A, B, and C
Attorneys at Law
Washington, D.C.
Are Pleased to Announce that
John Doe
Has Joined the Firm as a Resident Partner in
________ Colorado, with Richard Roe
They will conduct their Practice as
Doe and Roe
| Date |
Address |
Phone Number |
Opinion
Canon 33 reads as follows:
Partnerships among lawyers for the practice of their profession are very common and are not to be condemned. In the formation of partnerships and the use of partnership names care should be taken not to violate any law, custom, or rule of court locally applicable. Where partnerships are formed between lawyers who are not all admitted to practice in the courts of the state, care should be taken to avoid any misleading name or representation which would create a false impression as to the professional position or privileges of the member not locally admitted. In the formation of partnerships for the practice of law, no person should be admitted or held out as a practitioner or member who is not a member of the legal profession duly authorized to practice, and amendable to professional discipline. In the selection and use of a firm name, no false, misleading, assumed or trade name should be used. The continued use of the name of a deceased or former partner, when permissible by local custom, is not unethical, but care should be taken that no imposition or deception is practiced through this use. When a member of the firm, on becoming a judge, is precluded from practicing law, his name should not be continued in the firm name.
Partnerships between lawyers and members of other professions or nonprofessional persons should not be formed or permitted where any part of the partnership's employment consists of the practice of law.
ABA Opinion 256 indicates such a card is proper, but the card should state which of the lawyers are licensed to practice in Washington, D.C., only, and which are licensed in Colorado only.
Also, Canon 33 requires that, where lawyers hold themselves out as partners, a genuine partnership must exist, not merely an association as to particular cases. See ABA Opinion 277. It is assumed that the lawyers referred to in the above card are true partners.
