American Bar Association: Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility
The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issues ethics opinions interpreting the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (or the Model Code of Professional Responsibility if it is an older ethics opinion). The ethics opinions are not binding, but may be considered persuasive authority.
The ABA Model Rules are not enforceable as law; they serve as models for state adoption. Most states have adopted some form of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Generally, these rules are found within the state’s codified statutes or within the court rules. This chart sets forth the dates in which each state adopted the Model Rules.
House of Delegates
The House of Delegates is the policy-making body of the American Bar Association. Established in 1936, the House of Delegates meets twice each year, at ABA Annual and Midyear Meetings.
At the Midyear Meeting, the Nominating Committee nominates officers and members of the Board of Governors. During the Annual Meeting, the full house votes on these nominees and on any nominations made by petition. Action taken by the House of Delegates on specific issues becomes official ABA policy.
Currently, there are 555 delegates in the House, including representatives of state and local bar associations, substantive legal sections and divisions of the ABA, affiliated organizations, former officers, members of the Board of Governors, at-large delegates and state delegates.
William C. Hubbard of Columbia, S.C., is chair of the House of Delegates. A partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Columbia, Hubbard currently serves as chair of the firm’s Business Litigation and Employment Law Group. Hubbard has long held positions of leadership in the ABA. He is a board member and past president of the American Bar Endowment, a member of the Board of the American Bar Foundation and a life member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Additionally, Hubbard chairs the ABA Commission on the World Justice Project, an international initiative designed to measure and strengthen the rule of law worldwide.
The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct were adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in 1983. They serve as models for the ethics rules of most states and as a model for Formal Opinion 08-451: Lawyer’s Obligations When Outsourcing Legal and Nonlegal Support Services.
State and Local
The following state and local organizations have published opinions relating to the ethics of legal outsourcing domestically or abroad. More details are available at State and Local Jurisdictions.
Association of the Bar of the City of New York Commission on Professional & Judicial Ethics
Los Angeles County Bar Association
North Carolina State Bar Association
Formal Ethics Opinion 12 (2007)
San Diego County Bar Association
Legal Ethics Opinion 2007-1 (2007)
Florida State Bar Association
Supreme Court of Ohio
