Texas Professional Ethics Committee Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Texas Professional Ethics Committee, with full citations and source links on every page.
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May a Texas lawyer agree to be personally bound by a non-disparagement clause or a marketing-use non-disclosure clause in a client's settlement agreement?
The Committee concludes that under Texas Disciplinary Rule 5.06(b) a lawyer may not be a party to a non-disparagement clause that restricts statements the lawyer might make in the practice of law, and…
May a Texas lawyer turn over a deceased client's closed litigation file to the executor of the decedent's estate when the file does not relate to the estate or its administration?
Per the Committee, the lawyer has discretion (but is not required) to reveal a deceased client's confidential information to the executor under Rule 1.05(c)(3) (representative-disclosure exception), p…
When a Texas lawyer moves from a private firm that represents public entities to a private firm that is adverse to those entities, what conflicts apply, does the 'generally known' exception save the new firm, and is Rule 1.10 screening available?
Per the Committee, the migrating lawyer's personal representation of a public-entity client at the prior firm creates Rule 1.09 former-client conflicts that are imputed to all lawyers at the hiring fi…
When I leave my law firm, can I copy and keep my clients' documents (for example to reuse as forms) even when the client isn't following me to the new firm?
Per the Committee, a departing lawyer may, at the lawyer's own expense, copy and retain documents from matters the lawyer personally handled (no prior-firm or client consent needed if responsive to fi…
Can a Texas lawyer post a public reply to a former client's negative online review, and how much can the lawyer reveal to rebut it?
Per the Committee, a lawyer may not reveal any confidential information just to answer a negative online review, because Rule 1.05's exceptions apply only to formal actions, proceedings, or charges, n…
Can a lawyer who defended one insured and settled a claim against him later represent the same insurer in defending the other insured's UM/UIM claim arising from the same accident?
Per the Committee, yes; although the two matters are substantially related, the lawyer's two clients (the first insured and the insurer) are not adverse to each other (both are adverse to the claimant…
When a former criminal client asks for their entire file, what must a Texas lawyer hand over, who pays for copies and delivery, and in what format must it be provided?
Per the Committee, the file (including notes and work product) is the client's property and must be made available on request, except material barred by statute, court order, or the lawyer's duties to…
Can a Texas lawyer represent a bankruptcy debtor when one of the creditors is a current (or former) client of the lawyer in other, unrelated matters?
Per the Committee, the representation does not violate Texas Rule 1.06 when the matters are not substantially related and the lawyer's judgment is not adversely limited, but the Fifth Circuit's curren…
After a lawyer leaves a firm, what must the firm do with the closed files of that lawyer's former clients, and when can it destroy them?
Per the Committee, the Texas rules set no detailed file-retention schedule, but their underlying principles control: protect client confidences, return files to a client on request, and do not destroy…
Can a Texas lawyer make a significant investment in a business that will compete with a former client whose confidential proprietary information the lawyer still holds?
Per the Committee, no, while the information remains relevant. Making a significant investment in a competitor uses the former client's confidential proprietary information to its disadvantage (Rule 1…
Can a Texas district attorney investigate or prosecute a local official the DA's office previously represented on matters tied to the official's public duties?
Per the Committee, only if the former-client protections of Rule 1.09 and the current-client conflict rule (Rule 1.06) are both satisfied: no reasonable probability of misusing the official's confiden…
Can a legal aid lawyer represent a client in a custody case against someone the same organization represented before, represents now, or screened but rejected for the same matter?
Per the Committee, it depends on the role. Against a former client in an unrelated matter, representation is allowed if there is no reasonable probability of misusing the former client's confidential …
Can a lawyer who is changing firms tell the prospective firm which clients and matters he has worked on so the firm can run a conflicts check, without breaching client confidentiality?
Per the Committee, yes, within limits. Rule 1.05(c)(4) permits the disclosure as necessary to comply with the conflicts rules (1.09 and 1.10) if four conditions are met: disclosure comes only after ot…
Can a Texas firm keep representing a client against an opposing party after hiring an associate who used to represent that opposing party, if the firm screens the new associate?
Not without the adverse party's consent if there is a reasonable probability the associate's prior representation implicates Rule 1.05 confidences or the matters are substantially related. The Committ…
Can a Texas lawyer use public-record information learned while representing a former client against that client, for example to collect unpaid fees?
Generally no, unless the information is generally known or an exception applies. The Committee concludes such public-record information is confidential under Rule 1.05, but Rule 1.05(c)(5) lets the la…
Can a Texas lawyer keep representing a client when a former client's conduct turns out to be material to the case?
Yes, if the new matter is not adverse to the former client, or if it is adverse but does not question the lawyer's prior work, is not the same or substantially related, and carries no reasonable proba…
Can a Texas firm sue a city it used to represent on behalf of another city, and does screening the lawyers who handled the old matter help?
Yes if the new matter is unrelated, does not question the firm's prior work, and creates no reasonable probability of a Rule 1.05 breach; but screening does not help, because under Rule 1.09(b) one di…
Does a Texas lawyer have to give a former client the lawyer's own notes from the case file, including work product?
Generally yes. The Committee concludes a lawyer must, on request, turn over to a former client the lawyer's notes from the file, including work product, except when the lawyer may withhold them under …
If I serve on a city council, can I discuss and vote on a matter involving a client of my former law firm when I never worked on that client's matter?
Yes, with conditions. The Committee concludes a lawyer on a city council may participate and vote on a matter where the former firm represents a client, provided the lawyer did not personally represen…
If I am elected district attorney, can I prosecute someone I previously defended as their criminal defense lawyer?
The Committee concluded a newly elected DA may not prosecute a former client's probation revocation in a case the lawyer defended (regardless of consent), may not prosecute a former client in a new ca…
After leaving my old firm, can my new firm represent a party against a client my old firm represented while I was there?
The Committee concluded that a new firm formed by lawyers who left a firm representing one party may represent the opposing party in that litigation if doing so does not violate Rule 1.09(a); on these…
Can a law firm sue, or decline to sue, a father on behalf of his children when the firm has represented the father in related criminal, divorce, and estate matters, if the father waives the conflict but the children's guardian does not?
The Committee concluded the firm may not represent the children. The matters are substantially related and directly adverse, the representation would be adversely limited by the firm's duties to the f…
If a lawyer leaves a firm, can he later represent a party against someone his old partner once consulted, when he never personally got any confidences from that person?
The Committee concluded the departed lawyer may take the representation. Under Rule 1.09(c), a lawyer who leaves a firm without personally coming within Rule 1.09(a)'s restrictions is not vicariously …
Can a lawyer represent a wife in a divorce when the husband had a brief paid consultation with the same lawyer about divorcing her years earlier?
The Committee concluded the lawyer is disqualified. An attorney-client relationship existed from the husband's paid 1986 consultation (the confidentiality duty can attach to one who sought to employ t…
If a jointly defended co-defendant turns hostile and hints he may change his testimony, can the firm share his recorded statement with the other parties, and must it withdraw?
The Committee concluded the firm may not disclose the former client's transcript to the insurer, the insured, or the other ex-employee. Only if the client actually moves to commit perjury may the firm…
Must a lawyer tell the bankruptcy court that a former client secretly got back the settlement funds at issue and put them in a trust, even though the client invokes privilege?
The Committee concluded the lawyer must first make a good-faith effort to get the former client to authorize disclosure to the bankruptcy court, and if that fails, must disclose the fact without the c…
If a law firm hires a secretary or legal assistant who worked for the opposing firm in a pending case, must the hiring firm be disqualified?
The Committee concluded that disqualification is not automatic. The current rules do not require automatic disqualification to avoid an appearance of impropriety, but Rule 5.03 requires the supervisin…
Can an associate who did no work and has no knowledge of a firm client interview with the opposing firm, and will that firm be disqualified if it hires him?
The Committee concluded it is not unethical for the associate to discuss employment with the opposing firm. The associate himself remains disqualified by imputation from representing the opposing clie…
After a joint representation ends, can a lawyer reveal what one former co-client told him, and may the lawyer testify when that co-client later commits perjury against the other client?
The Committee concluded that the lawyer may not disclose the versions of the facts a co-client gave while the lawyer represented him, even after the relationship ends, but may disclose what the co-cli…
Can a Texas lawyer answer an IRS letter asking about a former client's settled personal-injury case when the lawyer cannot reach the client for instructions?
The Committee concluded that the lawyer must decline the IRS request because the ethical duty to preserve a former client's confidences and secrets is broader than the evidentiary privilege; the lawye…
When the SEC subpoenas a lawyer to testify about a former client's affairs, must the lawyer still protect that former client's confidences and secrets?
The Committee concluded that a lawyer owes a continuing duty to preserve a former client's confidences and secrets in an SEC investigation, and may be released from it only as DR 4-101(C) or DR 7-102(…
Can the lawyer who defended a workers' compensation case later defend a third-party damage suit by the same injured plaintiff over the same accident?
The Committee concluded that if the compensation carrier paid benefits and therefore holds subrogation rights at stake in the damage suit, the lawyer and his firm are disqualified under Canon 6 by the…
Can a lawyer represent two clients with opposing interests arising from the same collision, and can a lawyer who left the plaintiff's firm later help defend the same suit?
The Committee concluded that a lawyer who represents a personal-injury plaintiff may not also represent the defendant driver in his workers' compensation claim from the same collision without the expr…
If two lawyers on opposite sides of a pending case become law partners, can the plaintiff's lawyer keep handling the case?
The Committee concluded that a lawyer may not, without the defendant's consent, continue representing the plaintiff after becoming a partner with the lawyer who had earlier represented the defendant a…
Can the plaintiff's lawyer later represent the defendant insured in a Stowers bad-faith suit against the insured's own carrier?
The Committee concluded that the plaintiff's attorney may represent the insured in a later Stowers suit against the carrier if the plaintiff's judgment has been satisfied, but not if it remains unsati…
Can a lawyer who once represented the wife in a dismissed divorce later represent the husband in a new divorce against her?
The Committee concluded that an attorney who represented the wife in a prior divorce action that was dismissed on reconciliation cannot ethically represent the husband in a later divorce suit against …
Can a Texas lawyer who prepared a partnership agreement and acted for both partners later represent one partner in a suit against the other?
The Committee concluded that an attorney may not represent one partner in a suit against the other arising out of the partnership where the lawyer prepared the partnership agreement, acted for both pa…
Can a lawyer sue a former client when the lawyer's past work for that person was isolated and involved no confidential information?
Yes. The Committee concluded that isolated past representations of a party, where the lawyer obtained no confidential information useful in the new matter, do not disqualify the lawyer from later fili…
If a lawyer drafted a contract for both sides, can the lawyer later represent one of them in a breach suit against the other?
No. The Committee concluded that where the attorney represented both parties in drafting the contract, it violates Canons 6 and 34 for him to later represent one of them in a breach suit against the o…
Can a lawyer who handled an estate's probate for the sole beneficiary later sue to remove the executor who paid his fee?
Yes. The Committee concluded that where the estate's administration was substantially complete and the lawyer had been employed by the sole beneficiary, no conflict precludes the lawyer from represent…
Can a law firm seek a pardon or parole for a prisoner when a firm member, as a former district attorney, prosecuted and convicted that prisoner?
The Committee deadlocked. It split evenly (4-4) on whether a firm may accept employment seeking a prisoner's pardon or parole when a member of the firm, as the former district attorney, prosecuted and…
Can a lawyer who represented a guardian of an estate keep representing that guardian when a successor guardian contests the first guardian's accounts?
Yes. The Committee concluded (7-1) that having represented the former guardian in administering the estate does not preclude the lawyer from representing that guardian against a successor guardian's c…
Can a district attorney prosecute defendants his former law firm was hired to defend, even though he never actively worked on the case?
No. The Committee concluded (7-0) that it would violate Canon 6 for a district attorney to represent the State against defendants his former firm had been employed to defend, because he was their atto…
Can a lawyer the victim consulted about serving as special prosecutor later defend the accused in the same criminal case?
No. The Committee concluded (8-0) that a lawyer whom the prosecuting witness consulted about serving as special prosecutor, and who learned her version of the facts, may not later accept employment as…
Can a lawyer oppose a party in a divorce-decree dispute when his new law partner originally represented that party in the divorce?
No. The Committee unanimously concluded (10-0) that it would violate Canon 6 for the lawyer to take the matter, because his partner had represented the opposing party in obtaining the original decree,…
Can the lawyer who drafted an incompetent client's earlier will reveal its contents and the client's mental state to the client's son and guardian?
No. The Committee held (8-1) that the lawyer may not disclose the contents and circumstances of the first will or his opinion of the testator's mental condition, because Canon 34's duty to preserve co…
Can a lawyer who represented one heir in a will contest later represent the administrator of the estate's residue?
The Committee held unanimously (10-0) that a lawyer who represented one of sixteen heirs in a will contest should not accept employment by the administrator of the residue estate where the administrat…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Texas Professional Ethics Committee 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.