Proposed Ethics Opinions
When there is an ethics inquiry that is a matter of first impression, cannot be answered with an ethics advisory, or may be of concern to the general membership of the bar, a written inquiry will be presented to the Ethics Committee at its next quarterly meeting. If the Committee decides that the written inquiry should be published as a proposed ethics opinion, then the opinion will be published in the State Bar Journal and on the State Bar’s website. This publication is made in order to give interested parties an opportunity to comment on the opinion or request to be heard. Following comment, the opinion may go through a “reconsideration” process or it may be adopted as a formal ethics opinion.
View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here A proposed ethics opinion entitled “Negotiating Private Employment with Opposing Counsel” was proposed on April 21, 2016. The proposed opinion discussed the issue of whether or not a lawyer may negotiate for employment with a law firm that
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View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here A proposed ethics opinion entitled “Duty of Defense Counsel Appointed after Defendant Files Pro Se Motion for Appropriate Relief” was proposed at the quarterly meeting on April 21, 2016. The proposed opinion considers whether defense counsel
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View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here A proposed ethics opinion entitled “Contesting Opposing Counsel’s Fee Request to Industrial Commission” was proposed on January 21, 2016. The proposed opinion considers whether a defense lawyer for an employer and a workers’ compensation
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View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here The North Carolina State Bar ruled in a proposed opinion at it’s October 2015 quarterly meeting that non-equity firm lawyers may be held out to the public as “partners.” More specifically, the Bar ruled that lawyers who do not own
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View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here. The NC Bar received inquiries about representing individual spouse on certain matters, when the lawyer has previously represented both spouses jointly in other legal matters. As the opinion mentions, there are many areas of law in which a lawyer can,
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View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here Editor’s Note: At its meeting on July 17, 2015, the Ethics Committee voted to withdraw this opinion without substitution in light of recently adopted legislation that resolves the issue of professional responsibility raised in the proposed
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View proposed ethics opinion in full here This alternative to 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 14 would restrict a lawyer completely from representing both the lender and borrower in a commercial real estate closing. This opinion takes the proposition that there are no instances in which common
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The ethics of representing both the trustee and the secured creditor in a contested foreclosure proceeding.
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How to maintain client confidentiality within the context of mentor-mentee relationships.
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A lawyer generally may not represent both the borrower and the lender in a commercial real estate closing, even with consent.
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Absent client consent or applicability of one of the Rule 1.6(b) exceptions, a client's lawyer is not permitted to disclose settlement information to the client's previous attorney.
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