Virginia State Bar Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Virginia State Bar, with full citations and source links on every page.
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Can a furloughed government lawyer keep defending the agency against other employees' furlough appeals while also challenging his own furlough?
No, not on furlough matters if he intends to challenge his own furlough; that personal-interest conflict cannot be waived. He may handle unrelated agency work with the agency's informed consent, and m…
Can a Virginia lawyer volunteer at a courthouse self-help center for pro se litigants without forming an attorney-client relationship?
It depends on what the volunteer does. Handing out forms, sample pleadings, and general legal information is not 'short-term limited legal services' and creates no client-lawyer relationship; helping …
If a Virginia lawyer is 'of counsel' to a firm, are the firm's clients and conflicts imputed to that lawyer?
Yes. An 'of counsel' lawyer is associated with the firm for conflict purposes, so conflicts are imputed both ways under Rule 1.10(a) and cannot be screened around. A genuinely limited independent-cont…
Can a plaintiff's lawyer agree to indemnify the defendant's insurer against unpaid liens as a condition of settling the case?
No. Agreeing to indemnify the insurer for the client's unpaid liens is improper financial assistance under Rule 1.8(e) and creates a non-waivable conflict under Rule 1.7(a)(2). It is also a Rule 8.4(a…
Can a criminal defense lawyer advise a client to accept a plea deal that waives the right to claim ineffective assistance, and can a prosecutor require it?
No to both. A defense lawyer cannot ethically advise a client to waive future ineffective-assistance claims because of a non-waivable conflict between the lawyer's interest and the client's (Rules 1.7…
Can a lawyer who sits on a town council represent a client challenging the constitutionality of an ordinance the lawyer voted to adopt?
There is no per se bar. Because the lawyer participated personally and substantially in adopting the ordinance, Rule 1.11(b) requires consent from both the client and the government agency, and the la…
Can a Virginia lawyer join a networking group whose members trade client leads, where membership depends on how many leads you pass?
No. The committee concludes that membership in a lead-sharing group that conditions membership on passing leads trades things of value for referrals in violation of the solicitation rules, and risks c…
Is it an ethics violation for a Virginia lawyer to have a sexual relationship with a current client during the representation?
Virginia has no rule that flatly bans it, but the committee concludes a lawyer should refrain, because a sexual relationship begun during the representation risks violating the rules on competence, in…
Does a lawyer owe a duty of confidentiality, and risk disqualification, when a would-be client sends details through the firm's website or leaves them on voicemail?
It depends on whether the lawyer invited the information. Unsolicited details left on a voicemail or sent to a posted email address create no duty of confidentiality, but a website that invites submis…
When a city attorney represents the city as an organization, does the lawyer owe confidentiality to individual officials like the mayor or council members, and can separate office lawyers be screened from each other?
The city attorney's client is the city, not its individual constituents, so information from one official generally need not be kept from another and may have to be shared to keep the city informed. T…
Can a corporation's in-house lawyer do legal work for a commonly-owned sister corporation, and can the employer charge the sister company for it?
Yes, with consent and safeguards. In-house counsel may represent a sister corporation directly and independently with the employer's consent, preserving each client's confidences; the employer may rec…
Does a Virginia lawyer owe a duty of confidentiality to a prospective client who shared information only with the lawyer's secretary, and may the lawyer still represent the opposing party?
Yes, the duty applies. The opinion concludes information a prospective client gives a lawyer's secretary is protected under Rule 1.6, and the lawyer may continue to represent the opposing party only b…
Can a Virginia criminal defense lawyer give an indigent jailed client small amounts of money for jail commissary purchases without violating Rule 1.8(e)?
The opinion concludes that occasional de minimis humanitarian gifts unrelated to the litigation (small sums for items like toothpaste or gum) are not barred by Rule 1.8(e), so long as the lawyer's ind…
From whom may a court-appointed guardian ad litem for a minor accept payment of her fee, and can the insurer that is settling the minor's claim also pay the guardian ad litem?
The opinion concludes a guardian ad litem may accept fee payment from a third party such as the insurer only if Rule 1.8(f)'s conditions are met; because a minor cannot consent and the guardian cannot…
Can a Virginia attorney who serves as a mediator, or her law partner, represent a party in the same dispute after it was mediated at their mediation firm?
The opinion concludes the lawyer who personally mediated a dispute is barred under Rule 2.10(e) from later representing either party, with no cure available; that disqualification is imputed to her la…
Is it a conflict of interest for a lawyer to sue a corporation whose board of directors includes the lawyer's partner, and can screening, the partner's resignation, or withdrawal cure it?
Yes. The opinion concludes the partner-director's fiduciary duty to the corporation creates a Rule 1.7(a)(2) conflict that imputes to the suing partner under Rule 1.10; it can be cured by client conse…
Does an attorney appointed Commissioner in Chancery have a conflict of interest under Rule 1.11 because of prior representations handled by the attorney or the attorney's law partner?
No. The opinion concludes Rule 1.11 disqualifies a public-officer attorney only where the attorney personally and substantially participated in the same matter while in private practice; because this …
Can a local government attorney represent the Zoning Administrator suing the Board of Zoning Appeals in one case while representing the BZA in an unrelated appeal?
The opinion concludes this is a direct-adversity concurrent conflict under Rule 1.7(a)(1), because the lawyer would be advocating against a current client (the BZA) even on an unrelated matter; it can…
Is a lawyer who works as a lobbyist rather than practicing law still bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct, and can he later lobby against a former lobbying customer on the same issue?
The opinion concludes a lawyer remains subject to the Rules even while working as a lobbyist, and if his conduct led the customer to a reasonable belief that an attorney-client relationship existed, c…
When a lawyer's own error causes a client's criminal appeal to be dismissed, what must the lawyer do to help the client, and does the lawyer's own exposure create a disqualifying conflict?
The opinion concludes the lawyer must under Rule 1.4 tell the client the appeal was dismissed, why, and what recourse exists (including habeas for ineffective assistance and a possible malpractice cla…
Can two law firms describe themselves as 'affiliated' or 'associated' on their letterhead, and what conflict and confidentiality duties follow?
The opinion concludes two firms may use 'affiliated' or 'associated' if the label truthfully describes a close, ongoing relationship and is not misleading under Rules 7.1 and 7.5. But once they hold t…
Is a Virginia lawyer disqualified from serving as guardian ad litem because opposing counsel is a former law partner?
No. The opinion concludes a lawyer serving as guardian ad litem has no conflict of interest merely because opposing counsel was once a partner, where the lawyer never worked on or learned confidential…
If a Virginia firm hires the secretary or paralegal from opposing counsel's firm, must it withdraw from the shared case?
No. The opinion concludes the conflict rules (Rules 1.7 and 1.9) apply only to lawyers, so hiring opposing counsel's non-lawyer staff does not automatically disqualify the hiring firm; the firm may st…
Does a Virginia lawyer have a former-client conflict when his firm partner once represented people who are now adverse parties, even years later and now suing as trustees?
The opinion concludes the scenario must be analyzed under Rule 1.9: none of the proffered escape hatches (a 19-year gap, a title company doing the title work, the clients now holding land as trustees,…
Can a Virginia prosecutor prosecute defendants represented by a lawyer with whom the prosecutor co-owns a law office building and equipment?
No. The opinion concludes that where a prosecutor co-owns the office building and law-practice equipment with the defense lawyer and shares mortgage and loan obligations tied to that law practice, the…
Does a Virginia lawyer owe confidentiality after an initial consultation, and can a spouse 'taint shop' to disqualify every divorce lawyer?
The opinion concludes the duty of confidentiality under Rule 1.6 attaches to an initial consultation even when no attorney-client relationship forms and no fee is paid, so a lawyer who received the wi…
Can one Virginia defense lawyer represent two criminal defendants in separate cases when one client's defense points at the other?
The opinion concludes the lawyer had an impermissible conflict of interest under Rule 1.7(b): once he realized one client (Defendant #2) was the very person his other client (Defendant #1) feared and …
Can a county attorney sue the Board of Zoning Appeals on behalf of the Board of Supervisors when the same attorney has advised the BZA on the very variance at issue?
The opinion concludes the county attorney has a conflict either way: if the BZA is a former client, Rule 1.9 bars suing it on a substantially related matter (the variance and the public notice for it)…
Is it a conflict of interest for a lawyer to represent the estate administrator who is also the surviving spouse claiming an elective share against the estate?
The opinion concludes there is no conflict, because the lawyer who represents an estate represents the personal representative, not the beneficiaries, and representing one person in two capacities (as…
Are conflicts imputed across all Virginia public defender offices and capital defense units under one commission, or is each office a separate firm for conflict purposes?
The opinion concludes that a single public defender office is a 'firm' under Rule 1.10, but separate Public Defender Offices and Capital Defense Units under the Public Defender Commission are separate…
Can a firm prepare an opinion attacking a patent held by one of its own current clients because another firm lawyer handles that client's patents in a different technology?
The opinion concludes there is a direct-adversity conflict under Rule 1.7: helping Client A invalidate a patent held by current Client B is directly adverse to Client B even though the firm's work for…
Can a lawyer who serves in the state legislature, or that lawyer's firm, represent private clients before local zoning boards and councils when no firm member sits on those boards?
The opinion concludes yes. The per se conflict recognized in LEO 1763, where a firm member sat on the very board appeared before, does not extend to appearances before local bodies on which no firm me…
Can a lawyer or legal aid office represent a daughter seeking guardianship over her mother when the mother is also a current client of the same office in another matter?
The opinion concludes no. Representing the daughter in a guardianship petition against the mother is directly adverse to a current client under Rule 1.7, cannot satisfy either consent prong because an…
Can a private law firm hold a fee-collection contract with a Commonwealth's Attorney while also defending criminal cases prosecuted by that same office?
The opinion concludes no. Once a defense attorney contracts to collect fines for a Commonwealth's Attorney, the prosecutor's personal-interest conflict under Rule 1.7(b) cannot be cured (the client is…
Can a lawyer who settled a mother's accident case then represent her child's injury claim from the same accident, when the mother may be a potential defendant?
The opinion concludes it depends. The mother as next friend is not a current client, so Rule 1.7 does not apply, but she is a former client in a substantially related matter, so Rule 1.9 bars the chil…
Can a law firm represent a client before a local governing body when one of the firm's lawyers sits on that body, even if the lawyer discloses the tie and abstains from voting?
The opinion concludes no. A firm may not represent a client before a governing body on which one of its lawyers serves, and the board-member's recusal does not cure the conflict, because withdrawing f…
When legal aid lawyers move to a different legal aid office, may the old office share confidential client information so the lawyers can run conflicts checks?
The opinion concludes yes. Confidential information from intake and representation is imputed to the lawyers who moved, regardless of whether they remember it or formed an attorney-client relationship…
Can an estate-planning lawyer who is also a licensed insurance agent earn a share of the commission on a policy he recommends to fund the client's insurance trust?
The opinion concludes yes, if the lawyer follows Rules 1.7 and 1.8. Taking a commission on the policy is not per se improper, but the lawyer's insurance-agent interest creates a Rule 1.7(b) conflict t…
Is it an improper threat for a lawyer to warn opposing counsel that continued ex parte contact with his client could lead to criminal charges?
The opinion concludes the letter does not by itself violate Rule 3.4(h). Under the committee's two-part test it is a threat, but on its face its purpose was to stop the opposing party's direct contact…
Can a plaintiff's lawyer contact represented defendants, by mail or at a deposition, to advise them of their right to separate counsel when their insurer-retained lawyer may have a conflict?
No. The opinion concludes Rule 4.2 bars a plaintiff's lawyer from communicating with represented defendants without their lawyer's consent, even to warn them of a possible conflict, and even in their …
Can a lawyer who served as co-administrator of an estate later represent a party in litigation against that estate over the same assets?
Partly. The opinion concluded that under the former-client conflict rule the lawyer, who had been his own client as co-administrator of the estate, could not, without the successor administrator's con…
Can a law firm represent a client before a local governing body when one of the firm's lawyers is a member of that body, if the lawyer-member discloses the tie and abstains?
No. The opinion concluded it is not ethically permissible for a law firm to represent a client in a matter before a governing body on which one of the firm's lawyers serves, even if that lawyer-member…
Can a law firm hire a lawyer through a nonlawyer staffing agency, and how do conflicts, confidentiality, fee-sharing, disclosure, and billing apply?
Yes. The opinion concluded a firm may retain a temporary lawyer through a nonlawyer staffing agency, treating the temp like a lawyer moving between firms: conflicts and imputed disqualification turn o…
Can a discrimination plaintiff's lawyers, as part of the settlement, agree to be hired by the defendant employer to advise it on its employment practices, with the plaintiff waiving the conflict?
On these facts, yes. The opinion concluded the settlement did not violate the bar on agreements that broadly restrict a lawyer's right to practice, because the agreement contained no explicit restrict…
Can a lawyer who served on a county planning commission and as campaign treasurer for a supervisor represent clients in zoning cases before those bodies?
Generally yes, with limits. The opinion concluded the lawyer's former service on the planning commission does not bar representing clients before it or the board of supervisors in matters where he had…
Can a divorce lawyer take an assignment of the proceeds from the sale of the client's marital home to secure payment of the fee?
Not until a final decree resolves all issues over the property. The opinion concluded that taking an interest in marital property still subject to the divorce gives the lawyer an improper proprietary …
When a lawyer asks another lawyer for advice through a bar consultation network, what confidentiality and conflict duties arise between the two lawyers?
The consulting lawyer must get client consent before revealing confidences or secrets, the consulted lawyer must keep the consultation confidential even though no attorney-client relationship forms, a…
Can a state legislator who is an associate at a law firm vote on legislation the firm is drafting for a client whose business is affected by the bill?
Yes. The opinion concluded that mere representation of a client affected by legislation creates no per se impropriety, so the legislator may vote, provided neither the firm nor the legislator leads th…
Can a lawyer take stock in a client's company as payment for legal fees?
Yes, not per se improper. The opinion concluded that a lawyer may accept stock in a corporation (and its predecessor partnership) as compensation, so long as the lawyer believes independent profession…
Can a lawyer draft a will for a godmother that names the lawyer as an ultimate beneficiary, and may the lawyer then serve as executor and trustee?
The committee concluded that drafting the will was improper because a godparent is not a 'relative' under the rule barring a lawyer from preparing an instrument giving the lawyer a gift; but serving a…
Can a Commonwealth's Attorney sit in a quasi-judicial role reviewing a grievance panel decision when he earlier served on the same agency's board and is close to the people involved?
The committee concluded that the prosecutor should not serve in the quasi-judicial capacity, because the cumulative effect of his prior board service, close personal relationships, and earlier involve…
After a partner testified for the client at trial, can another partner from the same firm handle the client's appeal to the state supreme court?
The committee concluded that the appeal was not a separate representation from the trial, because appellate argument might require attacking the credibility of the partner's trial testimony, so the ad…
Can a lawyer borrow money from a client while the client's contested litigation is pending?
The committee concluded that borrowing from a client during pending litigation is not per se improper, but only if the lawyer first complies with the business-transaction rule, full and adequate discl…
Can a criminal defense lawyer also represent the victim and the victim's mother, and tell them they need not cooperate with the prosecutor?
The committee concluded that simultaneously representing the defendant, the juvenile victim, and the victim's mother was per se improper under DR 5-105(A) and (B) and not curable under (C); advising t…
Can a former judicial law clerk, and his new firm, work on a related case after the clerk had substantial responsibility for it in chambers?
The committee concluded that the former law clerk had substantial responsibility in the matter and could not participate, professionally or financially, in a related new case even before a different j…
When a partner moves to a firm on the other side of pending cases, can a screen let the new firm keep those cases, and can the partner keep a financial interest in his old firm's fees?
The committee concluded that a screen could not cure the side-switch conflict, because the former-client rule requires the former clients' consent; absent it, neither the lawyer nor his new firm could…
When a corporation's lawyer prepares a board member for deposition and the member reveals he caused the harm, must the lawyer warn him to get his own counsel and keep what he said confidential?
The committee concluded that the lawyer had to advise the former board president, an unrepresented person whose interests conflicted with the condominium, to seek independent counsel; could not contin…
If a firm that is outside counsel for a local government hires that government's own lawyer who worked the same case, is the firm disqualified?
The committee concluded that the former government attorney could not personally participate, professionally or financially, in the same matter in private practice, even though no adverse interests we…
In a residential loan closing, what must the lender's attorney tell an unrepresented borrower, and when can the same attorney represent both sides?
The committee concluded that if the attorney represents only the lender, that should be communicated to the borrower, but the rules do not require the lender's attorney to advise the borrower of the r…
Can a firm represent a client suing one division of a bank while another lawyer at the firm represents a different division of the same bank, even with everyone's consent?
The committee concluded that simultaneously representing a borrower against one bank division while representing another division of the same bank was improper, because the two divisions are part of o…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Virginia State Bar 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.