Lawyer Ethics Opinions

Lawyer Ethics Opinions

Lawyer's Advisory Committee Opinions

Membership, Authority and Procedure

The eight members of the Lawyers' Advisory Committee are attorneys appointed by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Each Supreme Court Judicial District is represented on the Committee and the chairperson and vice chairperson are selected at large.

Pursuant to Rule of Discipline 5, the Advisory Committee may render, upon the request of a Nebraska attorney, an advisory opinion or an interpretation of the 'Rules of Professional Conduct' regarding anticipatory conduct on the part of the requesting attorney. An attorney requesting an opinion from the Advisory Committee must prepare and submit a statement of the specific facts upon which the opinion is requested and a memorandum directing the attention of the Committee to the pertinent 'Rules of Professional Conduct' and relevant case authority. The chairperson of the Advisory Committee may waive this requirement in appropriate cases.

All opinions are filed with and distributed through the Counsel for Discipline. Opinions from 1968 to present are available at this site. Select the year in the drop down menu for which year you'd like to view. Please note that the Lawyer's Rules of Professional Conduct was revised effective September 1, 2005. Opinions before the revision have not necessarily been revised to fit the current Rules.

Number: 86-5
Year: 1986
Question Presented:

It is not per se unethical for attorneys who are married or closely related to represent parties with adverse interests as long as the attorneys make full disclosure to their respective clients and obtain the consent of the clients to the representation. The attorneys should carefully examine the situation and one or more of the attorneys should decline employment or withdraw from the employment...

Number: 86-4
Year: 1986
Question Presented:

An attorney may ethically act as trustee under a trust deed and continue to represent the beneficiary (lender) against the trustor (borrower).

Number: 86-3
Year: 1986
Question Presented:

An attorney may charge interest on past due accounts for legal services with the client's agreement. Such agreement must:Be in writing;Be entered into prior to or early in the provision of legal services;Clearly state a reasonable rate of interest;Clearly set out when the account will become past due and subject to the interest charge but not less than 30 days after the billing date.

Number: 86-2
Year: 1986
Question Presented:

An attorney may participate in a plan for furnishing prepaid legal services. Participation in such a plan however does not relieve the attorney from compliance with applicable provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility. The participating attorney should use caution to insure that the plan does not:Permit the unauthorized practice of law.Violate client confidences.Impair the...

Number: 86-1
Year: 1986
Question Presented:

It has been brought to the attention of the Committee that, in certain of the smaller communities in Nebraska, a city attorney will, by express contract, advise concerning civil matters only and will not engage in any prosecutorial activity whatever. Such contracts have been entered into expressly to leave the city attorney and his or her law firm free to handle criminal defense work. In the...

Number: 84-1
Year: 1984
Question Presented:

A lawyer who is also a police officer should not undertake to represent the defendant in a criminal matter, and the lawyers with whom he is associated should likewise refrain from such representation.

Number: 83-4
Year: 1983
Question Presented:

A lawyer may participate in a lawyer referral service and pay the usual charges of such a service; provided, the service is a not-for-profit lawyer referral service.

Number: 83-3
Year: 1983
Question Presented:

A lawyer ethically may practice law and a second profession, not law related, from the same office, or different offices, if the distinction between services as a lawyer and services in the other profession is made clear, and the lawyer otherwise complies with the Code with respect to providing legal services; and the lawyer may indicate the dual practice of the two professions on his law office...

Number: 83-2
Year: 1983
Question Presented:

A lawyer may ethically advertise by mailing or delivering letters directly to prospective clients; provided, personal contact is not involved, the communication is not false or misleading, and on the front of each envelope in which it is mailed or delivered (or on the front of each postcard, if printed on a postcard) are placed the words: "This is an Advertisement."

Number: 83-1
Year: 1983
Question Presented:

A lawyer or law firm cannot ethically subscribe to the service of a welcome wagon type organization to distribute the lawyer's or law firm's business card, since a personal contact would be involved.

Number: 82-2
Year: 1982
Question Presented:

An attorney may not ethically participate in the operation or management of an agency which solicits accounts for collection when he will be retained by the agency to collect those accounts; and, if the attorney also is a part time county attorney, additional ethical considerations involving a conflict of interest may be involved.

Number: 81-13
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

It is improper for an attorney in private practice to donate his or her legal services to a parochial school building fund where the service would be made known to school families through the school newsletter and all of the fees generated would be contributed to the building fund except for reasonable expenses incurred by the attorney.

Number: 81-12
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

It is improper for an attorney to accept clients referred by a savings and loan association for the purpose of providing the client with a free will.

Number: 81-11
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

An attorney employed by an insurance company may not be retained by the insured's attorney in order to assist in drafting the insured's estate plan where the insured-client would compensate both attorneys for services rendered even after full, written disclosure to the client and the client's own attorney.

Number: 81-10
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

An attorney may not directly solicit clients, life insurance agents, other non-lawyers or other lawyers in order to have them introduce clients to the attorney for the purpose of retirement or estate planning. An attorney may not avoid the prohibition against solicitation by delegating a portion of the legal work entailed in retirement and/or estate planning when the attorney continues to advise...

Number: 81-9
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

An attorney or a law firm may list his, her or its name, or the name, or names, of any one or more of the members of the law firm under categorized areas of the practice of law set out in the yellow pages of a telephone directory, provided the lawyer or law firm actively practices or is qualified to practice in the listed areas.

Number: 81-8
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

A County Attorney, Deputy County Attorney, or member of their firm cannot ethically represent a private client in a license suspension or revocation proceeding before the Nebraska Liquor Control commission.

Number: 81-7
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

A County Attorney, Deputy County Attorney, or member of their firm cannot ethically represent a private client in an action under the State Tort Claims Act against the State of Nebraska, the Department of Health, its agents, or employees for damages arising out of the negligence of said agents or employees.

Number: 81-6
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

A County Attorney, not prohibited by the County Board from engaging in the private practice of law, may act as a personal representative in an estate or as a private attorney for a client in an inheritance tax determination (with or without probate) where a special County Attorney has been appointed, by resolution of the County Board, to represent the interests of the County and the State of...

Number: 81-5
Year: 1981
Question Presented:

Where an attorney is the personal representative of a decedent's estate, and the attorney's law firm renders legal services to the PR, the firm may be compensated for the legal services, and the PR may be compensated for his services as PR, provided that the combined compensation is not excessive for the services rendered.