Washington State Bar Association Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Washington State Bar Association, with full citations and source links on every page.
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What must a Washington lawyer do when a client has limited English or another communication barrier?
The lawyer must make reasonable use of a qualified interpreter or translator to communicate effectively, protect client confidences when doing so, and obtain informed consent before using AI or machin…
What ethics duties must a Washington lawyer follow when using AI-enabled tools like ChatGPT in practice?
AI tools are permitted, but the lawyer remains responsible for the work and must satisfy the duties of competence, diligence, confidentiality, communication, candor, supervision, and reasonable fees. …
Can a lawyer for a long-term care facility share a resident's information with a prospective guardian and later represent both the facility and the guardian?
A facility's lawyer may share resident information with a prospective guardian only if substantive law permits it and the lawyer's competence duty to the facility (including protecting the resident's …
Can a legal aid lawyer report anonymized client data to a funder, and what does RPC 1.6 require to prevent reidentification?
A lawyer may not rely on anonymization alone; reporting must be reasonably calculated to prevent reidentification, weighing the number of fields, the specificity requested, and the client population, …
When representation ends, which documents in the file must a Washington lawyer turn over to the client under RPC 1.16(d)?
The lawyer must surrender documents needed to protect the client's interests, including the client's documents, external communications, filings, transactional and corporate records, and substantive i…
When a criminal defendant misses a hearing because they are civilly committed in a hospital, can the defense lawyer tell the court about the commitment without violating confidentiality?
Qualified. The committee concluded that a defense lawyer may disclose a client's civil commitment only on a recognized basis: the client's express or implied informed consent under RPC 1.6(a), a court…
In insurance-defense or employer-paid representations, can the defense lawyer share the client's confidential information with a third-party administrator, broker, HR manager, or risk manager?
No, unless the lawyer's client gives informed consent. The committee concluded that even within the tripartite or quadripartite relationship, RPC 1.6(a) bars disclosing client confidential information…
How much can a lawyer tell the court about why they want to withdraw from a case without violating client confidentiality?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may always tell the court there is a basis for withdrawal under RPC 1.16, or that professional considerations require it, without revealing the specific reason; f…
Can a Washington lawyer run a virtual law office with no physical address, and practice remotely from another state?
Yes. There is no requirement to maintain a physical office, and a Washington lawyer may practice remotely from another jurisdiction if that jurisdiction allows it and the lawyer stays invisible as a l…
Can a lawyer who learns a client is running a financial scam report the client to law enforcement, and must the lawyer do so?
The lawyer is not required to report a financial scam that does not threaten substantial bodily harm, but Washington RPC 1.6(b)(2) permits disclosure to prevent a client from committing any crime, lim…
When can a lawyer withdraw from an immigration case for nonpayment or a client's silence, and how much can the lawyer tell the court about why?
A lawyer may withdraw when a client stops communicating or fails to pay after reasonable warning, but RPC 1.6 limits what the lawyer may tell the court; a statement that professional considerations re…
Can a lawyer turn over client files and unredacted financial records to the state Department of Revenue during a tax audit without the client's consent?
No. RPC 1.6 obligates the lawyer to keep client files and unredacted client-related financial records confidential, even when the Department of Revenue demands them in an audit, absent the client's pe…
Must a lawyer warn a client who emails the lawyer from an employer-owned computer or account that the communications may not be private?
Yes. Once the lawyer believes there is a significant risk a third party will access the communications, the lawyer must warn a client using an employer-provided device or account that the employer may…
What are a lawyer's duties around metadata: protecting it when sending documents, handling it when received, and mining a scrubbed document for it?
A sending lawyer must act competently to scrub confidential metadata; a receiving lawyer who finds inadvertently disclosed metadata must notify the sender but may read it; and using forensic software …
Can a lawyer store confidential client files with a third-party cloud or online storage provider?
Yes. A lawyer may use third-party online data storage for confidential client files if the lawyer conducts reasonable due diligence on the provider and continues to monitor its security, to protect co…
Can a lawyer run advertising testimonials that state specific settlement or award dollar amounts, and is a disclaimer required?
Yes, if the former client consents, confidences are kept, and the ad is not misleading; a disclaimer is required only where one is needed to keep the advertisement from being misleading under RPC 7.1.
When defense counsel must raise a criminal defendant's competency with the court, how much client information can the lawyer disclose under RPC 1.14 and 1.6?
The committee concluded that if counsel is legally obligated to raise competency, the lawyer must do so but should disclose only what is necessary, often just that a competency issue exists, withholdi…
When a client dies leaving a fee deposit in the lawyer's trust account, to whom does the lawyer pay it, what fees can be taken, and what can the lawyer reveal?
The committee concluded the lawyer must take reasonable steps to identify who is entitled to the funds and hold or interplead them if there is a dispute, may charge only reasonable fees that were unde…
Can public defender attorneys give their funding agency the names, case numbers, and outcomes of sealed dependency cases without violating client confidentiality?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.6(a) bars revealing dependency-case disposition information whose disclosure would be embarrassing or detrimental to the client, but that information not tied to a p…
Can a client enter into a fee agreement by email, and must a lawyer encrypt fee agreements or case information sent over the internet?
The committee concluded that a client may enter a fee agreement by email and that no additional security measures are required absent special circumstances, because email carries a reasonable expectat…
Can a lawyer take a revolving credit line from a financing company using the value of the firm's contingent cases as collateral?
The committee declined to approve the specific venture but said any third-party firm financing must observe three principles: the financier may not direct the lawyer's professional judgment or materia…
Can a lawyer refer clients to a relative who is a realtor and discount the clients' legal fees if they use that relative?
The committee concluded no RPC per se prohibits either the referral or the fee discount, but it flagged concerns under RPC 1.6 (client confidences, heightened between family members), RPC 1.7 and 1.8 …
Can a lawyer represent a Guantanamo Bay detainee and agree to a court protective order that bars sharing classified material with the client?
The opinion concludes the lawyer may sign the memorandum of understanding and protective order, but only if the lawyer intends to abide by it and the client consents, after full disclosure, to the lim…
Does a law firm owe confidentiality to someone who submits case details through the firm's website, and can it still represent the opposing party?
The committee concluded that lawyers owe a duty of confidentiality to prospective clients even without the then-proposed RPC 1.18, so a firm that solicits information through its website and receives …
Can a lawyer disclose that someone was a former client, and represent a new client adverse to that former client, when the former client won't consent?
The committee concluded the lawyer needs no consent to disclose the existence and subject of the prior representation, because a client's identity and the nature of the matter are usually not confiden…
If a public defender must tell the court she doubts her client's competency, can she disclose the confidential conversations that prompted the concern?
The committee concluded that even assuming the lawyer must raise a competency concern with the court, RPC 1.6 still bars disclosing the attorney-client conversations that gave rise to it, to the court…
Can a lawyer arrange for a CPA to take over, or buy, the lawyer's tax-return practice if the lawyer becomes disabled or retires?
The committee said a lawyer cannot share fees with or form a partnership with the accountant, must avoid facilitating the unauthorized practice of law, and must get each client's informed consent befo…
Can a public defense agency give a county funder information from client files to verify billing or run a performance audit?
The committee said RPC 1.6 bars disclosing client confidences or secrets to a funding authority, and a lawyer cannot have the client waive that protection, but the rule does not preclude submitting ti…
After a client dies, who can waive the attorney-client privilege and can the lawyer charge to handle the file?
The committee said the duty to protect a client's confidences under RPC 1.6 survives the client's death, so absent a valid waiver or a court order the lawyer should assert the privilege against third-…
Can a public defender agency hand over client confidences to the county as part of a contract audit, even if the auditor is a lawyer?
The committee concluded that a public defense agency representing indigent clients cannot disclose client confidences and secrets for a county program audit, because the audit is not done to carry out…
Does an insurer's invoice-processing fee that cuts a percentage from each defense bill violate the rules on advancing costs and sharing fees?
Deciding this inquiry together with Opinion 2012, the committee concluded that the insurer's mandatory percentage reduction off every invoice violates RPC 1.8(e) (the lawyer is not fully reimbursed fo…
Can a lawyer disclose a client's telephone number without the client's permission?
No. The committee concluded that RPC 1.6 prohibits the voluntary disclosure of any information obtained during the representation without the client's consent, and that the rule's exceptions in RPC 1.…
Can an insurance company make its defense lawyers take a flat percentage off every invoice and follow billing and litigation guidelines?
The committee concluded that a mandatory across-the-board percentage reduction of every invoice violates RPC 1.8(e) (the lawyer is not fully reimbursed for costs advanced for the client) and RPC 5.4(a…
Can a court-appointed criminal defense lawyer take part in a county program that pays a flat fee plus court-approved costs and routes advance payments through the lawyer's trust account?
The committee found no inherent conflict between the county's compensation proposal and counsel's trust-account (RPC 1.14), independence (RPC 1.8(f)), and confidentiality (RPC 1.6) duties: advance dep…
If a lawyer learns a client committed a past felony related to the case, can the lawyer reveal it, and can a settlement require both sides to keep incriminating evidence secret?
On the assumed facts (past, non-ongoing conduct, no legal duty to report, no evidence destruction, no required tribunal disclosure, no assisting a crime or fraud), the committee concluded RPC 1.6(a) b…
When a third party pays a client's legal fees, can the lawyer send the payer an itemized bill of the work performed?
The committee concluded that a lawyer whose fee is paid by a third party has the same obligations as one paid by the client, and may submit a billing statement to the payer provided it does not requir…
Can a lawyer work as a 'risk management consultant' for an insurance broker, reviewing the broker's insureds and advising them, without violating the ethics rules?
The committee concluded it may be ethically possible but the risk of running afoul of the rules is high. Whether the work is the practice of law is a substantive-law question outside the committee's p…
Can a volunteer legal clinic open a file and offer a consultation to a second person whose interests may conflict with an existing clinic client?
It turns on whether an attorney-client relationship formed with the first person. The committee concluded the clinic must screen for conflicts and warn that intake information is not confidential unti…
Can a law firm write off an unpaid client bill and file an IRS Form 1099 naming the client and reporting the write-off as income?
No. The committee concluded that filing an IRS Form 1099 disclosing the client's identity would likely be detrimental to the client and is therefore barred by RPC 1.6, that the issue persists even if …
Can a lawyer who did collections and eviction work for a hospital later sue that hospital for malpractice on behalf of a new client?
Yes, if the matters are not substantially related. Assuming a former attorney-client relationship with the hospital, the committee concluded RPC 1.7 and 1.8 did not apply (the hospital was not a curre…
Does a lawyer owe confidentiality to a caller who sought help, and must the lawyer report the caller's immigration status?
The committee said whether RPC 1.6(a) confidentiality applied depended on whether an attorney-client relationship existed, a fact question with subjective and objective components it could not resolve…
Can a lawyer defend insurance-pool members when a corporate pool administrator pays the lawyer's fees?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded that third-party payment by the pool administrator does not bar the defense, but the lawyer must tell each pool member of the assignment and the payer and…
Can a law firm hire out its nonlawyer IT staff to other law firms for profit?
Yes. The committee concluded that a firm could provide its nonlawyer computer and IT employees to other firms for profit, provided it complies with RPC 5.4(a) and (b), 5.3, and 1.8(a), and puts measur…
Does a lawyer's website that lets clients generate estate planning documents online satisfy the duty to protect client confidences?
The committee said the described safeguards (individual passwords and encryption) appeared to be appropriate steps under the circumstances, but that whether the specific software was adequate under RP…
Can a lawyer file an IRS Form 1099 reporting settlement money disbursed to a client without violating client confidentiality?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.6 does not prohibit filing a Form 1099 reporting money disbursed to a client, unless the client asked the lawyer to keep the client's identity confidential or asked …
Can an insurance-defense lawyer send detailed bills describing the defense to the insurer or its outside auditor without the insured client's consent?
The committee concluded that defense counsel may not disclose confidential client information in detailed bills to the insurer or its outside auditor without the insured's informed consent, and that a…
Can a criminal-defense lawyer advertise in the Yellow Pages that investigative services are available?
Yes. The committee concluded that nothing in the Rules prohibits the lawyer from stating in a Yellow Pages advertisement that investigative services are available, provided the statement is accurate a…
Can a lawyer disclose the client's fee agreement to the client's subrogated insurer, and must a side agreement reducing the fee be disclosed?
The committee concluded the fee agreement is generally not a confidence or secret, and even if it were, disclosure seems necessary to maximize the client's recovery; the lawyer may disclose it but wou…
Can a lawyer provide free estate-planning services to an organization's members when the organization suggests members leave it a bequest?
Yes, with conditions. The committee concluded the lawyer may provide the free services, but any donation a client makes to the organization must be totally voluntary; the lawyer must protect independe…
Can an insurance-defense lawyer send billing records to the insurer's outside auditing company without breaching client confidentiality?
The committee did not give a categorical answer. It referred the lawyer to RPC 1.6 and the definitions of confidences and secrets, and said it could not determine in the abstract whether any specific …
Can a family-law lawyer also serve as counsel to a volunteer guardian ad litem program without a conflict?
The committee concluded that, given the lawyer's representation that the contract with the volunteer guardian ad litem program will preclude accepting private-practice matters involving the program or…
Can a settlement agreement restrict the plaintiff's lawyer's right to practice or use of information in future cases?
The committee concluded that RPC 5.6(b) prohibits a settlement that restricts the plaintiff's attorney's right to practice, so the lawyer may not agree to represent the defendant or to forgo solicitin…
Can a lawyer accept a referral fee from an investment firm for sending clients to it?
The committee concluded that an arrangement paying the lawyer a fee based on referred clients' investments may violate several rules, including RPC 1.6, 1.7(b), 1.8(a), 1.8(f), 1.8(h), and 2.1, and sa…
Can a lawyer disclose that a former client who is a personal representative may be breaching fiduciary duties to the estate?
The committee concluded that RPC 1.6 prevents disclosure to the beneficiary unless the lawyer's belief that the personal representative intends to commit a crime or breach a fiduciary duty has a suffi…
Can outside IT staff maintain a law office computer network that holds client confidences without client consent?
The committee concluded that letting an outside agency's technical personnel access a shared network for maintenance is permissible under RPC 1.6 without client consent, as long as those personnel are…
Can a lawyer send a self-published lawyer-liability newsletter to judges they appear before?
The committee concluded that sending the proposed newsletter to judges and justices should be allowed, assuming the lawyer is careful to comply with RPC 1.6 (confidentiality) and RPC 3.5 (ex parte com…
Can independent lawyers share office space and support staff under a common lease in Washington?
The committee concluded the arrangement is not prohibited by the Rules of Professional Conduct, but lawyers who share staff must preserve each client's confidences and secrets under RPC 1.6, and all t…
Can a lawyer rent office space from a nonlawyer business owned by her spouse?
The committee concluded that the proposed arrangement of renting office space from the lawyer's husband's vocational rehabilitation firm satisfies RPC 1.6, 1.7, and 7.3, provided the lawyer takes the …
If someone calls wanting to hire you to sue an existing client, can you take the case or reveal what they told you?
The committee concluded that the lawyer is precluded by RPC 1.6(a) from disclosing the prospective client's paternity allegation, must decline to represent the prospective client in the paternity acti…
Can a lawyer give a third party a copy of an expert's deposition transcript that contains the client's confidences?
The committee concluded that a lawyer may not, without the client's consent, provide a copy of a deposition transcript to a third party not involved in the matter if the deposition contains the client…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Washington State Bar Association 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.