Legal services organizations, courts, and various nonprofit organizations have established
programs through which lawyers provide short-term limited legal services, such as advice or the
completion of legal forms, that will help persons address their legal problems without further
representation by a lawyer. In these programs, such as legal-advice hotlines, advice-only clinics,
or pro se counseling programs, a client-lawyer relationship may or may not be established as a
matter of law, but regardless there is no expectation that the lawyer’s representation of the client
will continue beyond the limited consultation. Such programs are normally operated under
circumstances in which it is not feasible for a lawyer to systematically screen for conflicts of
interest as is generally required before undertaking a representation. See, e.g., Rules 1.7, 1.9,
and 1.10.
A lawyer who provides short-term limited legal services pursuant to this rule must secure the
client’s consent to the scope of the representation. See Rule 1.2. If a short-term limited
representation would not be reasonable under the circumstances, the lawyer may offer advice to
the client but must also advise the client of the need for further assistance of counsel. Except as
provided in this rule, the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rules 1.6 and
1.9(c), are applicable to the limited representation.
Because a lawyer who is representing a client in the circumstances addressed by this rule
ordinarily is not able to check systematically for conflicts of interest, paragraph (a) requires
compliance with Rules 1.7 or 1.9(a) only if the lawyer knows that the representation presents a
conflict of interest for the lawyer, and with Rule 1.10 only if the lawyer knows that another
lawyer in the lawyer’s firm is disqualified by Rules 1.7 or 1.9(a) in the matter.
Because the limited nature of the services significantly reduces the risk of conflicts of interest
with other matters being handled by the lawyer’s firm, paragraph (b) provides that Rule 1.10 is
inapplicable to a representation governed by this rule except as provided by paragraph (a)(2).
Paragraph (a)(2) requires the participating lawyer to comply with Rule 1.10 when the lawyer
knows that the lawyer’s firm is disqualified by Rules 1.7 or 1.9(a). By virtue of paragraph (b),
however, a lawyer’s participation in a short-term limited legal services program will not preclude
the lawyer’s firm from undertaking or continuing the representation of a client with interests
adverse to a client being represented under the program’s auspices. Nor will the personal
disqualification of a lawyer participating in the program be imputed to other lawyers
participating in the program.
If, after commencing a short-term limited representation in accordance with this rule, a lawyer
undertakes to represent the client in the matter on an ongoing basis, Rules 1.7, 1.9(a), and 1.10
become applicable.
RULES 7.1–7.5. INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL SERVICES.
