Legal Ethics
Michael W. Robinson, Chair
The Committee received five LEO requests in FY 2016. Four of those were resolved by existing LEOs or Rules of Professional Conduct; one has been carried over into FY 2017.
The Committee issued three LEOs as final:
- LEO 1880 –Obligations of a court-appointed attorney to advise his indigent client of the right of appeal following conviction upon a guilty plea; duty of court-appointed attorney to follow the indigent client’s instruction to appeal following a guilty plea when the attorney believes the appeal would be frivolous
- LEO 1882 – Conflict between criminal clients when one client expresses a desire to testify against the other
- LEO 1883 – Ethical obligations of a lawyer for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitioner in handling fixed fees advanced by the client
The Committee issued one LEO for review/approval by Council and SCV:
- LEO 1884 – Conflicts arising from a lawyer-legislator’s employment with a consulting firm owned by a law firm; approved by Council June 2016; pending SCV review
Opinions pending consideration by the Committee include:
- Duty to take action when a lawyer is suffering from impairment
- Legal matchmaking/referral service
Rule revisions proposed by the Committee include:
- Amendments to Rule 1.10 approved by SCV and effective July 31, 2015
- Amendments to Rules 5.5 and 8.3 approved by SCV and effective February 1, 2016
- Amendments to Rules 1.1 and 1.6 approved by SCV and effective March 1, 2016
- Amendments to Rules 1.6 and 3.3 approved by Council June 2016; pending SCV review
Ethics hotline calls totaled 7580, for an average of 632 calls per month.
Updated: Aug 03, 2016