Ethics Hotline & Opinions

ETHICS DOCKET NO. 1988-45

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MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, INC.

COMMITTEE ON ETHICS

ETHICS DOCKET NO. 1988-45

Attorneys: Attorney as Partner in More Than One Law Firm

Your inquiries revolve around the potential composition of a law firm. You inquire as to whether a law partnership can be a partner in another partnership. You also set forth a hypothetical situation as follows:

A Maryland law partnership is composed of Partner A, a Virginia licensed attorney; Partner B, a Maryland licensed attorney; Partner C, a Maryland professional association; Partner D, a Maryland law partnership. The second tier Maryland law partnership will be composed of individuals who may or may not be partners in the first tier partnership.

In addition, you pose the question as to whether a Maryland attorney may be a member of more than one law firm and set forth the following hypothetical situation:

John Doe, a Maryland attorney, is a stockholder in Doe, Jones & Smith, P.C., and John Doe is a partner in Doe, Franklin & Andrews, a partnership including professional corporations.

It is the opinion of the Committee that your various inquiries and hypotheticals do not on their face indicate conduct that would be unethical under the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct. The Committee would, however, caution you that although there are no ethical barriers to having the types of partnership and corporate structures that you set forth, that such structures do raise many potential ethical problems. Rule 1.7, Conflict of Interests: General Rule; Rule 1.8, Conflict of Interests: Prohibited Transactions; Rule 1.9 Conflict of Interests: Former Client; Rule 1.10: Imputed Disqualification: General Rule; Rule 5.1 Responsibilities of a Partner or Supervisory Lawyer; Rule 5.2 Responsibilities of a Subordinate Lawyer; Rule 5.3 Responsibilities Regarding Non-lawyer Assistants; and Rule 5.4 Professional Independence of a Lawyer, are all Rules, compliance with which will be complicated by the business structures you have hypothesized. The Committee would therefore caution you to carefully evaluate your situation with the understanding that although the structure may be ethical on the face, it is fraught with many potential ethical problems.

Lastly, Ethics Docket 77-64 was rendered by this Committee under the old Canons of Ethics and addresses the propriety of practicing in two or more firms.

 

References: Ethics Docket 1977-64


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