
Ethics Opinion 1252
Topic: Referral Fees Digest: A licensed attorney who only provides nonlegal services to real estate clients may receive referral fees from a third-party investment advisor. Rules: 1.7, 1.8, 5.7 FACTS: The inquirer is a member of the New York State bar…
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Ethics Opinion 1251
Topic: YouTube channel; general legal information; advertising Digest: As a general proposition, creating videos for a YouTube channel to educate the public or legal profession about matters of general or specific interest is a permitted activity and does not necessarily…
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Ethics Opinion 1250
Topic: Multi-jurisdictional practice; partnership with non-United States lawyers; imputation of conflicts Digest: The New York Rules of Professional Conduct (the “Rules”) govern the conduct of an attorney admitted to practice only in New York who partners with a non-United States…
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Ethics Opinion 1249
Topic: Confidentiality; joint clients; return of clients’ files when there has been joint representation Digest: In a joint representation, there is a presumption that the lawyer will share confidential information received from each co-client with the other co-client, but that…
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Ethics Opinion 1248
Topic: Dispute over credit card payment for legal services. Digest: If a client disputes a credit card payment of legal fees by requesting a chargeback, the lawyer may dispute the chargeback by providing information to the credit card provider about…
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Ethics Opinion 1247
Topic: Conflict of interest in representing county and serving subpoenas on county departments. Digest: A lawyer who represents certain separate County Departments in diverse matters as an independent contractor for the County Attorney may request and serve subpoenas for documents…
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Ethics Opinion 1246
Topic: Partnership with Non-U.S. Lawyer; partner who is also a member of a firm with non- lawyer ownership or management; whether business management and strategy may be the practice of law; affiliation of law firms; co-naming of law firms; billing…
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Ethics Opinion 1245
Topic: Legal Fees, Minimum Fees, Nonrefundable Fees Digest: A lawyer may charge a minimum fee to provide a defined legal service provided (a) the service is performed as agreed; (b) the engagement letter provides in plain language how the minimum…
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Ethics Opinion 1244
Topic: Referral fees paid to retired lawyers Digest: A retired lawyer may receive a referral fee as long as the retiree maintains joint responsibility for the referred matter. Rules: 1.5, 5.1, 5.4 FACTS: The inquirer was a sole New York lawyer…
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Ethics Opinion 1243
Topic: Public Defender; Part-Time Judge; Conflict of Interest Digest: A part-time assistant public defender whose law partner is a part-time town court judge is precluded from representing clients of the public defender’s office in the town court where the part-time…
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