A Texas law firm which employs non-lawyers to perform, among others, “marketing, advertising, IT services, and search-engine optimization” asked whether these non-lawyers could be given the job title “chief executive officer” and “chief technology officer” and be identifed as “principals”. The law firm also asked whether it could pay them “specified bonuses if the firm achieves a designated amount of revenue or profit”.
The Committe opined that the above was not ethical: the described bonuses would be unethical under Rule 5.04(a), Rule 5.04(d)(2), and Rule 5.04(d)(3), while the planned job titles would violate Rule 7.02(a) (misleading communications) and Rule 8.04(a)(3) (misrepresentation).
Conclusion:
“Under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, a Texas law firm, may not use “officer” or “principal” in the job titles for non-lawyer employees of the firm. The Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct also prohibit a Texas law firm from paying or agreeing to pay specified bonuses to non-lawyer employees contingent upon the firm’s achieving a specified level of revenue or profit. A Texas law firm may, however, consider its revenue, expenses, and profit in determining whether to pay bonuses to non-lawyer employees and the amount of such bonuses. “
Full opinion at http://legalethicstexas….
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