Regulation 15 - Advisory Opinions(A)Advisory Opinion Committee. There shall be an Advisory Opinion Committee that shall be a standing committee of the Board. Each year, the chair of the Board shall appoint five or more commissioners to serve on the committee and shall designate one of the committee members to serve as chair of the committee. A committee member shall serve a one-year term and may be reappointed to the committee. The committee shall meet at the call of the chair and may meet in person or by telephone or video conference.(B)(1)Standards for Issuing Advisory Opinions. The Board may issue nonbinding advisory opinions regarding the application of the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio, the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Judiciary of Ohio, the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, the Code of Judicial Conduct, or the Attorney's Oath of Office. Pursuant to R.C. 102.08, the Board may issue an advisory opinion upon the request of a judicial officer, court employee, or judicial candidate regarding the application of R.C. Chapter 102. or R.C. 2921.42 or 2921.43. The following standards shall govern the issuance of advisory opinions: (a) The question presented shall be prospective or hypothetical in nature and shall not involve completed conduct or questions pending before a court;(b) The question presented shall be one of broad interest or importance to the Ohio bar or judiciary;(c) The question presented shall involve the conduct of the person requesting the opinion.(2) The committee or Board may decline to issue an opinion regarding a question that does not satisfy the standards set forth in this regulation or that is overly broad, lacks sufficient information, is of narrow interest, or is addressed by a statue, rule, or prior Advisory Opinion. The Board staff shall notify the requester of a decision to decline the issuance of an opinion.(C)Staff letters. The Board staff may provide guidance in a staff letter if the committee declines to issue an opinion or in response to an inquiry that can be addressed by reference to a statute, rule, or previously issued advisory opinion or staff letter. A staff letter shall contain language to indicate that it is a nonbinding staff letter and not an advisory opinion of the Board.(D)Procedure for Requesting an Advisory Opinion. A request for an advisory opinion shall be submitted in writing to the director. The Board staff will send the requester a written acknowledgment of the request.(E)Procedure for Preparing and Issuing Advisory Opinions.(1) Advisory opinion requests that satisfy the standards contained in this regulation shall be researched by the Board staff prior to presentation to the committee. If a decision is made to issue an opinion, the Board staff will prepare a draft opinion for review by the committee. The committee will review the draft, make comments or suggestions, and by majority decision approve or disapprove the draft. The Board staff and committee will complete the process of researching, drafting, and reviewing an opinion as expeditiously as possible, preferably within two months after receipt of the request.(2) Each draft opinion approved by the committee will be sent to commissioners for review prior to a Board meeting and placed on the agenda for consideration at that meeting. Upon review, commissioners may direct comments, suggestions, or objections to the Board staff. The Board may vote to adopt or modify the draft opinion or to return the draft opinion to the committee for further review.(F)Issuance of Advisory Opinions.(1) Upon adoption by the Board, an advisory opinion shall be issued to the requester and published on the Board's website. An advisory opinion shall not bear the name of the requester and shall not include the request letter. However, the requester's name and the request letter are public and shall be made available upon request. Issued opinions shall be submitted for publication in the ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct, the Ohio State Bar Association Report, and other publications or electronic communications as the Board deems appropriate. Issued opinions shall be forwarded to the Law Library of the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and opinions relating to judges shall be forwarded to the Ohio Ethics Commission, Ohio Elections Commission, Ohio Judicial Conference, Ohio Judicial College, Secretary of State of Ohio, and the National Center for State Courts Center for Judicial Ethics.(2) The Board shall maintain an online subscription service for persons and other organizations wanting to receive copies of issued opinions.(G)Maintenance of Advisory Opinions.(1) The Board staff shall maintain on the Board's website a list of pending advisory opinion requests. The list shall include the question presented and the rule or statute potentially implicated by the request.(2) An advisory opinion that becomes withdrawn, modified, not current, or affected by other significant changes will be marked with an appropriate designation to indicate the status of the opinion.(3) The designation "Withdrawn" will be used when an opinion has been withdrawn by majority vote of the Board. The designation indicates that an opinion no longer represents the advice of the Board or was replaced by a subsequent opinion.(4) The designation "Modified" will be used when an opinion has been modified by majority vote of the Board. The designation indicates that an opinion has been modified by a subsequent opinion.(5) The designation "Not Current" will be used at the discretion of the Board's attorney staff to indicate that an opinion is not current in its entirety. The designation that an opinion is no longer current in its entirety may be used to indicate a variety of reasons such as subsequent amendments to rules or statutes, or developments in case law.(6) The designation "CPR Opinion" will be used when an opinion provides guidance under the Ohio Code of Professional Responsibility that is superseded by the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, effective February 1, 2007. The designation indicates that the opinion provides guidance regarding the Board's advice under the superseded Code.(7) The designation "Former CJC Opinion" will be used when an opinion provides guidance under the former Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct that is superseded by the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct, effective March 1, 2009. The designation indicates that the opinion provides guidance regarding the Board's advice under the superseded Code.(8) Other designations, as needed, may be used by majority vote of the Board(9) The Advisory Opinion Index will include a status list identifying the opinions and the designations.Ohio. Gov. Bar. R., reg. 15
Amended effective 3/1/2023.