Research FAQ's: Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

The Law Library Staff prepares "Research Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) for the convenience of our users to provide access to a variety of sources addressing particular points of law. These are general legal information sources, and are not to be construed as a substitute for personal legal advice from an attorney. Please seek legal counsel to help you determine the applicability of any of the information in these resources to your specific situation. The Law Library makes no recommendation as to whether you should purchase any services offered by the websites contained in this FAQ.

OHIO MATERIALS

Codes and Rules:

• Annotated versions of Ohio's Code of Professional Responsibility, Code of Judicial Conduct, Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar, and Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Judiciary are contained in Title 19 of Page's Ohio Revised Code and in Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code: Rules of Court, Miscellaneous Rules. They can also be found on Westlaw and Lexis. See links below for weblinks to codes and rules.

• Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct - Effective Feb. 1, 2007. This link includes a correlation chart to the Code of Professional Responsibility.

Resources Concerning the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Coleman, Deborah A., New Ohio Ethics Rules, 77 (No. 11) CLEVELAND BAR JOURNAL, October 2006

• Heffernan, Michael, Mind Your Fees and Q's: Ohio's New Professional Conduct Rules Set for 2007, 77 (No. 11) CLEVELAND BAR JOURNAL, October 2006

• Mueller, John, et. al, New Ethics Rules: What Lawyers Need to Know, Part I, OHIO LAWYER, Nov./Dec. 2006, p. 9.

• Mueller, John, et. al, New Ethics Rules: What Lawyers Need to Know, Part II, OHIO LAWYER, Jan/Feb 2007, p. 12.

• Ethics, Professionalism and Substance Abuse Cleveland Law Library CLE, Nov. 16, 2006. Joseph N. Gross, Esq. gave a presentation entitled "The Conflict of Interest Rules Under the New Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct".

• The New Ohio Rules of Ethics, Ohio State Bar Association CLE, Oct. 10, 2006. KFO76.5.A2 N48 2006.

• End of Year Ethics, Ohio State Bar Association CLE, Dec. 29, 2006. KFO76.5.A2 E58 2006.

• Ethics Satellite, Ohio State Bar Association CLE, Nov. 30, 2006.

Sources For Ohio and Cleveland Ethics Opinions

• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Ethics Opinions: KFO76.5 .A2 C65x 1949 - Present; Summaries online (1986- Present): CMBA Advisory Opinions

• Ohio Ethics Commission Advisory Opinions: KFO406 .A554 1974 - Present; Ohio Ethics Commission Advisory Opinions - 1974 and later. Ohio Ethics Commission opinions are also available on Westlaw (1977- Current) and Ohio Capitol Connection (1987- Current)

• Supreme Court of Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline Advisory Opinions: KFO76.5.A2 S96 1986- Present - Advisory Opinions. 

• Ohio Capitol Connection also has the opinions of the Supreme Court of Ohio Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline (1986 - Current).Ohio Capitol Connection also has the opinions of the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee (1995 - Current). Joint Legislative Ethics Committee Advisory Opinions.

Ohio Treatises, Monographs, and Seminar Materials

• The Law of Professional Responsibility in Ohio, Jack A. Guttenberg. KFO76.5 .A2 G97 1992, with 1998 supplement.

• Lawyer's Guide to the Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility, Arthur F. Greenbaum. KFO76.5 .A2 G74 1996

• Report of the Supreme Court Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, Joseph Cook Sr. KFO76.5 .A2 C66 1993

• Various Ohio CLE books

INTERNET SITES

OHIO

• Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct - Effective Feb. 1, 2007.

• Supreme Court Rules for Government of the Bar

• Supreme Court Rules for Governance of the Judiciary

• Code of Judicial Conduct

• Ohio Supreme Court Board of Professional Conduct: Links to codes of ethics and advisory opinions.

• Ohio Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism

• Ohio Ethics Commission: Reviews ethics issues concerning Ohio's "executive" branch. Contains Ohio Ethics Commission Advisory Opinions.

• Joint Legislative Ethics Committee

• Counsel on Governmental Ethics Laws

• Ohio Supreme Court Opinions: Type in "ethics" as a search term.

• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association Advisory Opinions (summaries only)

NATIONAL:

Portals

• ABA Center for Professional Responsibility: Contains copies of ABA model rules and standards, and summaries of ABA ethics opinions. Provides links to state disciplinary agencies, state ethics opinions and rules. Also contains National Lawyer Regulatory Databank, which performs national searches for disciplinary information on an attorney for a fee.

• Legal Ethics Forum: Links to state ethics materials and articles on ethics.

• Hieros Gamos

• Frievogel on Conflicts: "A practical online guide to conflicts of interest for lawyers with sophisticated business and litigation practices."

Associations

• ABA Standing Committee on Lawyers' Professional Liability: Legal malpractice claim statistics, malpractice prevention information, insurance for lawyers.

• National Organization of Bar Counsel: Ethics links and summaries of current ethics cases.

• The Federalist Society: Professional Responsibility & Legal Education

• Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers

Government Websites

• United States Office of Government Ethics

• There are more Internet links below for specific ethics opinions, model rules, etc.

LISTSERVS AND BLOGS

• Legal Ethics Forum

• Washlaw Legal Ethics - mailing list.

• Cleveland Law Library Blog, Ethics Section

TREATISES & MONOGRAPHS

• Legal ethics and social media : a practitioner's handbook. KF390.5.C6 J33 2022

• The modern lawyer : ethics and technology in an evolving world. KF300 .Z38 2021

• Fear factor: how good lawyers get into bad ethical trouble. KF306 .T45 2013

• Digging for buried treasure: how a search through the rules of ethics and professionalism reveals the seven secrets to attorney success. KF306 .T45 2012

• Legal ethics and social networking in Ohio. KF306 .L435 2011

• A century of legal ethics: trial lawyers and the ABA Canons of professional ethics. KF305 .C46 2009

• Ethical standards in the public sector. KF299.G6 E87 2022

• Legal ethics for in-house corporate counsel. KF1397 .C654 NO.87

• Red flags: a lawyer's handbook on legal ethics. KF306 .F69 2005

JOURNALS

• Ethics; An International Journal of Social, Political and Legal Philosophy

• The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics

• The Professional Lawyer

MODEL & PROPOSED RULES

• ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct

• ABA Model Rules and Standards

• ABA Compendium of Professional Responsibility Rules and Standards. KF305 .A2 1997

• ABA/BNA Lawyer's Manual on Professional Conduct, BNA. KF305 .A16

• Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct, ABA. KF305 .A2 1996

• Codes of Professional Responsibility, by Rena A. Gorlin (ed.). KF306 .Z .C62 1994

• Restatement of the Law (Third), The Law Governing Lawyers, ALI. KF395.A243 L391 2000 Vo1. 1 & 2.

• Restatement of the Law (Third), The Law Governing Lawyers, Tentative Draft No. 8, ALI. KF395 .L382 1997

• Restatement of the Law (Third), The Law Governing Lawyers, Proposed Final Drafts Nos. 1-2, ALI, KF395 .A243 L39 1996 (No. 1), 1998 (No. 2)

ABA ETHICS OPINIONS

• ABA Ethics Opinion Summaries from 1996

• ABA Compendium of Professional Responsibility Rules and Standards. KF305 .A2 1997

• ABA/BNA Lawyer's Manual on Professional Conduct, BNA. KF305 .A16

• Digest of Bar Association Ethics Opinions, by Olavi Maru. KF305 .A2 1970 (!970, 1975, 1980 Supplements)

• Formal and Informal Ethics Opinions, ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. KF305 .A2 1985 (Formal Ops. 316-348 and Informal Ops. 1285-1495)

• Informal Ethics Opinions, ABA Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. KF305 .A2 1975 (vols. I and II) (Informal Ops. C230(a) - 1284)

• Opinions on Professional Ethics, American Bar Association. KF305 .A2 1967 (Formal Ops. 1-315)

STATE ETHICS OPINIONS

Digested versions of various state and local bar associations appear in the ABA/BNA Lawyer's Manual on Professional Conduct. It is a good idea to check the Internet sites listed above to see if the opinions you need may be available on a state bar association web site. You can also try ABA Links to Legal Ethics Pages or National Lawyer Regulatory Databank (fee service) to locate ethics opinions from different states. Aside from the Ohio opinions, the following full text sources are available in the Library:

• DC Rules of Professional Conduct, KFD1276 .A2 D57 1992. (Contains opinions of the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee)

• New York Code of Professional Responsibility: Opinions, Commentary, and Case Law. KFN5076 .a2 n49 1997

• New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics Formal Opinions, 1974 to present. KFN5076 .A2 N4

• Code of Virginia 1950, Annotated: Legal Ethics and Unauthorized Practice Opinions. KFV2430 .A4 1950.

In addition to the above, Lexis+ and Westlaw contain various states' ethics opinions. Check with a librarian for details on a particular state. Many state bar associations publish their opinions within their respective bar journals. The Library holds most of those journals on microfiche, or can access them online.