Utah State Bar Opinion No. 11-03 (Nov. 15, 2011):
1. ISSUE: Is it a violation of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct for an attorney to ask a law student to undertake research using the law student’s free account and in breach of the student’s contract with Lexis and/or Westlaw?
2. OPINION: A lawyer who encourages or participates in a law student’s violation of the student’s contractual obligation to the electronic research service violates the Rules of Professional Conduct. …
6. Misuse of the student’s educational privileges is a theft of services. (Utah Code Ann. §76-6-409) The companies have specifically limited the use of their products to non-profit or educational uses. The lawyer hiring a law student has no reasonable expectation that the law student will violate her contractual obligation to refrain from the use of those services in a for-profit situation. A theft of services is a violation of Rule 8.4(b). It is a criminal act, which, depending upon the amount of services wrongfully appropriated, could range anywhere from a Class B Misdemeanor to a Second Degree Felony. (Utah Code Ann. §76-6-412) Such a criminal act reflects adversely upon the lawyer’s honesty if the lawyer specifically directs the student to violate her contract. It is also a criminal act and an ethical violation if the lawyer indirectly encourages the contractual breach through the coercion of the law student. See Utah Code Ann. §76-2-202 regarding criminal responsibility for the conduct of another person.
