Ethics hotline offers lawyers prompt advice.

When lawyers are faced with ethical dilemmas and aren't sure what to do, The Florida Bar's Ethics Hotline is available to help.

One of the first of its kind in the nation, the toll-free Ethics Hotline (800-235-8619) was established in 1984 to help guide lawyers through the minefields of conflict dilemmas, confidentiality questions, communication concerns, trust accounting problems, and other ethical difficulties unique to the profession.

Last year, about 17,815 Florida lawyers contacted the Ethics Department hotline, according to Bar Ethics Counsel Elizabeth Tarbert. The department also accepts written inquiries and has recently begun to take questions via e-mail, which can be sent to eto@flabar.org.

"We began to offer e-mail service because we realized that many attorneys are computer-savvy, and we want our members to be able to contact us in whatever way is most convenient for them," Tarbert said.

Tarbert said hotline attorneys are authorized to respond to inquiries from members in good standing who are asking about their own contemplated conduct. When there is no Florida authority upon which to base an answer to an inquiry, ethics counsel can decline to issue an opinion. Staff must decline to render an opinion when an inquirer asks a question of law, a question about past conduct, a question about another attorney's conduct, or a question about the subject of a pending grievance.

The toll-free number can be reached between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and is used hundreds of times a week by Bar members.

The department's telephone system has recently been improved and now gives members the option to leave a message if all lines are busy. Members also may dial (850) 561-5780 to leave a message, which will be returned within one business day.

"The majority of questions relate to conflict issues, but we frequently get questions on everything: what to do with closed files, retaining liens, ancillary businesses of lawyers, confidentiality, and just about anything you can think of," Tarbert said.

The Ethics Department also has a strong presence on the Bar's website at www.FLABAR.org. Once you are at the Bar's homepage, click "Member Services" in the left-hand column and then "Ethics Opinions."

There you will find an index of formal ethics opinions which are searchable by key word, or you may view the subject index of the opinions. There also are links to proposed advisory opinions; Chapter 4 of the Rules...