When can a Colorado lawyer use the term 'associates' on a letterhead, and when is it misleading?
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This page answers the general question as of 1972. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
Opinion 50 (adopted November 29, 1972; addendum issued 1995) addressed when lawyers may describe themselves as "associates." The Committee worked through illustrative letterheads: two lawyers who share office space and costs but are not partners and do not share liability using "A and B, Associates" (improper); a lawyer giving another free rent in exchange for monthly work while each keeps a separate business using "A and Associates" (improper); actual partners using "A and Associates" with the other partners' names in the margin (improper); a lawyer who employs other lawyers full time who do not share firm responsibility using "A and Associates" (proper); and partners who employ associate lawyers using "A, B, C and Associates" (proper).
The Committee concluded that examples involving mere office-sharers or actual partners violate the Code of Professional Responsibility, while the employer-employee examples are proper. Traditionally, "associates" describes lawyers who are employees of a firm. Under Canon 2, EC 2-11 and EC 2-13, and DR 2-102(B) and (C), a lawyer should not hold out a partnership or association that does not in fact exist, and must not use a firm name that misleads as to the identity of the lawyers practicing under it; it is clearly misleading for persons merely sharing office space to hold themselves out as associates.
Relying on ABA Formal Opinions 310 (1963) and 318 (1967), the Committee explained that "associates" properly describes lawyers employed by a firm or individual practitioner who do not generally share in the firm's responsibility and liability, and that this usage serves as notice to clients that lawyers other than the named principal may perform some of the work, for which the principal remains responsible. The Committee noted that although those ABA opinions predate the Code, a Code footnote confirmed the term "associates" remains proper for the limited purpose of describing employees of a lawyer or firm.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1972 under the former Colorado Code of Professional Responsibility, before the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct took effect on January 1, 1993, and before Colorado's 2008 revisions to those rules. A 1995 addendum directed lawyers to Rule 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services) and Rule 7.5 (firm names and letterheads), and to Opinion 89. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Could two Colorado lawyers who just share an office call themselves "associates"?
A: No. The opinion concluded it is improper and misleading to use "associates" for lawyers who merely share office space and some costs but do not share responsibility or liability for each other's acts.
Q: Could actual partners use "A and Associates"?
A: No. The opinion concluded it is improper to use "associates" to describe lawyers who are in fact partners, because that misrepresents the firm's structure.
Q: When was "associates" the correct term?
A: For employee lawyers. The opinion concluded "associates" properly describes lawyers who are employees of another lawyer or firm and who do not generally share in the firm's responsibility or liability, and that the usage notifies clients that lawyers other than the named principal may do some of the work.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interpreted the then-governing Colorado Code of Professional Responsibility under Canon 2, principally EC 2-11 and EC 2-13 and DR 2-102(B) and (C), which bar misleading firm names and holding out a partnership or association that does not exist. It relied on ABA Formal Opinions 310 and 318 on the meaning of "associates." The 1995 addendum and the modern Model Rules analogs are Rule 7.5 (firm names and letterheads) and Rule 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services).
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Colo. Code of Professional Responsibility DR 2-102(B), (C); EC 2-11, EC 2-13 (governing rules at issuance)
- Colo. RPC 7.5 / Model Rule 7.5 (firm names and letterheads; current analog)
- Colo. RPC 7.1 / Model Rule 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services)
Other opinions cited:
- ABA Formal Op. 310 (1963); ABA Formal Op. 318 (1967): proper use of the term "associates"
See also
- CBA Formal Op. 89: Office Sharing and Virtual Offices
- CBA Formal Op. 55: Professional Corporation as a Law Partner
- ABA Formal Op. 90-357: Use of the "Of Counsel" Designation
Source
- Landing page: https://www.cobar.org/ethicsopinions
- Original PDF: https://www.cobar.org/Portals/COBAR/repository/ethicsOpinions/FormalEthicsOpinion_50_2011.pdf
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