Professional Responsibility and Ethics

ABA members may access a complimentary formal ethics opinion online library of formal opinions issued since 1984. Non-members may purchase opinions in PDF format.

Go to Texts and Treatises/Bloomberg BNA Manuals Scroll down to Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct.
This source contains all ABA ethics opinions, current reports index, ethics opinion index, model rules and standards, practice guide index, practice guides, and state ethics opinions.
Bloomberg Law (ID and password required)

Searchable opinions are from 1990 to present. Members who have an ethical dilemma can contact the NCBA at (516) 747-4070 to obtain the hotline telephone number.

The Committee on Professional Ethics issues two types of advisory opinions. Formal Opinions provide general guidance to lawyers admitted to practice in New York state concerning their obligations under the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (the "New York Rules"). Informal Opinions are issued in response to specific inquiries by lawyers admitted to practice in New York state, and are not published on the New York City Bar website. Before requesting an written informal opinion, please consider calling the Ethics Hotline for assistance in answering your question.

All NYCLA Ethics Opinions are available here, listed by Ethics Opinion (EO) number. Requests to use these Ethics Opinions should be directed to tvalenti@nycla.org

These opinions have been issued by the NYSBA Committee on Professional Ethics. Opinions of the committee are advisory and are issued only to attorneys concerning their own proposed conduct, not past conduct or the conduct of another attorney. The committee does not pass upon questions of law or matters which are in litigation; such matters are within the authority of the court to determine. The committee does not consider anonymous inquiries, hypothetical inquiries or inquiries which have also been submitted to another bar association's ethics committee. Opinions are retrospective to 1957. Opinions can be viewed by date or topic only. Use the search function at the top right of the NYSBA homepage to find opinions.

The 50 State Ethics Guide prepared by the University of Texas Tarlton Law School provides an easy-to-use clearinghouse where researchers can obtain free access to legal ethics opinions and laws for all 50 states. It collects key information about legal ethics and professional responsibility from across the country. The map links to key state resources on legal ethics codes, regulations, and opinions.

At the Westlaw home page, under Content Types, choose Administrative Decisions and Guidance. Narrow by federal, state, topic/type.
Westlaw (ID and password required)