Regulation UPL 300 - Regulation for the Issuance of Advisory Opinions300.1Procedure for Issuance.(A)Authority. Pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 2(F), the Board may issue nonbinding advisory opinions in response to prospective or hypothetical questions regarding the application of Gov. Bar R. VII and R.C. 4705.01, 4705.07, and 4705.99.(B)Advisory opinion committee. Each year, the Board chair shall appoint three or more members of the Board to serve on an Advisory Opinion Committee, which will be a standing subcommittee of the Board. The Board chair shall also appoint one committee member to serve as chair of the committee. Each committee member shall serve for a period of one year from the date of appointment and shall be eligible for reappointment by the Board chair. The committee shall meet at the call of the committee chair and may meet in person, by telephone conference, or electronically.(C)Standards for issuing advisory opinions.(1) The Board may issue an advisory opinion on the request of any regularly organized bar association in this state, Disciplinary Counsel, or the Attorney General.(2) The question presented shall be prospective or hypothetical in nature and shall not involve questions pending before a court.(3) The question presented shall be one of broad interest or importance.(D)Procedure for requesting an advisory opinion. The procedure for submitting a request for an advisory opinion shall be as follows:(1) A Request for an advisory opinion shall be submitted in writing to the secretary and shall state in detail to the extent practicable the operative facts on which the request for the opinion is based, with information and detail sufficient to enable adequate consideration and determination of eligibility under this regulation.(2) The request shall contain the name and address of the requester and a summary of the rules, opinions, statutes, case law, and any other authority that the requester has already consulted concerning the questions raised in the request.(3) The secretary will send to the requester a letter acknowledging the receipt of the request.(E)Review of advisory opinion requests. The procedure for review of a request for an advisory opinion shall be as follows:(1) The Advisory Opinion Committee shall review all properly submitted requests for an advisory opinion;(2) The committee shall have the discretionto accept or decline a request for an advisory opinion;(3) In exercising its discretion, the committee shall be governed by Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 2(F) and this regulation;(4) If any member of the committee requests that the declination of a properly submitted request for an advisory opinion be considered by the Board, such request will be presented to the Board for consideration at the Board's next business meeting. If the committee unanimously declines a request for an advisory opinion, that determination shall be final;(5) If the committee determines that adequate authority already exists that answers the inquiry posed, or if an advisory opinion is not issued for any other reason, the committee or Board may direct the secretary to provide guidance in a staff letter. The staff letter may be based on previous opinions of the Board, the views of the committee or the Board, or other relevant information. All staff letters will contain language indicating that the staff letter is nonbinding and is not an advisory opinion of the Board.(F)Notification. The Advisory Opinion Committee or Board shall notify the requester of a properly submitted request for an advisory opinion of the committee or Board's decision to accept or decline the request.(G)Preparation of opinion. If a request for an advisory opinion is accepted for consideration, the Advisory Opinion Committee shall complete the process of researching, drafting, and reviewing as expeditiously as possible, preferably within two to six months after deciding to grant the request. The committee shall be empowered to request and accept the voluntary services of a person licensed to practice law in this state when the committee deems it advisable to receive written or oral advice or assistance in research and analysis regarding the question presented by the requester. (H)Review of draft opinion. Each draft advisory opinion approved by majority vote of the Advisory Opinion Committee shall be sent to the Board for review approximately two weeks before the Board meeting at which it will be presented. On review, Board members may direct comments, suggestions, or objections to the chair of the committee.(I)Adoption of draft opinion. The draft opinion will also be placed on the agenda for discussion at the Board meeting. The Board may vote to adopt or modify the draft opinion or to return the draft opinion to the Advisory Opinion Committee for further review.(J)Issuance of opinion. A copy of the adopted advisory opinion shall be issued to the requester and 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. Copies of issued advisory opinions shall be forwarded to the Law Library of the Supreme Court of Ohio, all county law libraries, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the Attorney General, and local and state bar associations with certified unauthorized practice of law committees.(K)Name of requester. Issued advisory opinions 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 not confidential and shall be made available to the public on request.300.2Procedure for Maintenance(A)Copies. A copy of each advisory opinion shall be kept in the Board's offices.(B)Former opinions. An advisory opinion that becomes withdrawn, modified, or not current will be marked with an appropriate designation to indicate the status of the opinion.(C)Withdrawn designation. The designation "Withdrawn" shall be used when an advisory opinion has been withdrawn by the majority vote of the Board. The designation indicates the opinion no longer represents the advice of the Board.(D)Modified designation. The designation "Modified" will be used when an advisory opinion has been modified by a majority vote of the Board. The designation indicates the opinion has been modified by a subsequent opinion.(E)Not current designation. The designation "Not Current" shall be used at the discretion of the Board to indicate that an advisory opinion is not current in its entirety. The designation an opinion is no longer current in its entirety may be used for a variety of reasons, such as subsequent amendments to rules or statutes, or developments in case law.(F)Other designations. Other designations, as needed, may be used by majority vote of the Board.(G)Index. The Advisory-Opinion Index shall include a list identifying the opinions as "Withdrawn," "Modified," or "Not Current," and other designations decided by the Board.Amended June 5, 2023, effective 7/1/2023.