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The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility this month released ethical guidance for office-sharing among lawyers who practice independently.
Formal Opinion 507 notes that while office-sharing is allowed under the model rules, attorneys should keep in mind that such arrangements require “appropriate measures to comply with their ethical duties concerning the confidentiality of information, conflicts of interest, supervision of nonlawyers and communications about their services.”
Confidentiality is highlighted in the opinion, which notes that protecting client information is important.
The opinion says that attorneys who share a space but do not practice together as a law firm must take appropriate steps to clearly communicate the nature of their relationship to the public and to their clients. It cites Model Rule 7.1, which prohibits any “false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services” — meaning attorneys in an office-sharing situation cannot imply or hold themselves out as practicing together in one firm when they are not.
The opinion goes on to state that having an office-sharing arrangement does not bar two attorneys from representing different clients with adverse interests in a court proceeding or a transaction.
“… (T)his determination will ultimately turn on specifics of the office-sharing arrangement and the nature of the proposed representations,” the opinion states.
It also adds that disclosure of the arrangement and communicating efforts to maintain confidentiality should be provided in writing.
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