signing_contract_moneyIn February 2021, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the highest court in the District of Columbia, issued an opinion of first impression which puts the District of Columbia into the mainstream of other states in the United States concerning Rule 5.6(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

The case is Jacobson Holman PLLC v. Marsha Gentner, 244 A.3d 699 (2021), which we discuss in this column.

The appeal arises out of a dispute over contractual terms in a law firm's operating agreement governing the payout to an equity partner leaving the firm. Marsha Gentner sued Jacobson Holman, PLLC (the "firm") and raised several issues concerning her payout and also asserted that a provision in the operating agreement which forced her to forfeit half her equity interest if she took any clients from the firm violated Rule 5.6(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct and was unenforceable.