Formal Opinion No. 48 Partnerships With Non-attorneys [revising Formal Opinion No. 8]
| Publication year | 2021 |
| Pages | 395 |
73 CBJ 395. FORMAL OPINION No. 48 PARTNERSHIPS WITH NON-ATTORNEYS [Revising Formal Opinion No. 8]
A Connecticut attorney contemplates a practice providing a consulting and research service in the areas of taxation and estate and business planning. The services would be provided only to attorneys, and no advice, opinion or suggestion would be given directly to the hiring attorney's client - only to the attorney. There would be no interaction between the attorney who provides the consulting and research services and the lay client who would be the subject of the services. Further, at the request and direction of the hiring attorney, the consultation and research attorney would prepare and finalize documents, forms, and contracts for subsequent adoption by the hiring attorney.
The following questions have been submitted to the Committee regarding the proposed service:
Is it permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct for a Connecticut attorney to enter into a partnership with a non-attorney for the purpose of providing the contemplated services?
If such a partnership is not permitted under the Rules, may an attorney hire as an employee a non-attorney who would assist the attorney in providing the contemplated services?
In regard to either arrangement is it permissible for the attorney to advertise in legal publications and in mailings addressed only to attorneys the existence of the specialized services available?
Rule 5.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct governs the first question, and explicitly precludes such a partnership. Subsections (b) and (d) of that Rule provide that:
(b) A lawyer shall not form a partnership with a nonlawyer if any of the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law . . .
(d) A lawyer shall not practice with or in the form of a professional corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit, if.
(1) A non-lawyer owns any interest therein ...
(2) A non-lawyer is a corporate director or officer thereof; or
(3) A non-lawyer has the right to direct or control the professional judgment of a lawyer.
The Comment to the Rule notes that these "limitations are to protect the lawyer's professional independence of judgment."
There can be little question that the proposed services constitute the practice of law. Our Supreme...
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