RPC 104

Leasing Associates

Opinion rules that associate attorneys may be leased back to their firms.

Editor's Note: This opinion was originally published as RPC 104 (Revised).

Inquiry:

Law Firm X desires to enter into an agreement with an employee leasing company for the lease of its associate attorneys. The employee leasing company, which is owned and managed by nonlawyers, would pay the leased attorneys' salaries from its payroll and would pay all employment and withholding taxes. In addition, fringe benefits, such as insurance and retirement benefits would be provided to the associates by the leasing company. Law Firm X would pay to the leasing company a fee calculated to cover the associates' wages, taxes and benefit costs and to provide a profit to the employee leasing company. The employee leasing company would have no control over the performance or duties of the leased associates. The leasing company would not have access to client files. All provisions pertaining to conflicts of interest would apply. The associate attorneys would be supervised and managed by partners of Law Firm X in the same manner as if the associates were not leased. Is such an arrangement ethical?

Opinion:

Yes, the subject arrangement is a "lease back" of the law firm's own employees having the practical effect of transferring only payroll administration and fringe benefit responsibilities to the leasing company. It is an accounting procedure provided by the employee leasing company to relieve the law firm and its partners from the bookkeeping duties arising out of the compensation of the law firm's own associates. For a fee the leasing company would handle payroll, withholding taxes, social security, health benefits and other financial personnel matters. In some instances the arrangement would provide the law firm's associates increased benefits not available to them without the leasing company. As stated in the inquiry, the employee leasing company would have no control over the leased associates. The attorney employees would remain associates of the law firm. Control over the associates would remain within Law Firm X.

The arrangement proposed by Law Firm X for leasing its associates does not constitute sharing legal fees with nonlawyers as prohibited by Rule 3.2. The fee paid to the employee leasing company for its bookkeeping services is not tied to specific legal fees paid to Law Firm X by a client or to the firm's gross legal fees. There is no direct relationship between the payment to the leasing company and legal fees paid to the firm.

The arrangement is not misleading to the public in violation of Rule 2.1, and does not affect the quality of representation afforded to clients by the firm. The committee does not perceive that the ability of leased associates to exercise independent professional judgment on behalf of Law Firm X's clients as required by Canon V would be adversely impacted by the arrangement. Under the arrangement as proposed, the leasing company has no control over the lawyers' independent judgment, and supervisory responsibility for the associates rests exclusively with Law Firm X. Confidences of Law Firm X's clients are to be maintained and all provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct are to be followed. Essentially, the associates' position with the firm and with its clients remains the same as if the associates were paid directly by the firm.

As a precaution, however, this committee recommends a written lease agreement between the leasing company and the law firm clearly setting forth the scope of the employment relationship and specifically applying the Rules of Professional Conduct to the relationship between the law firm and the leased associates.

This opinion overrules CPR 365.