FEO

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here. The North Carolina State Bar received a request for an interpretation of Rule 7.3(a) in regards to prior professional relationships.  Generally, Rules 7.3(a) states that lawyers are prohibited from soliciting professional employment from a potential ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here. At its October 23, 2015 meeting, the North Carolina State Bar adopted Proposed FEO 6 which addressed several inquiries regarding the professional responsibility of a lawyer when funds are stolen from a lawyer’s trust account by a third party not ...[Continue Reading]

View the Proposed Ethics Opinion in Full Here. The North Carolina State Bar voted to formalize Proposed 2015 Formal Ethics Opinion 4 at its meeting on July 17, 2015. Formal Ethics Opinion 2015 FEO 4 rules that due to the seriousness of professional malpractice potential on a client’s case and ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here. Generally, lawyers representing a client during the pre-conviction stages of a case have a vastly different relationship with the client—more personal contact and more irrelevant confidential information exposed—than lawyers representing a client ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here. The Ethics Committee voted to adopt and retitle 2014 Formal Ethics Opinion 9 at its meeting on July 16, 2015. The inquiry that led to the opinion concerned a situation where a lawyer wanted to retain a private investigator to look into his client’s ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here The North Carolina State Bar Council decided to withdraw 2014 Formal Ethics Opinion 5 Advising a Client About Social Media that was adopted July 25, 2014.  Instead, at its July 17, 2015 meeting, the State Bar released a substitute opinion for 2014 FEO 5. ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here The Formal Ethics Opinion 2015 FEO 2 rules that when the original debt of an unrepresented borrower, owner, or guarantor is over $100,000, a lawyer for a lender may prepare and provide a waiver of the right to notice of foreclosure and the right to a ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here The Formal Ethics Opinion 2015 FEO 3 rules that a lawyer may not offer a computer tablet to a prospective client in a direct mail solicitation letter.  A lawyer is not permitted to make false or misleading statements or communications about him or his ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here The Formal Ethics Opinion 2014 FEO 10, republished during the April 2015 meeting, rules that a lawyer who handles adoptions as part of her or his law practice and also owns a financial interest in a for-profit adoption agency may, with informed consent, ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here In response to several inquiries as whether a lawyer may prepare pleadings or other fillings for a pro se opposing party in a civil proceeding, the State Bar released 2015 FEO 1 at its meeting on April 17, 2015.  The Bar notes that this opinion is ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here At its October 24, 2014 meeting, the North Carolina State Bar released 2014 FEO 7 that rules a lawyer may provide a foreign entity or individual with a North Carolina subpoena.  If a lawyer needs to obtain medical records from an individual out of state ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here After receiving inquiries about the responsibilities a partner or supervising lawyer has to a firm lawyer that has mental impairment, the North Carolina State Bar adopted 2013 FEO 8 at its July 25, 2014 meeting.  Within this opinion, mental impairment ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here On July 25, 2014, the North Carolina State Bar adopted 2014 Formal Ethics Opinion 4 entitled, “Serving Subpoenas on Health Care Providers Covered by HIPPA.”  This opinion allows a lawyer to send a subpoena for medical records to an entity covered by ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here On July 25, 2014, the North Carolina State Bar adopted the 2013 Formal Ethics Opinion 12.  This opinion allows for a subsequently hired lawyer in a worker’s compensation case, when the client terminates representation of a former lawyer, to discuss and ...[Continue Reading]

View the Formal Ethics Opinion in Full Here A formal ethics opinion titled “Protecting Confidential Client Information When Mentoring” was originally proposed on July 14, 2014.  At its February 1, 2016 meeting, the State Bar adopted this opinion.  2014 FEO 1 considers issues related to ...[Continue Reading]