Legal Ethics Opinions
Free state and local bar legal ethics opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and source links on every page.
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May a California attorney maintain overdraft protection on a Client Trust Account, what must the attorney do if a CTA check is dishonored, and when must earned fees be withdrawn from the CTA?
Per California Formal Opinion 2005-169, overdraft protection on a Client Trust Account is permissible only if it covers exactly the amount of the overdraft plus reasonable bank charges, not a residue …
Can a legal-services organization disclose client-identifying information to a public funding agency that demands it as a condition of funding, and is a client consent form enough?
Generally no. Under In re 544, a client's identity is information relating to the representation protected by RPC 1.6, and it cannot be disclosed to a public or private funder absent a valid statute o…
Does New Jersey allow collaborative law, where both lawyers agree to withdraw if the case goes to litigation, and can a lawyer join an association of lawyers and nonlawyers that promotes collaborative practice?
Yes, with conditions. Collaborative law's mandatory-withdrawal agreement is a limitation on the scope of representation under RPC 1.2(c), permissible only if the lawyer reasonably judges it serves the…
How long must a Mississippi attorney keep client files, and when can the lawyer return them to the client or destroy them?
The opinion concludes there is no bright-line retention period; once the matter is concluded the lawyer should return the parts of the file that belong to the client, and if the client cannot be locat…
Can a lawyer turn over a client's unclaimed trust funds to the state as unclaimed funds?
The opinion concluded that an attorney does not violate the duty to preserve client funds (DR 9-102(A)) or to promptly deliver them (DR 9-102(B)(4)) by reporting 'unclaimed funds' under R.C. Chapter 1…
Can a lawyer advertise with coupons for a free consultation or dollars off legal fees?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may not advertise legal services with fee coupons for free consultation or dollars off, because coupons characterize fees as 'discount' or 'special' contrary to DR …
When representation ends, does a D.C. lawyer have to hand over the entire client file, including internal notes and strategy memos?
The opinion concludes that, upon termination, a lawyer must surrender to the client (or the client's successor in interest) the entire file of papers and property to which the client is entitled, incl…
Can a New Mexico lawyer secretly record a witness who has said the interview is off the record?
The opinion concluded that under those facts, no; where the lawyer knows the witness believes the interview is off the record, secretly recording it (or having an agent do so) deceives the witness and…
When does a lawyer admitted only in another state cross into the unauthorized practice of law by working in Maine?
When the lawyer establishes an office or systematic, continuous presence in Maine, holds out as admitted there, or provides Maine legal services beyond a recognized exception. The opinion applies ABA …
My firm represented a company on permits for a real estate project. The company sold its assets to a new corporation with different owners, and some of the old company's disgruntled shareholders are threatening to challenge the sale. Can we now represent the new owner on the same permits?
Yes. The panel found no Rule 1.9 conflict because the new owner's interests in the permits are not adverse to the former corporate client's; the adversity over the sale runs between the former client'…
I'm a solo/small-firm lawyer running for city council, and I regularly represent clients before the city's planning and zoning boards. If I'm elected, can I keep representing those clients before the boards?
The panel held there is no per se bar. Under Rule 1.7(b) the lawyer may represent clients before the planning and zoning boards case by case, provided the lawyer reasonably believes the representation…
In New Jersey, what makes a law firm's direct-mail solicitation letter to people charged with municipal offenses cross from permissible advertising into an ethics violation?
A joint opinion of the ACPE and the Committee on Attorney Advertising holds that solicitation letters which cast baseless aspersions on prosecutors and police, or misstate the prosecutor's role as sim…
How may an Alabama lawyer bill a client for costs and expenses, and what billing practices for fees and expenses are improper?
A lawyer may pass through actual costs but not general overhead, and may not surcharge disbursements, bill more than one client for the same hours, or recycle prior research as new billable time. The …
Can a solo practitioner with no employees use a name like 'The Doe Law Firm' or 'The Advocacy Law Firm'?
The opinion concludes that a solo practitioner may use any trade name that is not a false or misleading communication, and that using the word 'firm' in the name (for example, 'The Doe Law Firm' or 'T…
Can a Virginia lawyer put a clause in a contingent-fee agreement converting to an hourly or contingent fee if the client fires the lawyer mid-case without cause?
The opinion concludes alternative or 'conversion' fee clauses are permissible in contingent-fee contracts if they comply with the Rules, are adequately explained (Rules 1.4 and 1.5(b)), stay reasonabl…
Can a lawyer employed part-time by a social services agency serve as a Law Guardian for a child whose parent received non-legal services from that agency?
Sometimes. Agency employment alone is not a disqualifying interest, but the lawyer must decline (or withdraw) when their professional judgment as the child's advocate reasonably may be affected by the…
Can a law firm consult its own in-house ethics counsel about a client matter, without the client's consent, without creating a conflict with that client?
Yes. The committee concludes a law firm may form an attorney-client relationship with its own lawyers to get advice on its professional-responsibility obligations, including matters implicating a clie…
Can a part-time assistant district attorney keep representing a private client whom the DA's office is now prosecuting?
No. The DA's office is treated as a law firm, so the office's conflict is imputed to the part-time prosecutor, who may not continue representing the husband in the civil estate-planning matter. The co…
Does a North Carolina lawyer have to register a law firm website URL with the State Bar as a trade name if the URL is different from the firm's name?
Yes. The opinion concludes that a website URL is a trade name, because a trade name is any designation used to identify a lawyer, firm, or its services, and the comment to Rule 7.5(a) treats a distinc…
Can a North Carolina bankruptcy lawyer let clients complete the required credit-counseling course in the lawyer's office using a third-party provider, and collect the provider's fee?
Yes, with disclosure and no markup. The opinion concludes a bankruptcy lawyer may offer prospective clients the chance to complete the federally required pre-filing credit-counseling course in the off…
Can a North Carolina law firm base a nonlawyer employee's pay on the fees that employee earns representing Social Security disability claimants, and refer clients to her after she leaves?
Yes. Because federal law lets nonlawyers represent claimants before the Social Security Administration and earn fees for it, those fees are not 'legal fees' subject to Rule 5.4(a)'s ban on fee sharing…
Can a North Carolina lawyer, or the lawyer's firm, appear before a judge who is a close relative of one of the firm's lawyers?
The related lawyer may not personally appear before a closely related judge without the consent of all parties, but other members of her firm are not disqualified. The opinion concludes the firm must …
Can a North Dakota prosecutor accept a small thank-you gift from a crime victim, and do the ethics rules address it?
The committee concluded that North Dakota's Rules of Professional Conduct do not address whether a prosecutor may accept a gift from a victim. It pointed the prosecutor to a statute (N.D.C.C. 11-16-05…
Can a lawyer finance litigation costs with a loan from a lending institution and pass the interest on to the client?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer may finance litigation costs through a third-party loan and charge the interest to the client, provided the lawyer (not the client) is the obligor, the client conse…
Can a lawyer represent a school district buying land from someone who sits on the board of a bank the lawyer's firm represents in unrelated matters?
Yes. The Committee concludes there is no prohibited conflict: under Rule 1.12(a) the firm represents the bank as an entity, not its directors, so representing the school district against a bank direct…
When I leave my firm, can I take a client I worked on there and switch the matter to a contingent fee, using what I learned while at the firm?
Yes, with safeguards. The Committee concludes a departing lawyer may solicit and accept a firm client on contingency for a matter the lawyer handled, but must comply with Rules 1.03, 1.04, 1.05, 1.06,…
Can a Texas lawyer join a federal GSA schedule program that refers federal agencies to listed lawyers if the lawyer pays the program one percent of fees earned?
Yes, for services to federal agencies. The Committee concludes the one-percent payment is a negotiated fee discount with a single client entity (the Executive Branch), not fee sharing under Rule 5.04(…
What must a lawyer do after receiving a document the other side sent by mistake?
Just notify the sender. The opinion concludes that under amended Rule 4.4(b) a lawyer who receives an inadvertently sent document need only promptly notify the sender, and need not refrain from readin…
Can a lawyer contact a represented company's in-house counsel about the matter without the company's outside counsel's consent?
The opinion concludes that, in general, a lawyer may communicate with the in-house counsel of a represented entity about the subject of the representation without obtaining the prior consent of the en…
Can a Virginia lawyer keep a client's file in electronic-only form, destroy the paper originals with the client's consent, and require electronic-only files as a condition of representation?
Generally yes. The opinion concludes the Rules do not dictate the form of a client file, so a lawyer may keep electronic-only files, destroy paper with the client's consent, and even condition represe…
I drafted a will and trust for a now-deceased client and represent the trustee. The trust now needs a second co-trustee, a longtime friend I've also represented personally on unrelated matters and who belongs to my church, which may benefit from the trust. Both want me to continue as counsel. Can I, and does my proposed disclosure letter cover the ethics requirements?
Yes to both. The panel held there is no Rule 1.9 conflict representing the second trustee because the prior personal representations are not substantially related to the trust and foundation matters, …
I want to represent veterans before the Court of Veterans Claims. My brother-in-law is a supervising attorney on the opposing federal agency's litigation team (though he's promised my cases won't go to his team), and my sister is a staff attorney at the board whose decisions get appealed to that court. Do these family ties create a conflict?
The brother-in-law relationship isn't covered by Rule 1.8(i), which lists only parent, child, sibling, or spouse, so representation is permitted given the assurances his team won't handle the cases. T…
Can a lawyer whose firm represents a city in civil matters also defend criminal clients in that city's municipal court, and can the resulting conflict be waived?
The conflict between representing the city and defending criminal clients prosecuted by the city is a direct, materially limiting conflict, and the opinion calls waiver highly questionable, but it dec…
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…
What are a lawyer's ethical duties to clients when leaving one firm for another?
The departing lawyer and the former firm must protect clients' interests, give timely notice to clients on the lawyer's active matters, and safeguard client files and property. The client chooses who …
Does a lawyer owe confidentiality to someone interviewed as a prospective client who is never retained, and can that interview disqualify the lawyer's firm?
Yes. The opinion concludes confidentiality usually attaches when a prospective client consults a lawyer in contemplation of retention, even if the lawyer is never retained and gives no advice; Rules 1…
Can a lawyer collect names of potential clients from seminar attendees and then contact those people to solicit business?
Handing out a form at a seminar that asks attendees to name people who might want the lawyer's services is not itself improper, but using those names to make in-person, telephone, or other real-time s…
Can a West Virginia lawyer refer a personal-injury client to a litigation-funding company that advances cash against the client's expected recovery, or release the client's case information to it?
Only with care, and never for the lawyer's benefit. The opinion concludes a lawyer may not refer a client to a funding plan the lawyer (or the firm or family) owns or that pays the lawyer for referral…
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…
Must a criminal defense lawyer obey a competent-but-suicidal capital client who orders the lawyer to present no defense at the guilt or penalty phase of the trial?
The opinion concludes whether to present a defense is generally an objective for the client under Rule 1.2, but because this lawyer reasonably believes the suicidal client's decision-making is impaire…
Can a California lawyer agree to cap a client's hourly-rate obligation and refund any excess statutory attorney's fees awarded under CCP section 1021.5 to the client without violating the fee-sharing prohibition?
Yes. The opinion concludes that refunding excess statutory fee awards to a client is a refund of an overpayment, not a sharing of an earned fee, and therefore does not violate former California Rule 1…
Do California lawyers participating on a bar-association listserv that also includes judges risk improper ex parte contacts, and what should they avoid posting?
Inadvertent contact with a judge through a listserv post likely does not violate former Rule 5-300, but the opinion concludes lawyers must not include information identifiable to a particular case or …
Must a Michigan judge married to an assistant prosecutor recuse on a defendant's request even when the spouse had no involvement in the case?
Yes. The judge must disclose the marital relationship whenever the prosecutor's office appears and is recused unless the parties voluntarily ask the judge to proceed; the parties may require disqualif…
In New Jersey, can a lawyer (or the lawyer's partners) who represents a municipal board or agency also represent private clients in that municipality's court or before its other agencies?
No. The Committee holds that a lawyer who represents a municipal body subject to the municipality's budgetary, membership, or decision-making control has the entire municipality as a client, so the la…
Can a retired judge who practices law also serve as a private judge under R.C. 2701.10?
The opinion concluded that, absent an express ethical or statutory restriction, a retired judge who practices law may also serve as a private judge under R.C. 2701.10, but to avoid an appearance of im…
Can lawyers run booths or programs offering free help with advance directive forms to the public?
The opinion concluded that attorneys may volunteer in a bar-association-sponsored program providing public education and pro bono legal services on advance directive forms; whether individual lawyers …
Can a lawyer appear on a TV program called 'Ask the Expert'?
The opinion concluded that a lawyer should not participate in a television station's advertising and public-service program titled 'Ask the Expert,' because lawyers may not hold themselves out as expe…
If opposing counsel in a divorce claims my firm once represented the other spouse, must I withdraw when no clear attorney-client relationship with that spouse was ever formed?
The committee held that, because it does not act as a fact finder and was given no facts showing the other spouse had ever formed an attorney-client relationship with the firm (no express agreement, n…
Can a Texas lawyer pay a fee to be listed on a private for-profit website that collects potential clients' information and forwards it to listed lawyers?
No. The Committee concludes the service solicits or refers prospective clients rather than providing advertising, so paying its fee violates Rule 7.03(b)'s bar on paying a non-lawyer for soliciting or…
Can my law firm lease its lawyers and staff from an employee leasing company that also leases personnel to other firms whose clients may be adverse?
Yes, with conditions. The Committee concludes a firm may use an employee leasing company for limited payroll and benefits services so long as the firm keeps exclusive control over hiring and terminati…
Can a lawyer accept a flat fee per case from an insurer to defend its insureds, and what duties does the lawyer still owe the insureds?
Yes: a flat fee per case is not clearly excessive so long as the agreement as a whole is reasonable, but the flat fee does not reduce the lawyer's duties of competence, diligence, and independent judg…
Can a lawyer charge clients 18 percent annual interest on past-due bills, what rate applies without an interest agreement, and can the lawyer add the interest charge just by noting it on a bill?
An 18 percent charge is permissible if the client expressly agrees and the agreement as a whole is not clearly excessive; absent an enforceable agreement the rate is capped at 9 percent under ORS 82.0…
Can a lawyer draft a parent's will that leaves the lawyer a substantial gift, and can a lawyer act as counsel for (or serve as) the personal representative of a parent's estate when the lawyer is also a beneficiary?
Qualified yes to both: RPC 1.8(c) lets a lawyer prepare an instrument giving the lawyer a substantial gift where the lawyer is related to the client, so a child-lawyer may draft a parent's will; and a…
Can a lawyer help a client deliberately breach a contract or minimize the damages that will flow from the breach?
Qualified yes: a lawyer may assist a client in breaching a contract and in minimizing the resulting liability, so long as the lawyer does not help the client defraud anyone (RPC 8.4) and does not use …
After a lawyer is discharged or withdraws for unpaid fees, can the lawyer hold the client's case file and documents until the past-due fees are paid?
Yes, but qualified: an attorney's possessory lien under ORS 87.430 lets the lawyer withhold the file when the client can pay or post a bond but will not, yet the lien must yield to the lawyer's fiduci…
Can a lawyer refer clients to, accept referrals from, or do legal work for a nonlawyer estate-planning firm that is itself practicing law unlawfully?
The opinion concludes no to all three: because the estate-planning service's activities constitute the unlawful practice of law, RPC 5.5(a) bars the lawyer from assisting it by referring clients to it…
When a lawyer represents a corporation or partnership with two unrelated owners, does that automatically make the owners the lawyer's clients, or vice versa?
The opinion concludes representing an entity does not by itself make its shareholders or partners the lawyer's clients, and representing one owner does not by itself make the entity a client, unless t…
Can a lawyer whose client is not a party to an OLCC license hearing send a letter to the hearing officer urging cancellation of the license, and does copying the other parties change the answer?
The opinion concludes the lawyer may not send the letter ex parte, because not being a party is no exception to RPC 3.5(b); the lawyer may send it only if it is relevant and admissible, complies with …
Can a lawyer communicate ex parte with an administrative law judge during a contested-case hearing, and does an Attorney General's office lawyer have more latitude to do so?
The opinion concludes RPC 3.5(b) appears to apply to administrative law judges as it does to court judges, so private-party ex parte contact on the merits is barred unless authorized by law; the APA's…
Can a lawyer try a case when the lawyer or a partner will testify, and does it matter if the testimony helps or hurts the client?
It depends. The opinion concludes a lawyer generally may not try a case in which the lawyer will testify for the client unless an RPC 3.7(a) exception applies, a partner may try the case if the testim…
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.