes clear when visitor…
Can a lawyer who once defended an insurance company in a coverage claim later represent insureds suing that same company for policy benefits in a class action?
No. The opinion held it improper to represent several insureds in a class action against an insurance company for policy benefits after having represented that company ten years earlier in defending a…
Can a county attorney defend criminal defendants when the sheriff or deputy sheriffs are prosecution witnesses, if the county walls the attorney off from any law-enforcement counseling role?
Yes, but only with strict walls in place. The opinion held the county's attorney may represent criminal defendants charged by law enforcement officers or employees of the county only if the attorney i…
Can a county attorney simultaneously represent the county and a county-created industrial development board on bond financing matters?
Yes, absent antagonistic interests. The opinion concluded that where no antagonistic interests exist between the county and the industrial development board, and nothing else impairs the attorney's in…
Can a defendant's attorney offer a structured settlement without improperly participating in setting the plaintiff's attorney's contingency fee, and how should the plaintiff's attorney handle the fee when the settlement itself is structured?
Yes, a defendant's attorney offering structured settlement options does not improperly participate in setting the plaintiff's attorney's fee, because that fee is already fixed by the contingency agree…
Can a part-time county juvenile court judge represent the county school board in a funding lawsuit against the county commission that funds the court and the judge's salary?
No. The opinion concluded the judge, acting as a lawyer, was prohibited from bringing an action against the county commission on behalf of the school board, because the commission funds both the schoo…
Can a criminal defense lawyer represent a defendant prosecuted by the city police when the lawyer's associate is the city attorney?
No. The opinion concluded that the appearance-of-impropriety and vicarious-disqualification rules barred the attorney from representing a criminal defendant prosecuted by the city police when the atto…
Can a lawyer who defends the sheriff in a Section 1983 civil-rights suit also defend criminal cases in which the same deputies are prosecution witnesses?
It depends on the testimony. The opinion concluded that where the deputies' testimony in the two matters is disputed or conflicting so as to fetter the lawyer's judgment or loyalty, the lawyer may not…
Can a lawyer who witnessed a will's execution and signed an affidavit of no undue influence represent the primary beneficiary in defending the will's validity?
No. The opinion concluded that because the lawyer (and his secretary) ought to be called as witnesses on the testator's capacity and freedom from undue influence, Disciplinary Rule 5-101(B) barred the…
Does a district attorney who provides Title IV-D child support enforcement services form an attorney-client relationship with the public-assistance recipient, and can the DA later prosecute that recipient for welfare fraud?
No relationship, no bar. The opinion concluded that no attorney-client relationship exists between district attorneys providing child support enforcement services and the public-assistance recipient, …
Can a county's civil lawyer (delinquent-tax, budget, beer-permit work) also defend criminal cases prosecuted by county law enforcement?
It depends on the civil work. The opinion concluded there is no inherent impairment in representing the county on delinquent taxes, budget and fiscal matters unrelated to law enforcement, and capital …
Can in-house counsel for a group of affiliated companies do legal work for all the affiliates and let his employer bill each affiliate for his time?
Yes, with safeguards. The opinion concluded there is no per se violation in in-house counsel serving affiliated companies and having his employer allocate his salaried time to each affiliate, so long …
Can a lawyer represent an associate in the associate's own lawsuit when the associate will testify about disputed facts?
Yes, where the matter is the associate's private business. The opinion concluded that DR 5-101(B), the lawyer-as-witness rule, was not intended to bar an attorney from representing an associate who is…
Can a County Attorney, or the County Attorney's law partner or associate, represent criminal defendants prosecuted by the County Sheriff and deputies?
No. The opinion concluded the appearance of impropriety in a County Attorney representing criminal defendants prosecuted by the same county's law enforcement officers cannot be waived by the public, s…
Can a lawyer sue a corporation for personal-injury damages when the lawyer's associate is that corporation's registered agent for service of process?
No. The opinion concluded that the associate's continuing role as the corporation's registered agent creates differing, substantially related interests between the associate and the suing attorney, so…
Can a lawyer who sat as a Special Juvenile Judge and personally assessed court costs later bring a class action to recover those same costs as wrongfully assessed?
No. The opinion concluded that DR 9-101(A), which bars a lawyer from accepting employment in a matter on whose merits the lawyer acted in a judicial capacity, prohibits the attorney from bringing the …
If a husband and wife are both lawyers but practice at different, unaffiliated firms, can their firms represent opposing parties against each other?
Generally yes, adopting ABA Formal Opinion 340. The opinion concluded that no disciplinary rule categorically bars husband-and-wife lawyers who practice at different firms from representing opposing i…
Can a firm whose member serves as City Attorney defend a person the City Police Department is prosecuting in Criminal Court?
No. The opinion concluded it is improper for a firm to defend a person prosecuted by the City Police Department when a firm member serves as City Attorney and is available to advise the police departm…
Can a lawyer representing one spouse in a contested divorce alleging cruel and inhuman treatment also prepare the answer for the other spouse to sign?
No. The opinion concluded that Canon 5 bars an attorney from accepting employment that involves representing differing interests, and preparing the opposing spouse's answer in a contested (non-irrecon…
Are members of a firm that serves as general counsel to a law enforcement officers association disqualified from practicing criminal defense?
Not automatically. The opinion concluded that firm members who serve as general counsel to the Tennessee Law Enforcement Officers Association, handling corporate, tax, regulatory, and death-benefit ma…
Can one attorney represent both spouses in an irreconcilable differences divorce?
Yes, if there is no dispute and both parties give informed consent. The opinion concluded that an attorney may represent both parties in an irreconcilable differences divorce where no dispute or confl…
Can a law firm defend coal mining clients against federal surface-mining violations when one of the firm's partners sits on the state's quasi-judicial Board of Reclamation Review?
No. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who holds a quasi-judicial position on the state Board of Reclamation Review, adjudicating state surface-mining violations, is barred, along with the rest of th…
If defending a putative father in a paternity case requires attacking the legal basis of the state's paternity program, can the same attorney who prosecutes paternity cases for the state under that program still take the defense appointment?
No. On the additional facts supplied after Opinion 81-F-12, the Board concluded that because defending the putative father would require attacking the statutory and constitutional bases of the entire …
Can a firm represent private clients before city boards and negotiate city contracts while also doing case-by-case trial work defending the city and its police officers?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a firm that is not on retainer to a city and is not its municipal attorney does not violate the Canons of Ethics by representing private clients before city boards, the…
Browse Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee opinions by topic
Legal ethics opinions from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee 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.