Legal Ethics Opinions
Free state and local bar legal ethics opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and source links on every page.
No opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can a Florida law firm outsource legal support work to overseas attorneys or paralegals?
Yes. A lawyer may engage an overseas provider for paralegal-type assistance if the lawyer adequately addresses assisting the unlicensed practice of law, supervision of nonlawyers, conflicts, confident…
Can a lawyer hire teenagers to leave Spanish-language legal-services flyers on doorsteps in a neighborhood without violating Washington's anti-solicitation rules?
The committee concluded that simply leaving a brochure on a porch, in a mailbox, or in a newspaper does not by itself violate RPC 7.3, but any direct in-person contact by the lawyer or the lawyer's ag…
Can a Washington lawyer pay or receive a fee from another lawyer purely for referring a client, where the referring lawyer does no work and takes no responsibility?
No. The committee concluded that paying or receiving a pure referral fee between lawyers is prohibited by RPC 7.2(b) and RPC 1.5(e), because it is not proportioned to services and involves no shared r…
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 an assistant city attorney who supervises the city's mental health court prosecutions also serve as a pro tem judge in the county's district mental health court?
The committee concluded that nothing in the Rules of Professional Conduct bars an assistant city attorney from serving as a pro tempore judge in an unrelated jurisdiction, so long as the attorney foll…
Can a lawyer who built a reputation under her professional name keep using that name in practice after legally changing her name for personal reasons?
Yes. The committee concluded the lawyer may continue using her current professional name after a personal legal name change, provided it does not mislead the public and she gives the WSBA the informat…
Can an elder-law lawyer make an attorney fee agreement irrevocable and non-refundable so the prepaid fee counts as a Medicaid spend-down?
No. The committee concluded fee agreements may not be irrevocable, because that would violate the reasonable-fee requirement of RPC 1.5 and the client's right under RPC 1.16(d) to a refund of unearned…
Can a lawyer have a client sign a stipulated judgment or promissory note for estimated fees before the representation begins, to secure payment from the marital home?
No. The committee concluded that obtaining a pre-representation stipulated judgment to secure fees is unreasonable per se under RPC 1.5(a), a nonconsentable conflict under RPC 1.7, and an impermissibl…
Can a lawyer withdraw earned hourly fees from the client trust account at the moment of sending the billing statement, before the client has time to review it?
The committee declined to bless specific contract language, but explained that RPC 1.15A(h)(3) requires reasonable notice before withdrawing earned fees, so the lawyer should not withdraw until the cl…
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 real estate brokerage's general counsel provide limited-scope legal services to the brokerage's customers as part of the brokerage's package, paid by salary?
No. The committee concluded the arrangement violates RPC 5.4(a) and (b), which bar fee splitting and partnership with a non-lawyer whenever any part of the activity is the practice of law, even though…
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…
When a California client tells her new lawyer not to notify her prior lawyer (who has a valid charging lien on the recovery) of a settlement, what may and must the successor lawyer do with the disputed fees held in her trust account?
Per California Formal Opinion 2008-175, the successor lawyer must first counsel the client on the adverse consequences of concealing the settlement, then, if the client persists, must nonetheless disc…
When in-house counsel represent a parent and its corporate affiliates, when is joint representation a conflict and can it be waived in advance?
For wholly owned affiliates, the parent's interests control and there is no conflict between separate clients. For affiliates the parent controls but does not wholly own, inside counsel must treat eac…
May a South Carolina lawyer file affidavits containing hearsay or statements not based on the witness's personal knowledge in support of ex parte requests or temporary hearings?
Yes, so long as the hearsay or other non-personal-knowledge information is clearly identified as such; admissibility is a question of substantive law. Rule 3.3(a)(3) bars tendering false information, …
May a South Carolina lawyer who is a party to her own divorce, not acting as counsel, secretly tape record telephone calls with her estranged spouse without consent?
The committee advised that surreptitious recording by a lawyer is ethically permissible only when the lawyer is not acting as a lawyer, public official, or other position of trust and the recording is…
A lawyer drafts a custody-modification agreement for two divorced parents; before filing, one parent revokes consent while the other (who paid) insists on filing. May the lawyer file the pleadings?
No. Whether the lawyer has a conflict depends on whether an attorney-client relationship formed with the paying party, but either way the lawyer should not file the pleadings: if both are clients ther…
May a South Carolina lawyer represent a client against an opposing party whose lawyer shares office space, a receptionist, and equipment with the lawyer?
It is not a per se violation, but on these facts (shared receptionist, lobby, conference rooms, fax and copy machines, thin walls) the arrangement carries a high risk of breaching confidentiality unde…
Must a South Carolina lawyer obtain extra insurance for client trust funds that exceed the FDIC coverage limit, or place them across multiple banks?
No. Rule 1.15 requires only reasonable steps to safeguard client funds. It does not require a lawyer to insure trust funds above the FDIC limit or to spread deposits across several banks; whether to i…
When relatives consult a lawyer about a mentally incapacitated cousin and appear to want to transfer his property against his interests, may the lawyer report the matter to protective services, and who is the client?
The lawyer is not prohibited from reporting suspected exploitation of the incapacitated cousin to the Department of Social Services or an appropriate protective service entity. Who the client is is a …
Can a lawyer who settled an injured passenger's insurance claim later represent the driver in a felony DUI prosecution arising from the same accident, after the former client's written waiver?
Yes. The driver's interests likely are not materially adverse to the former client's, since the former client opposes the prosecution; and even assuming adversity, Rule 1.9(a) lets the former client w…
Can a plaintiff's lawyer agree, as a condition of settlement, to personally indemnify the defendant and defense counsel against Medicare or Medicaid subrogation lien claims on the settlement proceeds?
No. A lawyer may not agree to serve as an indemnitor for the released parties against third-party lien claims on settlement proceeds. The demand creates a Rule 1.7 conflict between the lawyer and clie…
What are a lawyer's ethical duties when the lawyer suspects or knows a client is in the country illegally, and must the lawyer ask about a client's immigration status?
The duties are the same as for any client engaged in ongoing criminal activity. Rule 1.6 protects the client's confidential information, and because illegal entry is a past act and unlawful presence i…
Can a criminal defendant's firm pay the legal fees of a separately represented government witness for the witness's lawyer to attend a pretrial interview?
To the extent the payment is legally permissible, the committee found no ethical prohibition on a defendant's firm paying a government witness's lawyer's fees for a pretrial interview, provided Rules …
In a South Carolina abuse and neglect case, can one lawyer serve as the child's guardian ad litem, as counsel for the GAL, and also as the child's lawyer?
No. A lawyer may serve as both the child's guardian ad litem and counsel for the GAL (a self-representation parallel), but may not also represent the child. Representing the child while serving as GAL…
Can a law firm act as escrow agent for a developer client's real estate deals (for which the firm is not closing counsel) and hold large earnest-money deposits in a non-IOLTA interest-bearing account, and may it charge a percentage holding fee?
Yes. Because the large deposits will be held for months to two years and can earn income for the client exceeding the cost of securing it, they are not 'nominal or short-term,' so under Rule 412(d) th…
Can a North Dakota lawyer advertise being named a 'Super Lawyer'?
This opinion has been withdrawn and superseded by SBAND Opinion 09-08. As issued, the committee expressed concern that advertising a 'Super Lawyers' designation without explaining the entity behind it…
Can a lawyer use a trade-credit account processor to finance non-consumer clients' fees, and sell existing receivables to it, the way lawyers accept credit cards?
Yes to both, with informed client consent. The committee treated a trade-credit account processor like a credit-card arrangement (approved in Opinions 81-01 and 96-06): a lawyer may finance fees this …
When a lawyer and client have signed a discharge agreement but the court has not yet relieved the lawyer, must the lawyer still respond to discovery, depositions, and hearings?
Yes. Under Rule 1.16(c), a lawyer must have the tribunal's permission before terminating a representation, so until the court grants the motion to be relieved the lawyer must continue to provide compe…
Can a divorce lawyer settle with the client for less than a court-awarded fee and promise to repay the client anything the opposing party later pays toward that award?
Yes. The committee concludes settling with one's own client for less than a Domestic Relations Law section 237 fee award, and reimbursing the client for amounts later collected from the adverse party,…
Can a Maine lawyer take a non-recourse loan from a litigation finance company to fund a contingency-fee case, repayable only if the case wins?
No. The opinion concludes a non-recourse litigation loan, repayable only if the lawyer recovers a fee and carrying a risk-based interest premium, amounts to sharing legal fees with a nonlawyer in viol…
When must a lawyer hold settlement funds because a third party, such as a medical lienholder, claims them under Rule 1.15?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer's safekeeping duty under Rule 1.15 runs to third persons as well as clients, but only a lawful, non-frivolous claim to specific funds that the lawyer actually knows…
Can a law firm represent the underwriters in a securities offering when the issuer picks and pays the firm, and can it also represent the issuer?
Yes, with consent. The committee concludes designated underwriters' counsel may represent the underwriters even though the issuer selects and pays the firm, given disclosure and underwriter consent, a…
Can a lawyer who represents an insurer on a subrogation claim also represent the insured on related claims like personal injury?
Usually not. Under Georgia FAO 05-7, a lawyer for an insurer's subrogation claim should not also represent the insured on related claims unless adequate representation of both is reasonably likely and…
Can a New York lawyer handle a home sale that inflates the price and gives the buyer a matching seller's concession to enlarge the mortgage loan?
Only if it is lawful and disclosed. The committee concludes a lawyer may not participate in a grossed-up sale with a seller's concession unless the transaction is entirely lawful, the gross-up is disc…
Can a public defender cure a conflict between two clients by handing one off to another lawyer in the same PD office, and may the lawyer keep representing the other client?
No to the handoff, yes to continuing. The Committee concludes a public defender's office is one 'law firm,' so under Rule 1.06(f) the conflict is imputed to every lawyer in it; but the lawyer may keep…
Can a D.C. lawyer pay to participate in a for-profit Internet-based lawyer referral service, including a fee for each client the service sends?
The opinion concludes that lawyers may participate in both not-for-profit and for-profit Internet-based lawyer referral services that charge a flat fee to participate, a flat fee for transmitting the …
Can a New York lawyer take an advance payment retainer into the firm's own account and keep the interest, and require it to cover final fees?
Yes. The committee concludes a lawyer may accept an advance payment retainer, hold it in the lawyer's own account, and keep the interest, and may require an advance retainer to cover final fees, provi…
Which ethics rules govern a New York lawyer who works mainly abroad, doing work that is law practice but without being admitted in that foreign country?
The foreign jurisdiction's rules generally govern. The committee concludes a New York lawyer authorized to do law-practice work abroad is 'licensed to practice' there, so if the lawyer principally pra…
Does a court-appointed lawyer owe the usual duties to a competent defendant who refuses to be represented?
No. The opinion concludes the client-lawyer relationship is consensual, so a lawyer appointed over a competent defendant's objection has no client and owes none of the Rules' client-relationship dutie…
Can a criminal defense lawyer take possession of a client's hidden contraband to destroy it or turn it over to authorities?
No. The opinion concludes a lawyer may not take possession of an item that is contraband (because possession is itself a crime) or facilitate its transfer in furtherance of a crime; doing so would ass…
When a lawyer files a wrongful death action for an estate, are the heirs the lawyer's clients, and what duties are owed to them?
The opinion concludes the lawyer for an estate represents the personal representative in his or her official capacity and the estate as an entity, not the heirs; the heirs are interested parties but n…
I run a marketing company on the side that serves doctors, chiropractors, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents. I've referred law clients to some of these same professionals for years. Now that they're becoming marketing-company clients, is it a conflict of interest for me to keep referring my law clients to them?
No, according to this opinion, at least where the lawyer has only an indirect financial interest (as the professionals' marketing services provider) rather than a direct financial interest in their bu…
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…
In Alabama, may a lawyer use private investigators who pose as ordinary customers to investigate suspected intellectual-property infringers before suit is filed?
Yes. Before litigation, a lawyer may use investigators posing as ordinary customers to investigate suspected infringers on the same basis as any member of the public, and limited misrepresentations of…
What must a lawyer do when a client provides documents the client wrongfully obtained from the opposing party?
The lawyer must advise the client that the documents cannot be retained, reviewed, or used without telling the opposing party that the lawyer and client have them; if the client refuses to consent to …
Can a lawyer report a non-paying client to a credit bureau or other third party to collect an unpaid fee?
No, not to a credit bureau. Under Georgia FAO 07-1, a lawyer may disclose the fee relationship only through direct collection efforts like suing or using a reputable collection agency; reporting the c…
May a D.C. lawyer review the metadata embedded in an electronic document received from opposing counsel?
The opinion concludes that a receiving lawyer is prohibited from reviewing an adversary's metadata only where the lawyer has actual knowledge that the metadata was inadvertently sent. In that situatio…
Does a lawyer serving as an administrative law judge violate Rule 5.5 by allowing a non-attorney to represent a corporation at an administrative hearing?
The committee concluded that an administrative law judge violates Rule 5.5(e) by knowingly permitting the unauthorized practice of law in a proceeding over which the judge presides, limited to conduct…
Must a court-appointed lawyer for an indigent criminal defendant give the no-malpractice-insurance notice under Rule 1.4(c)?
The opinion concludes that a lawyer appointed by a court to represent an indigent criminal defendant need not provide the Rule 1.4(c) notice that the lawyer lacks professional liability insurance, bec…
I'm licensed in both Rhode Island and New York. As a former general counsel to a New York nonprofit, I made representations to a New York regulator that I now believe are no longer true. Which state's ethics rules govern whether I can disclose this to the regulator?
New York's, according to this opinion. Under the choice-of-law provision of Rhode Island Rule 8.5(b), the ethics rules of the jurisdiction where the lawyer's conduct occurs, or where the predominant e…
Can a lawyer represent a client in a collaborative law process that requires the lawyer to withdraw if the case goes to litigation?
Yes, with informed consent. The opinion concludes that collaborative law practice is a permissible limited-scope representation under Rule 1.2(c), and that the four-way agreement requiring the lawyer …
Can a lawyer who represents a closely held corporation at the board's direction also represent individual directors in their unrelated private matters?
Yes. Corporate counsel may represent the corporation at the direction of a majority of the board and also represent individual directors in separate, unrelated private matters, so long as the matters …
Can a New Jersey attorney run a commercial divorce-mediation center under a trade name and have the center collect and keep the mediation fees?
No, not as structured. The Committee concludes that attorneys taking cases from the center practice law as limited-scope third-party neutrals; the mediation charges are legal fees, so the center's col…
Can a lawyer bill a client for the time spent preparing and arguing a motion to withdraw from the case?
Generally no. The opinion concludes that obtaining the court's permission to withdraw is the lawyer's own professional obligation under Rule 1.16(c), so the cost may not be shifted to the client, and …
Can a lawyer keep jointly representing a husband and wife in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy after they divorce?
Yes. The opinion concludes a lawyer may continue the joint Chapter 13 representation of a now-divorced couple if the conditions of Rule 1.7(b) are met: the lawyer reasonably believes he can provide co…
If one client revokes a conflict waiver after a falling out, must the lawyer drop the other client too?
Not necessarily. The opinion concludes that under comment [21] to Rule 1.7 a client may revoke consent to a conflict at any time, but whether the lawyer must also stop representing the other client de…
Can a law firm license and keep using a lawyer's surname and likeness after that lawyer leaves the firm to practice elsewhere?
Only in part. The opinion concludes a lawyer may license his name and likeness to his professional corporation while he practices there, and the firm may keep using a lawyer's surname after his retire…
When an organization is represented, which of its current or former employees can opposing counsel contact without the organization lawyer's consent?
The opinion concludes that under SCR 20:4.2 opposing counsel may not contact, without the organization lawyer's consent, current constituents who direct or regularly consult with that lawyer about the…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand the rules: Ethics opinions interpret how the rules of professional conduct apply to real fact patterns.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court discipline decisions, but state bar formal opinions carry substantial weight.
- Working guidance: The committee shows lawyers what the rule actually requires day to day (conflicts checks, fee letters, intake screens, withdrawal mechanics).
- Practice research: Cite ethics opinions in fee agreements, engagement letters, conflict waivers, and disqualification motions.