Category: RPC07.01

Rules of Professional Conduct – Comment Period Closed September 2, 2023

RPC07.01. Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services. AMEND. Rule 7.1 was recently circulated for comment in response to a petition to the Supreme Court. That petition expressed concern about the direct solicitation of potential clients soon after traumatic events. The petition proposed returning to the Rules of Professional Conduct a ban on direct solicitation. Such a ban previously appeared in Rule 7.3 and still appears in the ABA Model Rule. The Utah Supreme Court eliminated the ban on direct solicitation in 2020. The proposed amendments that were drafted in response to the petition generated a large number of comments in opposition. Using Fla. Bar v. Went For It, Inc., 515 U.S. 618, 620–21 (1995) as a guide, the rule was redrafted to more narrowly address the petition’s concerns. That rule proposal is now the subject of this comment period.

RPC08.04. Misconduct. AMEND. Rule 8.4 circulated for comment last year. The proposal attempted to codify in a new paragraph (2) Ethics Advisory Opinion 02-05, which concluded that 8.4(1)(c) (conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation) does not apply to government attorneys overseeing an otherwise legal undercover criminal investigation. The proposal as written received a number of comments in opposition. A new proposal, which is now the subject of this comment period, provides that while it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, a lawyer may participate in lawful investigatory activities employing deception for the purpose of detecting ongoing violations of law. Those lawful investigatory activities include governmental “sting” operations; use of testers in fair-housing cases to determine whether landlords or real estate agents discriminate against protected classes of applicants; and gathering evidence of copyright violations.

Continue Reading
Continue Reading

Supreme Court Regulatory Reform Proposal-Comment Period Closes July 23, 2020

The Utah Supreme Court requests comments on its regulatory reform efforts. The comment period is open for 90 days, ending on July 23, 2020. Please see https://sandbox.utcourts.gov/ and the press release for more information.

Supreme Court Standing Order

Standing Order 15: This order would establish a pilot legal regulatory sandbox and an Office of Legal Services Innovation to assist the Utah Supreme Court with respect to overseeing and regulating the practice of law by nontraditional legal service providers or by traditional providers offering nontraditional legal services.

Rules of Professional Conduct

Rules Governing the Professional Independence of Lawyer: The Supreme Court proposes repealing current Rule 5.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct and replacing it with Rules 5.4A and 5.4B.

  • Rule 5.4A: This rule would govern lawyers delivering legal services in the traditional and conventional model. New Rule 5.4A(a) outlines the foremost duties of a lawyer – the duty of independence of judgment, duty of loyalty to the client, and duty of confidentiality – applicable to the rest of the Rule. The preeminence of these professional core values is further explained in new Comments [1] and [2] as they pertain to sharing fees with nonlawyers, with lawyers in a separate firm, and accepting referrals and payments from parties other than the client. In order to loosen the restriction on fee sharing, Rule 5.4A(b) allows a lawyer to share legal fees with a nonlawyer as long as written notice is given at the outset of the representation or before sharing fees from an existing client.
  • Rule 1.5: Paragraph (e) of this rule would be eliminated to allow dividing fees among lawyers who are not in the same firm.
  • Rule 5.4B: This rule would be applicable to lawyers participating in the pilot legal regulatory sandbox. Like proposed Rule 5.4A, the core professional values for lawyers underlying this proposed rule are stated at the outset under subsection (a). Comments [1] and [2] reiterate and clarify the importance of the underlying core values and duties of a lawyer, notwithstanding the novel arrangement with nonlawyers. Proposed Rule 5.4B(b) allows a lawyer to practice law in an organization that is managed or owned, in whole or in part, by nonlawyers, as long as (i) the client is given written notice that nonlawyers have a financial interest in the organization or nonlawyers have managerial authority over the lawyer, and (ii) the client receives in writing the financial or managerial structure of the organization.

Lawyer Advertising Rules: The Supreme Court proposes significantly simplifying the lawyer advertising rules in the Rules of Professional Conduct. Under this proposal, current Rules 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 would be repealed and replaced with new Rule 7.1. Notably, this proposal would eliminate the prohibition against in-person solicitation found in current Rule 7.3.

  • Rule 7.1: Would prohibit (i) making false and misleading claims about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services, and (ii) interacting in a way that involves coercion, duress, or harassment.

Drafts for Review

Standing Order 15 (conceptualizing the pilot legal regulatory sandbox and Office of Legal Services Innovation)

Redline Rules 5.4A and 5.4B (showing the changes from current Rule 5.4)

Redline Rule 1.5 (showing the elimination of paragraph (e))

Clean Rules 5.4A and 5.4B (showing the traditional legal services delivery model and the model contemplated in the pilot legal regulatory sandbox)

Redline Rules 7.1 through 7.5 (showing the process of simplifying the lawyer advertising rules)

Clean Rules 7.1 through 7.5 (showing simplified Rule 7.1 and the reservation of Rules 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5)

 

Continue Reading

Rules of Professional Conduct

RPC 07.01. Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services. Amend. In light of comments received regarding the originally proposed rules, the Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Utah State Bar prepared amended rules. These rules provide additional guidance to lawyers as to which communications are false or misleading in order to protect the public. Submission of advertising to the Bar as mandated under the earlier proposed rules is no longer required.
RPC 07.02. Advertising. Amend. In light of comments received regarding the originally proposed rules, the Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Utah State Bar prepared amended rules. These rules provide additional guidance to lawyers as to which communications are false or misleading in order to protect the public. Submission of advertising to the Bar as mandated under the earlier proposed rules is no longer required.
RPC 07.03. Solicitation of Clients. Amend. In light of comments received regarding the originally proposed rules, the Court’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Utah State Bar prepared amended rules. These rules provide additional guidance to lawyers as to which communications are false or misleading in order to protect the public. Submission of advertising to the Bar as mandated under the earlier proposed rules is no longer required.

Continue Reading

Rules of Professional Conduct

Petition to Revise Utah Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyer Advertising Rules. Revises the rules to more thoroughly address problems with misleading and inaccurate lawyer advertising, both potential and existing, in order to better protect the public. The changes are designed to help lawyers comply with the new rules, as they are more specific than current requirements. The basic components of the proposed rules provide fuller definitions of what constitutes false and misleading legal service communications. The proposed rules would tie compliance requirements to the Bar’s annual licensing renewal form. The new rules would require the lawyers to annually submit any Uniform Resource Locator (URL) they use in advertising and to submit such advertising as mass mailings. There is no requirement for prior review of any advertising.
RPC 07.01. Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services. Amend.
RPC 07.02. Advertising. Amend.
RPC 07.02A. Filing Requirements for Public Advertisements and Written, Recorded, Electronic, or Other Digital Solicitations. New.
RPC 07.02B. Advertising Review Committee; Pre-dissemination Review. New.
Exhibit 7. Western States Bar Conference Information.
Exhibit 8. Harrell v. The Florida Bar.
Exhibit 9. Research Memorandum.
Appendix A. ABA Model Rule 7.1.
Appendix B. ABA Model Rule 7.2.
Appendix C. Differences between State Advertising and Solicitation Rules and ABA Rules of Professional Conduct.
Appendix D. Florida Rules.
Appendix E. Nevada Rules.
Appendix F. Texas Rules.
Appendix G. Washington Rules.

Continue Reading

Rules of Professional Conduct

The Ethics 2000 Commission was created by the American Bar Association to review and amend the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The Ethics 2000 Commission ‘s revisions to the ABA Model Rules were completed in August 2003. The Utah Supreme Court requested its Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct to consider the Ethics 2000 revisions and recommend which amendments, if any, should be made to the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct. The rules listed below include the Ethics 2000 revisions to the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct recommended by the court’s advisory committee. The Ethics 2000 revisions to the ABA Model Rules and explanations regarding the changes can be found at www.abanet.org/cpr/ethics2k.html.
Rules of Professional Conduct – All
RPC 00.00. Preamble: A Lawyer’s Responsibilities. Amend.
RPC 01.00. Terminology. Amend.
RPC 01.01. Competence. Amend.
RPC 01.02. Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer. Amend.
RPC 01.03. Diligence. Amend.
RPC 01.04. Communication. Amend.
RPC 01.05. Fees. Amend.
RPC 01.06. Confidentiality of Information Amend.
RPC 01.07. Conflict of Interest: Current Clients. Amend.
RPC 01.08. Conflict of Interest: Current Clients: Specific Rules. Amend.
RPC 01.09. Duties to Former Clients Amend.
RPC 01.10. Imputation of Conflicts of Interest: General Rule. Amend.
RPC 01.11. Special Conflicts of Interest for Former and Current Government Employees. Amend.
RPC 01.12. Former Judge, Arbitrator, Mediator or Other Third-Party Neutral. Amend.
RPC 01.13. Organization as a Client. Amend.
RPC 01.14. Client with Diminished Capacity. Amend.
RPC 01.15. Safekeeping Property. Amend.
RPC 01.17. Sale of Law Practice. Amend.
RPC 01.18. Duties to Prospective Client. New.
RPC 02.01. Advisor. Amend.
RPC 02.02. Intermediary. Repealed.
RPC 02.03. Evaluation for Use by Third Persons. Amend.
RPC 02.04. Lawyer Serving as Third-Party Neutral. New.
RPC 03.01. Meritorious Claims and Contentions. Amend.
RPC 03.02. Expediting Litigation. Amend.
RPC 03.03. Candor Toward the Tribunal. Amend.
RPC 03.04. Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel. Amend.
RPC 03.05. Impartiality and Decorum of the Tribunal. Amend.
RPC 03.06. Trial Publicity. Amend.
RPC 03.07. Lawyer as Witness. Amend.
RPC 03.08. Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor. Amend.
RPC 03.09. Advocate in Nonadjudicative Proceedings. Amend.
RPC 04.01. Truthfulness in Statements to Others. Amend.
RPC 04.02. Communication with Persons Represented by Counsel. Amend.
RPC 04.03. Dealing with Unrepresented Person. Amend.
RPC 04.04. Respect for Rights of Third Persons. Amend.
RPC 05.01. Responsibilities of Partners, Managers, and Supervisory Lawyers. Amend.
RPC 05.02. Responsibilities of a Subordinate Lawyer. Amend.
RPC 05.03. Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistants. Amend.
RPC 05.04. Professional Independence of a Lawyer. Amend.
RPC 05.05. Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law. Repeal & Reenact.
RPC 05.06. Restrictions on Right to Practice. Amend.
RPC 05.07. Responsibilities Regarding Law-Related Services. New.
RPC 06.01. Voluntary Pro Bono Legal Service. Amend.
RPC 06.02. Accepting Appointments. Amend.
RPC 06.03. Membership in Legal Services Organization. Amend.
RPC 06.04. Law Reform Activities Affecting Client Interests. Amend.
RPC 06.05. Nonprofit and Court-Annexed Limited Legal Services Programs. New.
RPC 07.01. Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services. Amend.
RPC 07.02. Advertising. Amend.
RPC 07.03. Direct Contact with Prospective Clients. Amend.
RPC 07.04. Communication of Fields of Practice. Amend.
RPC 07.05. Firm Names and Letterheads. Amend.
RPC 08.01. Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters. Amend.
RPC 08.02. Judicial Officials. Amend.
RPC 08.03. Reporting Professional Misconduct. Amend.
RPC 08.04. Misconduct. Amend.
RPC 08.05. Disciplinary Authority; Choice of Law. Repeal & Reenact.

Continue Reading