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.
No Virginia State Bar opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
If a settlement lawyer learns the deed was fraudulently assembled to skip recording and taxes, can the lawyer close the deal, and must the lawyer report the other lawyer?
No to closing. The lawyer cannot knowingly assist a client's fraud under Rule 1.2(c) and must not complete a closing on a deed he knows misrepresents the chain of title; the fraud raises a substantial…
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)…
Must a lawyer report another lawyer's misconduct right away even though a related civil case is still pending, or wait until the civil case ends to avoid looking like leverage?
Report without unnecessary delay. The opinion concluded that once both prongs of the reporting rule are met, the lawyer must report promptly and need not wait for the pending malpractice claim to conc…
Is a lawyer's secret, non-consensual tape recording of a phone call improper even if legal, and must opposing counsel report it while a civil suit is pending?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer's surreptitious, non-consensual recording was improper under the dishonesty rule even if lawful, including when the lawyer acted as a corporate officer rather than …
Does a lawyer commit misconduct by submitting the same medical bills in two accident claims and presenting evidence the lawyer knows is false?
Yes. The opinion concluded that a lawyer who knew before trial that the medical bills related only to the first accident, yet presented them as relating to the second and let the client deny the first…
When a client follows a departing associate, can the old firm refuse to itemize its services on the contingent-fee lien, and must the new lawyer report that?
The opinion concluded that the old firm may not refuse to itemize its services, because the fee rules require a lawyer to explain the fee and furnish a contingent-fee closing statement; if the refusal…
Can a part-time prosecutor in private civil practice send a letter threatening law-enforcement action to gain an advantage for a private client?
No. The opinion concluded that a letter warning the recipient that the lawyer would otherwise seek assistance through law enforcement and legal avenues was a threat, and because the lawyer had told th…
Do fee-arbitration committee members have to report a lawyer's misconduct they learn about, and does the lawyer's joining arbitration affect that?
The opinion concluded that fee-arbitration committee members who conclude, to a substantial degree of certainty, that a lawyer's conduct violated the rules and raised a substantial question about fitn…
If a government lawyer seems to stonewall a public-records request, has that lawyer committed misconduct, and must a lawyer-requester who only suspects it report it?
On these facts, no. The opinion concluded that the government attorneys did not conceal records or knowingly make a false statement, because an unwritten 'policy' can still exist as custom or practice…
Must a lawyer tell a client she can file a bar complaint against opposing counsel, and must the lawyer report opposing counsel's misconduct, before the case is over?
The opinion concluded that the lawyer had to tell the client she could complain to the bar and could not wait until the litigation ended to do so; and that the lawyer had to report opposing counsel's …
Must a successor lawyer report opposing counsel who lied about meeting a filing deadline, and does the reporting duty disqualify the successor as a witness in the malpractice case?
The committee concluded that the successor lawyer may have a duty under DR 1-103(A) to report a lawyer who falsely told the client, opposing counsel, and the court that a suit was timely filed, becaus…
When opposing counsel records a deed understating the purchase price to cut the grantor's tax, must the other lawyer report it to the bar and to the tribunal?
The committee concluded that a lawyer who knowingly let a deed be recorded understating the consideration made a false statement and that the other lawyer may have a duty under DR 1-103(A) to report i…
Is it misconduct for a lawyer to set up a trust transfer so a client can dodge an assignment to a creditor, and must opposing counsel report it?
The committee concluded that a lawyer who advised transferring property into a trust to avoid honoring an assignment to a creditor counseled or assisted fraudulent conduct in violation of DR 7-102(A)(…
Must a lawyer report another lawyer's trust-account misconduct learned during a case when the client orders him not to disclose it?
The committee concluded that although trust-account misconduct is generally a per se reportable violation, the duty to report does not apply here because the information was the client's protected 'se…
If opposing counsel knowingly pleads a false date to dodge a statute of repose, has he violated the rules, and must the other lawyer report it?
The committee concluded that a lawyer who knew the true installation date but pleaded a false one made a knowing false statement of fact in violation of DR 7-102(A)(5) and possibly DR 1-102(A)(4). The…
Does a lawyer have to report another lawyer for filing an attorneys'-fee motion that the other side says a settlement waived, when the parties dispute what the settlement covered?
The committee declined to decide whether the fee motion was an unwarranted claim because the parties disputed what the settlement covered, and a committee cannot resolve a factual dispute. With no fac…
Must a local government attorney reveal or report a false closed-meeting certification under the Freedom of Information Act?
The committee concluded that, absent a statute requiring disclosure, the government attorney's revelation of a client's fraud under DR 4-101(C)(3) is permissive and must be tempered by the heightened …
If a lawyer learns in discovery that opposing counsel advanced money to a client against a settlement, must the lawyer report it, and does a protective order excuse the duty?
The committee concluded that advancing money to a client (not for litigation expenses) violated DR 5-103(B), the unprivileged knowledge of it raised a substantial question of fitness so it had to be r…
If a co-counsel learns the trial lawyer told the client to lie on the stand, must he report it to the court and to the lawyer's other bar?
The committee concluded that if the client committed perjury, the trial lawyer was bound by the fraud-on-a-tribunal disclosure rule, and that the co-counsel who learned of the misconduct had a duty un…
Must a Virginia lawyer report another lawyer's crime when there is no showing that the crime affected that lawyer's ability to practice law?
The committee concluded that knowing of a crime that does not raise a substantial question about the other lawyer's fitness to practice does not trigger the duty to report under DR 1-103(A); moral cul…
Must a prosecutor report lawyers who admitted, sometimes under immunity, to using or possessing cocaine, when that admission says nothing else about their practice?
The committee concluded that a lawyer's admission to using or possessing cocaine while licensed violated DR 1-102(A)(3) and raised a substantial question as to fitness, so under the facts presented th…
Does a lawyer still have to report another lawyer's misconduct if someone else may already have reported it?
The committee concluded a lawyer's obligation to report a Disciplinary Rule violation persists even when the lawyer believes another party has already reported the misconduct. It was decided under Vir…
Must a lawyer report another attorney's misconduct to the bar when the lawyer learned of it from a client in confidence and the client refuses to consent to disclosure?
The committee concluded it is improper to report another attorney's unethical conduct to the bar when the information was obtained from a client in confidence and the client refuses to consent to the …
Browse Virginia State Bar opinions by topic
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.