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Ethics Opinions
The Kansas Bar Association's Professional Ethics Advisory Opinion service is available to members of the Kansas Bar Association. Opinions are issued by the KBA Professional Ethics Advisory Committee and are not binding in any judicial or disciplinary proceeding. The Office of the Disciplinary Administrator receives a copy of opinions, but does not comment on them.
Limitations. Ethics opinions are not issued if the matter on which an opinion is being sought is the subject of litigation. Requests must concern a lawyer's own future conduct, not past conduct. Opinions are also not issued with regard to questions of law, such as interpretations of rules, statutes or cases.
Formal or Informal. The KBA will issue either informal or formal opinions. Informal opinions are spontaneous discussions with the KBA Legislative Counsel or with members of the KBA Professional Ethics Advisory Committee, to which the caller is referred by the Legislative Counsel. Little research is spent on informal opinions.
Formal opinions take longer, generally three to six weeks, but are well researched. Once again, both informal and formal opinions are not binding and should not be used as a substitute for advice given by the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator. The Office of the Disciplinary Administrator will frequently discuss ethical situations with attorneys and may be where an attorney should make his or her first inquiry, especially in situations where an expedited response is necessary.
Confidentiality. The identity of attorneys who request ethics opinions from the KBA Professional Ethics Advisory Committee will be kept confidential. All opinions are freely accessible by anyone, however, the name of the requesting attorney is not identified in the opinion.
Members only: Click here to search for an ethics opinion. You must login to the members-only website in order to search for and view opinions.
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