Considering an Office Sharing Arrangement?

• Citation: Vol. 47 No. 1 Pg. 20
• Publication year: 2024
• Pages: 20

Considering an Office Sharing Arrangement? Some Potential Pitfalls to Keep in Mind Vol. 47 No. 1 Pg. 20 Wyoming Bar Journal February 2024

By Mark Bassingthwaighte

Someone recently shared a comment on a blog that talked about how malpractice insurance companies and those who write our rules of professional conduct are behind the times. Apparently those of us who run in the ethics or insurance circles just don't understand how lawyers practice in today's world. Let's just say that I respectfully disagree and the following explains one of the many reasons why.

Years ago, I visited a small law firm that was part of an office share arrangement located in Chicago's Loop. Of course I understood that the cost of maintaining an office in the Loop would be prohibitively expensive for the typical solo or small firm so this was no surprise. What did take me off guard was the reception area. As soon as I walked in, the first thing that I saw was a large reception desk staffed by six to eight receptionists. I quickly realized that far more than two or three distinct firms were operating out of this common space which made me think that this was going to be a longer day than I had planned. Why? Well, while I do appreciate the benefits that can come with office share arrangements, there are ethical, malpractice, and insurance coverage concerns that can easily arise in the context of an office share situation. Due to the amount of client traffic in that reception area, I suspected little thought had been given to any of those concerns by anyone in this group.

In order to set the stage, let's talk about my response to walking into that space. From the outset, I viewed the arrangement as misleading and thus a possible ethics violation in and of itself because there were no clear signs informing the public that the space housed a number of independent firms. Making matters worse, anyone entering simply...