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 accept credit cards or payment apps like Venmo and PayPal for legal fees, including unearned retainers?
Yes. Tennessee Formal Ethics Opinion 2023-F-170 permits lawyers to accept credit cards and payment-processing services for fees, including unearned fees, if they protect client confidentiality, treat …
How long does the Tennessee Board recommend that a lawyer keep client files after a representation ends?
Formal Ethics Opinion 2015-F-160(a) amends 2015-F-160 to recommend that a lawyer retain client files for five years after termination of representation as a guideline that may be altered by client agr…
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…
Are the trust accounts of a law-related or ancillary business operated by a lawyer subject to the same trust-account, overdraft-notification, and audit rules as a law practice?
Formal Ethics Opinion 94-F-135 concluded that the trust accounts of law-related ventures operated by lawyers are fully subject to the trust-overdraft notification and audit provisions of Supreme Court…
When are advanced or flat fees 'earned' so a lawyer can keep them out of trust, and when must they be held in a trust account?
Formal Ethics Opinion 92-F-128(a) refined 92-F-128. It held that advanced or flat fees may be either earned or unearned depending on the circumstances. Unearned fees of any kind (retainer, advanced, g…
Must a lawyer hold advanced, retainer, flat, and prepaid fees in trust, and can a retainer be nonrefundable?
Formal Ethics Opinion 92-F-128 concluded that all unearned attorney fees of any kind, including retainer, advanced, general, special, flat, and prepaid fees and advanced costs and expenses, are funds …
What recordkeeping system satisfies a Tennessee lawyer's basic trust accounting obligations?
The Board adopted, as guidance for Tennessee lawyers, portions of a published trust-accounting treatise describing four core records (a trust checkbook, a trust receipts book, a trust disbursements bo…
What must a Tennessee lawyer do with settlement proceeds when a client objects to paying a third party, such as a medical provider, who claims a right to part of the funds?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer who has notice that a client's creditor holds a lien on or assignment of settlement funds the lawyer is holding is ethically obligated to segregate and retain the d…
Can a Tennessee lawyer direct the interest earned on a client trust account to a charity of the lawyer's own choosing?
No. The opinion held that a lawyer may not give trust-account interest to a charity the lawyer designates, but may voluntarily place client trust funds in an interest-bearing account under the amended…
If a lawyer cannot locate a client whose statute of limitations is about to run, must the lawyer still settle the claim, and what should the lawyer do with the settlement proceeds?
The opinion held the attorney is ethically obligated to pursue and settle the claim despite the inability to reach the client, may pay reasonable and necessary medical and legal obligations from the p…
May a Tennessee lawyer place client funds in an interest-bearing trust account, and is the lawyer ever required to do so?
Yes, a lawyer may place client funds in interest-bearing accounts so long as DR 9-102's other requirements are met; there is generally no duty to invest nominal or short-term client funds because admi…
Must a Tennessee lawyer report another lawyer's escrow-account misappropriation if doing so could hurt the lawyer's own client's chances of recovering the misappropriated funds?
Yes. The opinion held that the reporting lawyer is obligated to report the other attorney's ethics violation to maintain the integrity of the profession, even though the report might be detrimental to…
Can a collections attorney deposit earned legal fees into an interest-bearing trust account and remit the accumulated excess interest to the clients?
No. The opinion concluded that remitting excess interest earned on an attorney's own fees to the client is an improper division of the attorney's fee with the client, and that the Code's requirements …
Under what conditions could a Tennessee lawyer accept credit card payment for legal fees and charge interest on accounts more than 30 days delinquent?
Under detailed conditions, since superseded. The opinion concluded there is no impropriety in a credit card plan or in charging interest on accounts over 30 days delinquent, provided conditions were m…
If a state investigative subpoena demands a law firm's entire trust account records, must the firm resist disclosure of information about clients who did not consent and are not the target of the investigation?
Yes. The opinion concluded that although the client who is the subject of the T.B.I. investigation consented to release of information, the firm is ethically obligated to resist disclosing confidentia…
If a client's contract with a debtor sets attorney fees at 20% of the debt, and the lawyer collects that percentage directly from the debtor via garnishment, can the client then demand the lawyer turn that fee over too, on the theory the lawyer's real deal with the client was an hourly rate?
No, as to the contractual percentage fee itself. The opinion concluded that where the attorney collected a sum certain as attorney's fee under the contract between the debtor and creditor, using court…
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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.