Before You Buy the Chairs: the Ethics of Organizing an Office
| Publication year | 2003 |
| Pages | 23 |
| Citation | Vol. 32 No. 10 Pg. 23 |
2003, October, Pg. 23. Before You Buy the Chairs: The Ethics of Organizing an Office
Vol. 32, No. 10, Pg. 23
The Colorado Lawyer
October 2003
Vol. 32, No. 10 [Page 23]
October 2003
Vol. 32, No. 10 [Page 23]
Ethics for Colorado Lawyers Special Issue
Before You Buy the Chairs: The Ethics of Organizing an
Office
by D. Rico Munn
by D. Rico Munn
Greta Greyhair is a well-respected trial lawyer and partner
with the firm of Acme, Best & Crown ("ABC")
But after twenty years of practice, Greta is starting to lose
interest in her hectic and stressful practice. In recent
years, Greta has grown especially weary of new lawyers who
lack the skill and professionalism of veteran members of the
Bar. In a recent case, she was dismayed at the lack of
preparation and unprofessionalism exhibited by her opposing
counsel, Sally Solo. While Greta is concerned and frustrated
by lawyers like Sally, she is even more upset that, although
other lawyers share her concern, no one seems willing to take
the time to do something about it
Greta has an idea for training and mentoring new lawyers like
Sally. She would like to open a small litigation firm
"Greyhair and Associates." Greta believes that she
can take her two favorite paralegals and her secretary from
ABC, along with a few small clients, and launch a successful
solo practice. Once she gets things running smoothly, she
could hire some new attorneys to handle the ongoing
litigation matters. Greta envisions that her own practice
would then focus on training the new lawyers. Greta feels
certain that after two or three years under her tutelage, her
new lawyers could move on, prepared for bigger and better
things. Also, these new lawyers would benefit from having
their name associated with hers at the beginning of their
careers.
Greta is excited about her idea and thinks that the concept
would be similar to a judicial clerkship. Greta decides to
bounce her ideas off of her old friend and mentor, Judge Jane
Justice. She knows that Judge Justice can quickly help her
identify and address flaws in her plan.
"It is certainly an admirable and intriguing idea,"
said the judge. "How do you plan on addressing the
ethical issues in that type of structure?"
Greta had to admit that in her enthusiasm for the concept,
she really had not considered any ethical concerns.
"Like what?" she asked.
"Well," said the judge, "what about the name?
You can't just call yourself 'Greyhair &
Associates' because you feel like it." Of course she
is right, thought Greta; there are rules about such things.
Choosing a Name
The Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct
("Colo.RPC" or "Colorado Rules") prohibit
the use of a firm name that violates Colo.RPC 7.1.1 Colo.RPC
7.1 begins, "A lawyer shall not make a false or
misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's
services."2 Thus, it would be impermissible for Greta to
open "Greyhair & Associates" unless and until
she actually had "associates."
The term "associates" is reserved for lawyers
employed by a firm who do not share responsibility for the
acts of the firm.3 It should not be used to describe lawyers
who are simply office sharing or lawyers who are, in fact,
partners.4 Such a designation would be misleading and
violative of both Colo.RPC 7.1 and 7.5. Although Greta
intends to open shop with a professional staff, non-lawyer
employees are not associates.5 Moreover, paralegals,
secretaries, non-lawyer clerks, office managers, and other
support personnel are not "associated" with a firm
for purposes of the Colorado Rules.
Judge Justice's question alerted Greta to a host of
issues she needed to consider. The judge's concern about
the firm name led Greta to review other potential ethical
issues that might be implicated in the basic organization of
her practice. Greta realized that she needed to do some
research regarding the roles of her non-lawyer personnel and
the best relationship between herself and her small army of
new lawyers. Such issues include whether the new lawyers
should be associates, contract lawyers, or simply solo
practitioners to whom she leases office space. She also
needed to determine whether there might be conflict of
interest issues, given that the very idea of her new practice
would be to have new attorneys coming and going on a regular
basis.6 Finally, Greta needed to review the ethical
responsibilities that she would have as a supervisory lawyer
over her new office.
Non-lawyer Personnel
Greta knows that it will be tough to attract her support
staff away from ABC. It will be hard work to start up this
venture, not to mention the fact that she will not be able to
match the salary and benefits offered by ABC. Greta needs to
find some "hook" to attract her new staff. After
doing some research, Greta learns that the primary complaint
of ABC's support staff is a lack of respect for their
contributions to the firm. Greta sees this complaint as an
avenue for her to lure some people away from ABC. Greta
thinks that she can recruit support staff if she offers to
give them a higher profile at the new firm. Specifically, for
example, she could include support staff on firm letterhead
and market the firm as providing services through "a
high quality professional staff."
Although non-lawyer support personnel may not be referred to
as "associates," they can still be clearly...
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