Ethics Advisory Opinions

OPINION NO. 08-01
MAIN OPINION:
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1. Issue: May an attorney provide legal assistance to litigants appearing before a tribunal pro se and prepare written submissions for them without disclosing the nature or extent of such assistance? If so, what are the attorney’s obligations when full representation is not undertaken?

Issued December 8, 2006
1. Issue: Under what circumstances may a Utah lawyer be personally involved in a lending transaction to finance a client’s cause of action or obtain funds for the payment of the lawyer’s legal fees and expenses?

Issued December 30, 2006

1 Issue: Do the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct1 preclude a lawyer from participating in an ad hoc legal advisory group to a private, nonprofit, public interest legal organization, if the persons served by the legal services organization have interests adverse to the interests of a client of the lawyer or the lawyer’s law firm?

April 28, 2005

1 Issue: A former client of an attorney moved the trial court to set aside the former client’s previous guilty plea on the basis that the attorney’s prior advice on accepting the prosecution’s plea offer had “confused” him. May the attorney testify concerning the previous discussions with the former client to prevent a possible fraud upon the court or to protect the attorney’s good name and reputation?

Issued April 28, 2005

1 Issue: What is the ethical responsibility of an attorney serving as defense counsel in a criminal case, when expressly requested by the court at a sentencing hearing for information obtained from or about the defendant regarding the defendant’s prior convictions?

Issued September 8, 2005

1 Issue: What are the responsibilities of an attorney to a person the attorney has interviewed as a prospective client after it has been determined that the attorney will not undertake the representation?

Issued April 23, 2003

¶1 Issue: What are the ethical responsibilities of a plaintiff’s lawyer who reasonably believes a health-care provider that he deals with on a recurring basis may be charging his clients and prospective clients for services not actually rendered?

(Approved March 9, 2000)

Issue: What are the ethical obligations of a lawyer to protect client confidentiality in the use of Internet e-mail communications?

(Approved April 17, 1998)

Issue: May a lawyer hired by an insurance company to defend an insured in a lawsuit submit billing statements to an outside audit service?

(Approved January 24, 1997)

Issue: Is information provided by an accused to his attorney in an initial telephone conference confidential as against a request from law enforcement authorities for such information?

(Approved January 23, 1998)

Issue: Utah Code Ann. § 62A-4a-403 obligates any person who suspects a child has been subjected to abuse to report such conduct to the nearest law enforcement officer. Is it a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct if the attorney does not report a client's conduct that falls under this provision when the attorney learns of such conduct from the client and the client refuses to consent to such disclosure?

(Approved July 3, 1996)

Issue: What are the ethical obligations if an attorney undertakes representation of a client when the attorney is not able to communicate directly with the client in a language clearly understood by that client?

(Approved July 28, 1995)

Issue: When an attorney has reason to believe a person who is not a client has abused a child and the information upon which the belief is based derives from the attorney's representation of a client, may the attorney report the suspected abuse over the client's objection if the attorney believes that making such a report is required by law?