Utah State Bar Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Utah State Bar Ethics Advisory Opinion Committee, with full citations and source links on every page.
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What are a prosecutor's and defense lawyer's ethical duties toward the victim in a domestic violence case?
The opinion concludes that the alleged victim is the client of neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel; both must avoid implying they represent the victim, may not give the victim legal advice beyo…
Can a private lawyer sue one government agency while representing another agency of the same government in an unrelated matter?
The opinion concludes that this simultaneous representation is not categorically prohibited; whether it creates a conflict turns on identifying the government client through a functional analysis and …
Can a former member or hearing officer of the parole board later represent an offender before that same board, and do all proceedings involving one offender count as the same 'matter' under Rules 1.11 and 1.12?
The opinion concludes that any proceeding involving the same offender is the same 'matter,' so a former Board member or hearing officer who personally and substantially participated in prior proceedin…
Can a criminal defense lawyer counsel a client to accept a plea agreement that waives the lawyer's own future ineffective assistance of counsel at sentencing or in postconviction proceedings?
The Committee concludes it violates Rule 1.7 for a defense lawyer to counsel a client to enter a plea agreement waiving the lawyer's prospective ineffective assistance at sentencing or other postconvi…
Can a government entity's lawyers send a litigation-hold e-mail asking employees to preserve documents to an employee who is the represented plaintiff in the suit against the entity?
The opinion concludes it violates Rule 4.2 for a government entity's attorney's office to send the litigation-hold e-mail to an adverse represented employee, because the e-mail concerns the subject of…
Can a county attorney's office help domestic-violence victims get protective orders and still prosecute the abuser?
Yes, with limits. An individual government lawyer may provide the pro bono protective-order representation but then may not take part in prosecuting the abuser; under Rule 1.11 that lawyer's conflict …
Can an Assistant Attorney General serve as a hearing officer in a matter that the Attorney General's office might later litigate?
Yes. Under Rule 1.12, employment by the Attorney General's office does not by itself disqualify a lawyer from serving as a hearing officer for an agency in a matter the office may later handle as an a…
Does a government lawyer violate Rule 8.4(c) by supervising or taking part in a lawful undercover operation that uses deception?
Not without more. The opinion concludes that a governmental lawyer who participates in a lawful covert government operation employing dishonesty, deceit, or misrepresentation to gather information doe…
Can a lawyer agree in a plea bargain that a subpoenaed officer will not appear at a related hearing?
No. The opinion concluded that a prosecutor or defense lawyer who seeks an investigating officer's agreement not to honor a lawfully issued subpoena violates Rules 3.4(a) and 8.4, and may commit witne…
Can the Attorney General's office investigate an organization that the Attorney General was personally associated with before taking office, or is that a disqualifying conflict?
Not per se. Neither Rule 1.11(c) (successive private and government employment) nor Rule 1.7(b) (personal-interest conflicts) categorically bars the investigation, but each participating lawyer has an…
Can a private lawyer appointed as a special deputy county attorney to prosecute one matter keep representing criminal defendants elsewhere in Utah?
The opinion concluded no: under Rule 1.7(a) and the reasoning of Opinion No. 126, a special deputy county prosecutor could not represent criminal defendants in any Utah jurisdiction during the appoint…
Can one lawyer represent both a county and a city within that county on civil matters, or is that a per se conflict of interest?
There is no blanket prohibition. A lawyer may represent both a county and a city on civil matters, but when the two entities are directly adverse on a matter the lawyer may not represent either (and p…
A part-time county prosecutor in private practice represents a client in a civil case, and the opposing party becomes a criminal suspect in the same county. Must the prosecutor withdraw from the civil case, or is referring the criminal matter enough?
If the prosecutor has not become personally substantially involved in, and has no meaningful control over, any investigation of the criminal matter, he need not withdraw from the civil case and can cu…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Utah State Bar Ethics Advisory Opinion 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.