In case anybody cares and gets confused, I have changed the name of my blog to Going Solo | how to start a law firm. The reason? I am not licensed in the State of Minnesota (yet) and I don’t want to make an inference of any kind that I am.
Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct, in pertinent part, provide that:
RULE 5.5: UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW; MULTIJURISDICTIONAL
PRACTICE OF LAW
(a) A lawyer shall not practice law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation
of the legal profession in that jurisdiction, or assist another in doing so, except that a
lawyer admitted to practice in Minnesota does not violate this rule by conduct in
another jurisdiction that is permitted in Minnesota under Rule 5.5 (c) and (d) for
lawyers not admitted to practice in Minnesota.
(b) A lawyer who is not admitted to practice in this jurisdiction shall not:
(1) except as authorized by these rules or other law, establish an office or
other systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction for the practice of
law; or
(2) hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is
admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction
. . .
I read that rule as being black-letter and being pretty clear. A blog is certainly public, and despite any disclaimers or other information in the blog, I could see the blog title being considered as a misrepresentation.
Serving as an example of how to practice law and how to blog in an ethical fashion is very important to me. I felt that the name of the blog could raise an unethical inference that I am licensed in Minnesota. Thus, the change. I am licensed in Indiana and have been running my own small law practice in Indiana, and I will be moving to Minnesota, but that isn’t good enough.
This post is interesting (at least to me) for several reasons: (1) it gives me an ability to discuss ethical blogging and (2) it gives me the opportunity to talk about advising a client when starting a law firm. After discussing this issue with my wife, I made the statement to her that if a client called me and asked for my legal advice on this situation, I would tell that person, without any doubt in my mind, that they were taking an unreasonable risk and, whether or not their situation resulted in an ethics problem, they should not even consider taking that risk. There is simply no need.
I did include a legal disclaimer in my blog that I am not licensed in Minnesota yet, but I doubt many people have read the disclaimer and I am not sure that it would be good enough. Also, in my opinion, if you read the blog, it is pretty clear that I am only licensed in Indiana. But, in my own law practice, I have often told clients that I don’t care how careful they have been – the law is simple and if you take the risk of violating a law, you can be hurt by that risk. So, to be safe, I have decided to change the name.
As any of the readers of this blog know, I am hoping to be licensed in Minnesota by the fall. I am sitting for the July, 2011 bar exam. Assuming I pass the exam and become licensed in Minnesota, this blog will go back to its original name. Until then, I will continue blogging about how to start a law firm under the Going Solo moniker.