Lawyer or Criminal? Arb Ruling Raises Issue

Here’s an excerpt from Informal Opinion #2002-02, recently issued by the Connecticut Bar Association’s Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee:

Representation Before AAA Arbitration Panel

We are requested to opine on the propriety of a lawyer representing a corporation pursuing two claims against the State of Connecticut in an arbitration in Connecticut administered by the American Arbitration Association . . . The lawyer is admitted in New York but not in Connecticut. The lawyer does not appear with local counsel . . . Does the lawyer’s conduct . . . constitute the unauthorized practice of law?

. . . [C]ourts in other states have held that a lawyer not admitted in the jurisdiction may not represent persons before arbitrators within the state . . .

. . . [I]n our opinion the New York lawyer is practicing law in Connecticut.”

Here are a few of the letters I’d write if I were a more diligent correspondent:

To: William K. Slate II
President and Chief Executive Officer
American Arbitration Association

Dear Bill:

You should know that, in Connecticut, the unauthorized practice of law is punishable by a $250 fine and imprisonment of up to two months. Not only that, but a person who aids and abets the commission of an offense “may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender.” I wonder how many of the 218,000 cases the AAA administered last year involved Connecticut arbitrations where your organization knew that at least one party was represented by out-of-state counsel?

Be careful, Bill.

Rob Harris

. . .

Dear Former Adversary:

How’s everything in Boston? Remember that AAA arbitration we had in Hartford a few years ago? You sure cleaned my clock. As you can see from my enclosed letter to Bill Slate, I’m happy for you that the criminal statute of limitations has expired. By the way, did your client ever pay you? If he did, congratulations, you dodged a bullet. Our Appellate Court has held that a client need not pay an out-of-state attorney who was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Connecticut.

Guess I won’t be seeing you any time soon.

Rob Harris