Committee on Professional Ethics
Topic: Attorney Advertisement; Solicitation of Clients; Profit Sharing
Digest of the Committee:
A lawyer or law firm may have a non-lawyer marketer who engages in only that advertising and solicitation in which the lawyer or law firm could engage. The lawyer or law firm may have a profit-sharing plan that pays bonus compensation to the non-lawyer marketer based on overall profits of the firm or on a percentage of the employee’s base salary. However, the bonus compensation may not be based on referrals of particular matters and may not be based on the profitability of the firm or the department for which the employee markets if such profits are substantially related to the employee’s marketing efforts.
Rules: New York Rules of Professional Conduct 1.0(a), 5.3(b), 5.4(a), 5.4(a)(3), 7.1, 7.2, 7.3(a)(1), 7.3(b), 8.4(a), 8.4(a(3)
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