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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Does a Tennessee prosecutor's ethical duty to disclose favorable evidence to the defense go beyond the constitutional Brady obligation?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2017-F-163, since vacated by the Tennessee Supreme Court, concluded that a prosecutor's ethical duty under RPC 3.8(d) to disclose information favorable to the defense is separate…
Can a government-employed ombudsman attorney give limited legal advice to a self-represented party without forming an attorney-client relationship?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2017-F-162 concludes that a workers' compensation ombudsman attorney may give limited legal advice to pro se litigants under RPC 1.2(c) without creating an attorney-client relati…
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 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 a state Attorney General seek and receive court-awarded attorney's fees at prevailing market rates rather than at the State's actual cost of providing the legal services?
Formal Ethics Opinion 91-F-125 concluded that the Tennessee Attorney General may request and receive awards of attorney's fees to the State based on prevailing market rates, not limited to a cost-base…
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…
Must a Tennessee prosecutor notify a delinquent child-support obligor's attorney of record before filing a petition for contempt and attachment against the obligor?
The opinion concluded that filing a petition for contempt and attachment against a delinquent child support obligor under T.C.A. Section 36-5-101(b) is an appearance under DR 7-106(C)(5), so the prose…
Can a Tennessee prosecutor communicate with a criminal defendant the prosecutor knows is represented by counsel, even if the defendant requests the contact?
The opinion concluded that a prosecutor is ethically obligated to avoid all communication with a defendant known to be represented by counsel, without that counsel's knowledge and consent, under DR 7-…
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 …
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 …
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…
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…
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 salaried FDIC staff attorney request a court-awarded attorney's fee, under a promissory note's fee clause, that exceeds the FDIC's actual salary and legal expense costs of collection?
No. The opinion held the FDIC staff attorney is ethically prohibited from requesting or permitting the court to award a fee in excess of the amount necessary to reimburse the FDIC for the actual salar…
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 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…
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 a legal services law office give client identifying information, like Social Security numbers and demographics, to the government agency that funds the office?
Only with the client's informed written consent. The opinion concluded that client identifying details such as Social Security number, address, date of birth, sex, race, and referral source are secret…
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…
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 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…
Can an attorney who is under contract to prosecute paternity cases for the state also accept court appointments to defend indigent putative fathers in other paternity cases?
Generally yes, with safeguards, as originally decided. The opinion concluded there is no inherent conflict of interest barring the arrangement per se, but Canon 5 required the attorney to explain the …
Can a firm whose lawyer serves as the County Beer Board's attorney also represent private clients before other, unrelated county boards like the Board of Zoning Appeals?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a firm whose lawyer prepares minutes for, litigates appeals for, and advises the County Beer Board is not barred by Formal Ethics Opinion 81-F-4 from representing indiv…
If a lawyer serves as a county's attorney, can the lawyer's firm represent land developers, contractors, or other private clients whose matters come before the county?
No, generally. Adopting the New Jersey Rule from In Re: A. & B. and In Re: Dolan, the opinion concluded a firm whose member serves as county attorney is disqualified from representing land developers …
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.