NYSBA Opinion 1246: Partnerships With Non-U.S. Lawyers
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) has recently issued Opinion 1246 addressing the issue of lawyer and non-lawyer partnership. Generally, a lawyer cannot form a partnership with a non-lawyer if any of the activities of the partnership consist of the practice of law. This Opinion adds to the somewhat limited scholarship on this issue. NYSBA Opinion 1246 was recently analyzed in the New York Law Journal, “Never Land Revisited: NYSBA Again Addresses Partnerships With Non-Lawyers,” and the article contains additional helpful background on the issue.
New York State Bar Association, Opinion 1246 (11/16/2022)
Topic: Partnership with Non-U.S. Lawyer; partner who is also a member of a firm with non-lawyer ownership or management; whether business management and strategy may be the practice of law; affiliation of law firms; co-naming of law firms; billing for services of another law firm.
Digest: Rule 7.5(d) recognizes a partnership between a lawyer licensed in New York and one admitted in a non-U.S. jurisdiction under certain circumstances. “Administrative duties” in law firm management may involve the practice of law, depending on the circumstances. The sole fact that an English solicitor is a member of a U.K. ABS does not make it unethical for a New York lawyer to partner with that solicitor. “Co-branding” between law firms must avoid misleading the public as to the true relationship between the firms. Where two law firms provide services to the same client, one firm may charge the fees and expenses of the other firm as a disbursement and then pay the other firm what it is owed if the fees and expenses otherwise comply with the Rules.
Rules: 1.5(g), 1.10(a), 5.4(b), 5.4(d), 5.5, 5.5(b), 7.2(a), 7.5(d), 8.5.
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