Search below by keyword, phrase or year for Formal Ethics Opinions issued from 1985 to the present. Most opinions older than 1995 are available as Adobe Acrobat .pdf Files. Reading these files requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Refer to .pdf file viewing help for more information.

Using this form, it is also possible to construct sophisticated queries using the wildcard (*) and other search operators. Refer to the list of search tips for more information.

Click here to access a chronological index of the current Ethical Rules and their related opinions.

NEW! Click here to sign up to receive an email when the State Bar of Arizona's Ethics Committee releases a new ethics opinion.

09-01: Restrictions on Right to Practice; Departing Lawyer A law firm may not employ associate lawyers using a contract that requires a departing associate to pay $3,500 to the law firm for each instance in which the departing associate continued to represent a law firm client.  This requirement would violate the policy underlying ER 5.6 that puts the commercial interests of law firms secondary to the need to preserve client choice.

08-02: Client Files; Confidentiality of Information; Safekeeping Property; Duty as to Client Property Lawyers have certain ethical obligations in maintaining closed client files.  Clients are entitled to most of the contents of a closed file.  Lawyers should establish a file-retention policy and communicate that policy to the client, in writing, at the commencement of the lawyer/client relationship.  If a lawyer does not have a file-retention policy, the lawyer will have additional ethical obligations to fulfill prior to the destruction of any closed client file.

08-01: Fees; Trust Accounts; Credit Cards After the Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct issued this opinion, the Supreme Court of Arizona amended ER 1.15 and Rule 43 to allow lawyers, under certain circumstances, to take credit cards for advance fees and costs. Click here for the link to the Supreme Court of Arizona's website.

A lawyer may accept credit-card payments only for earned fees, earned-upon-receipt retainers, or reimbursement for advanced costs. Such credit-card payments may not be deposited into the lawyer's trust account. , A lawyer may not accept payment in advance by credit card for unearned fees or costs not yet advanced. , A lawyer may receive a single, non-cash payment from a client consisting of funds belonging partly to the client and partly to the lawyer. , Such a payment must occur by check, money order, or electronic-fund transfer, and must be deposited into the lawyer's trust account. , After the transaction has cleared the issuing bank, the lawyer's portion must be removed promptly from the trust account.