Ohio Ethics Opinion

State of Ohio

ETHICS OPINION 2001-3

1. A lawyer may obtain a loan from a third party lending company provided that the loan is not secured by the client´s interest in any settlement or judgment. This provision does not prohibit the lending company from securing the loan through the borrowing attorney´s fee on the case. The client should also be informed of the loan and his or her consent should be obtained by the borrowing attorney/firm.

2. It is proper for the borrowing attorney to deduct the costs of the loan and interest or fees thereon from a client´s settlement or judgment, since these costs are appropriately considered “costs of doing business” or “litigation expenses”.

The cited Ohio Ethics Opinion may be found on the web at: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/

Please reference your local state ethics rules.