The Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct are the binding ethics code that every attorney licensed in Michigan must follow. Adopted by the Michigan Supreme Court and adapted from the ABA Model Rules, they cover how lawyers must handle clients, money, confidential information, conflicts, courts, and advertising. Enforcement runs through the Attorney Grievance Commission and the Attorney Discipline Board, and sanctions range from a private admonition to permanent disbarment.
If you are trying to figure out what your lawyer owes you, whether something you were told to do is allowed, or how to file a complaint, the rules below are where the answers live.
What Your Lawyer Owes You as a Client
Three rules form the backbone of the client relationship.
MRPC 1.1 requires competent representation. A lawyer must bring the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation the matter reasonably demands. Someone taking on an unfamiliar area cannot simply wing it; the choice is genuine expertise or enough preparation to get there. The official comment to the rule also requires lawyers to keep up with the benefits and risks of relevant technology, not just changes in substantive law.
MRPC 1.3 adds a duty of diligence and promptness. Letting a file sit for months, missing deadlines, and failing to return calls all violate the rule. Neglect is one of the most common grounds for discipline in Michigan, and it does not require bad intent. Being too busy is not a defense.
MRPC 1.4 governs communication. A lawyer must keep you reasonably informed about the status of your matter, respond promptly to reasonable requests for information, and explain things clearly enough that you can make informed decisions. You, not the lawyer, are the ultimate decision-maker on objectives like whether to settle or go to trial. A lawyer who makes those calls unilaterally violates the rule even if the outcome is good.
Confidentiality Under MRPC 1.6
Michigan’s confidentiality rule is different from the ABA model. It still uses the older framework of “confidences” and “secrets.” A confidence is information protected by the attorney-client privilege under applicable law. A secret is any other information gained during the professional relationship that the client wants kept private or that could embarrass or harm the client if disclosed. Together, those two categories cover essentially everything you tell your lawyer and everything the lawyer learns while working on your matter.
A Michigan lawyer cannot reveal confidences or secrets, use them to your disadvantage, or exploit them for the lawyer’s benefit or a third party’s benefit without your full consent. Disclosure is permitted in a limited set of situations:
- You consent after full disclosure.
- The lawyer reveals your intention to commit a crime and the information needed to prevent it.
- The lawyer discloses what is needed to rectify the consequences of your illegal or fraudulent act that used the lawyer’s services.
- Disclosure is required by law or court order.
- The lawyer discloses what is reasonably necessary to collect a fee or defend against accusations of wrongdoing.
MRPC 1.6(d) also makes lawyers responsible for the people around them. Firms must take reasonable steps to prevent employees, associates, and support staff from disclosing client information. A data breach caused by lax office security can be treated as a confidentiality violation even if the lawyer personally did nothing wrong.
Conflicts of Interest
Loyalty rules are where many disciplinary problems start.
Under MRPC 1.7, a lawyer cannot represent a client in a matter directly adverse to another current client unless the lawyer reasonably believes neither relationship will suffer and both clients consent after consultation. The rule also prohibits taking a case where the lawyer’s duties to another client, a third party, or the lawyer’s own personal interests could materially limit the representation, again unless the lawyer reasonably believes the limitation will not affect the work and the client consents after consultation.
Michigan requires consent “after consultation,” not the ABA’s stricter “informed consent, confirmed in writing.” Many ethics opinions still recommend a written waiver so there is no later dispute about what the client understood.
Former Clients
MRPC 1.9 carries conflict protection past the end of the relationship. A lawyer who previously represented someone cannot take on a new client in the same or a substantially related matter if the new client’s interests are materially adverse to the former client, unless the former client consents after consultation. The lawyer also cannot use or reveal information from the prior representation to the former client’s disadvantage. This restriction follows the lawyer: if an attorney changes firms, the new firm can be restricted from certain matters based on what the attorney learned at the old firm.
When the Whole Firm Is Disqualified
MRPC 1.10 generally disqualifies an entire firm when one lawyer in it has a conflict. Michigan allows screening in one important situation: when a lawyer joins a new firm and brings a conflict from the prior firm, the new firm can still handle the matter if the conflicted lawyer is completely screened from any participation, receives no fee from it, and the affected tribunal receives prompt written notice.
Legal Fees and Client Money
MRPC 1.5 requires every fee to be reasonable. Michigan evaluates reasonableness using eight factors, including the time and labor involved, the complexity of the matter, the lawyer’s experience, the fee customarily charged locally for similar work, and the results obtained. The rule does not cap fees at a specific dollar amount or percentage; it bars charging more than the circumstances justify.
Contingency fee arrangements must be in writing, and the agreement must explain how the lawyer’s percentage is calculated and how expenses are deducted. Rates in Michigan commonly run from one-third to 40 percent of the recovery, often rising if the case goes to trial or appeal. The reasonableness standard still applies, so a contingency fee that produces a windfall vastly out of proportion to the work can be challenged.
Fee splits between lawyers at different firms are allowed only if the split is proportional to the work each lawyer performed (or each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the case), the client agrees to the division in writing, and the total fee remains reasonable.
Trust Accounts and IOLTA
MRPC 1.15 governs client money. Nominal or short-term client funds go into an Interest on Lawyer Trust Account (IOLTA) at an eligible Michigan financial institution. The interest earned goes to the Michigan State Bar Foundation to fund civil legal aid, not to the lawyer. Larger or longer-term funds that can earn meaningful interest for the client belong in a separate, individually identified trust account or in a pooled account with subaccounting that tracks each client’s earnings.
Mixing personal funds with client money is one of the most serious violations a Michigan lawyer can commit. The rule also requires complete records of trust account activity, prompt notice to the client when funds or property arrive, and prompt delivery of anything the client is entitled to receive.
Honesty and the Duty to Report
MRPC 3.3 governs candor toward the tribunal. A lawyer cannot knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a court and must correct any false statement previously made. If a lawyer offers evidence and later discovers it was false, the lawyer must take reasonable remedial measures up to and including disclosure to the court, even if that means revealing information otherwise protected by confidentiality rules. In one-sided proceedings where the opposing party is absent, the lawyer must affirmatively tell the judge all material facts, including unfavorable ones.
MRPC 4.1 extends honesty beyond court. In negotiations, transactions, or any dealing with third parties, a lawyer cannot knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law.
MRPC 8.4 defines professional misconduct broadly. It covers dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation, and criminal conduct that reflects adversely on fitness to practice. It also reaches conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, implying an ability to improperly influence a government official, and knowingly helping a judge violate the Code of Judicial Conduct.
MRPC 8.3 goes a step further and puts an affirmative reporting duty on every Michigan lawyer. If a lawyer knows another attorney has committed a significant violation that raises a substantial question about honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness, the lawyer must report it to the Attorney Grievance Commission. Reporting is not optional. The only carve-outs are information protected by confidentiality rules and information gained through the State Bar’s substance abuse counseling program.
Advertising and Solicitation
Michigan permits lawyer advertising under MRPC 7.2, but every communication about a lawyer’s services must be truthful and not misleading under MRPC 7.1. An ad that contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or that omits information needed to keep the overall message from being misleading, violates the rule. Lawyers must keep a copy or recording of each advertisement for two years after it last runs, along with a record of when and where it appeared.
Solicitation under MRPC 7.3 is more restricted than the ABA model. A lawyer cannot solicit professional employment from someone with whom the lawyer has no family or prior professional relationship when the primary motive is financial gain. The definition of “solicit” is broad and reaches in-person contact, phone calls, and targeted written communications. General mailings and truthful letters to people known to face specific legal problems are allowed. Solicitation involving coercion, duress, or harassment is always prohibited, and a lawyer must stop contacting anyone who has said they do not want to be solicited.
When a Lawyer Can or Must Withdraw
MRPC 1.16 separates mandatory withdrawal from permissive withdrawal. A lawyer is required to withdraw if continuing would violate the rules or other law, if the lawyer’s physical or mental condition materially impairs the ability to do the work, or if the client fires the lawyer.
A lawyer may choose to withdraw, subject to court permission in a pending case, for reasons that include:
- The client insists on using the lawyer’s services for criminal or fraudulent purposes, or has already done so.
- The client pursues an objective the lawyer considers repugnant or imprudent.
- The client has substantially failed to meet financial obligations after a reasonable warning.
- The representation has become unreasonably difficult or financially burdensome.
- Other good cause exists.
Even after withdrawing, the lawyer must take reasonable steps to protect the client’s interests: giving adequate notice, allowing time to find new counsel, returning papers and property, and refunding any unearned fees. If a court orders the lawyer to stay on the case, the lawyer must comply regardless of the grounds for withdrawal.
How to File a Grievance and What Sanctions Apply
Anyone who believes a Michigan attorney has violated the rules can file a complaint with the Attorney Grievance Commission (AGC), the prosecution arm of the Michigan Supreme Court for attorney discipline. Complaints go in on the AGC’s Request for Investigation form, available on the AGC’s website. The Commission investigates, and if it finds sufficient evidence of misconduct, it files a formal complaint with the Attorney Discipline Board (ADB).
The ADB adjudicates the case through three-member hearing panels of volunteer attorneys under Subchapter 9.100 of the Michigan Court Rules. Available sanctions are not limited to a fixed list, but they include:
- Admonition, the least severe formal discipline.
- Reprimand, a public statement of disapproval.
- Probation, with conditions and monitoring on continued practice.
- Suspension of the license for a specified period; suspensions longer than 179 days require a petition for reinstatement.
- Revocation, meaning permanent loss of the license, commonly called disbarment.
- Restitution to harmed clients and payment of the costs of the proceeding.
- Limitations on the type or scope of future legal work.
Grounds for discipline reach beyond the MRPC. Under Michigan Court Rule 9.104, misconduct also includes conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, conduct contrary to ethics or good morals, criminal convictions, failure to respond to an AGC investigation, and contempt of the Board or a hearing panel.
Michigan’s Client Protection Fund
Discipline punishes the lawyer but does not refund stolen money. For that, Michigan maintains a Client Protection Fund, administered by the State Bar, that reimburses clients for losses caused by a lawyer’s dishonest conduct. The current maximum payout per claim is $150,000, and the aggregate maximum for losses caused by a single lawyer or group of lawyers acting together is $375,000.
Claims are filed on the State Bar’s claim form with evidence of the loss. The dishonest conduct must have been reported to the AGC or a law enforcement agency, or made the subject of a lawsuit, within two years of the act, or within six months of discovery if the misconduct was not immediately apparent. Claims over $20,000 must be reported to law enforcement before the Fund will consider them. You do not need an attorney to file, and no lawyer may charge more than $250 to help with the application.