Never-Never Land Revisited: NYSBA Again Addresses Partnerships With Non-Lawyers
Opinion 1246 is important because, without withdrawing any of the earlier opinions that limit the ability of New York lawyers to become partners of non-lawyers, even overseas, except in narrow circumstances where the New York lawyer practices outside New York, the new opinion cautiously opens the door to some such arrangements.
January 20, 2023 at 10:00 AM
7 minute read
Readers of this column with long memories may recall an earlier article titled Legal Ethics 'Through the Looking Glass', NYLJ (Sept. 15, 2015). There, following an even earlier article, Lawyer Regulation: Walking Backwards Into the Future, The Legal Services Act in 2007, NYLJ (May 5, 2014), p. 3), we discussed the series of ethics opinions that established the unflinchingly negative attitude of the New York State Bar Association to the changes in the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales intended to permit greater competition in the delivery and improvement of the public's access to legal services. The centerpiece of those reforms was the new freedom for lawyers to share fees and enter into partnership with non-lawyers. We dredge up this ancient (but continuing) history because the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics has returned to this scene with yet another Opinion. The new opinion (N.Y. Eth Op. 1246) (which also addresses several issues not covered in this article), is titled 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. Opinion 1246 is important because, without withdrawing any of the earlier opinions that limit the ability of New York lawyers to become partners of non-lawyers, even overseas, except in narrow circumstances where the New York lawyer practices outside New York, the new opinion cautiously opens the door to some such arrangements.
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