Can a Mississippi lawyer volunteer to give free limited legal counseling through a Chamber of Commerce program that charges members a registration fee?

Plain-English summary

The Committee addressed a local Chamber of Commerce that wanted to set up a counseling service for current and prospective business owners. Volunteer counselors, including bankers, accountants, lawyers, and other professionals, would each give a business owner up to one free hour of advice in areas such as business planning, finance, law, taxation, and leasing. The Chamber would keep information on each counselor, help arrange conferences, keep inquiries confidential, and charge a one-time registration fee of roughly $10 to $20 to cover administrative costs.

The opinion concluded there is no general prohibition against an attorney participating in such a service, so long as the payment received by the Chamber is for administrative costs only, in order to avoid assisting a non-lawyer in receiving a fee for legal services. The opinion grounded that limit in Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 5.4.

The opinion added that an attorney should treat persons to whom he gives advice through the service as clients for purposes of determining his ethical responsibilities toward them under the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct.

In practice

The opinion holds that a lawyer may volunteer for a Chamber-sponsored counseling program of this kind. Per the opinion, the analysis turns on whether the Chamber's charge is limited to administrative costs; if the charge functioned as a fee for legal services, it would run into Rule 5.4's bar on a non-lawyer receiving a fee for legal work. The opinion also directs the lawyer to treat the people he advises through the service as clients for purposes of his ethical duties.

Common questions

Q: Can a lawyer give free legal advice through a Chamber of Commerce program?

A: The opinion concluded yes, there is no general prohibition, provided the Chamber's charge to participants covers administrative costs only.

Q: Does the registration fee charged by the Chamber create a problem?

A: Per the opinion, a registration fee is acceptable as long as it covers administrative costs only; it may not amount to a non-lawyer receiving a fee for legal services, which Rule 5.4 prohibits.

Q: Does the lawyer owe ethical duties to people he advises through the service?

A: The opinion concluded yes. It directs the lawyer to treat those he counsels through the service as clients for purposes of determining his ethical responsibilities under the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 5.4 (cf. Model Rule 5.4), which addresses a lawyer's professional independence and the sharing of legal fees with non-lawyers. The opinion read Rule 5.4 to permit participation in the Chamber program as long as the Chamber's charge does not operate as a fee for legal services flowing to a non-lawyer organization.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct (Mississippi; cf. Model Rules):

• MRPC 5.4 (professional independence; fee sharing with non-lawyers) (cf. Model Rule 5.4).

See also

• MS Bar Ethics Op. 190: Recommending a Lay Medical-Review Company on Contingency
• MS Bar Ethics Op. 264: Lead Generator Using Another Lawyer's Name

Source

• Landing page: https://www.msbar.org/ethics-discipline/ethics-opinions/formal-opinions/176/
• Original PDF: https://www.msbar.org/media/1051/et_op_176-amended.pdf

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

ETHICS OPINION NO. 176

OF THE MISSISSIPPI BAR

RENDERED September 07, 1990

AMENDED April 06, 2013

PUBLIC SERVICE: An attorney may participate in a counseling service sponsored by a Chamber of Commerce in which business owners receive free legal counseling on a limited basis.

The Ethics Committee of the Mississippi Bar has been asked to render an opinion on the following facts:

In order to expand its services to the local community, the Business Resource Committee of a local Chamber of Commerce is considering the establishment of a program to provide individual counseling assistance to local businesses.

The program will be conducted through a counseling service similar to counseling services provided by other chambers of commerce across the country.

Although the counseling service is still in the development stage, the service would provide free counseling to current business owners and to potential business owners in the areas of business planning, finance, law, taxation, leasing, etc. The counselors, all volunteers, will include bankers, accountants, lawyers, other business owners and professionals. It is anticipated that business owners will be limited to no more than one free hour with each individual counselor.

The Chamber will maintain a portfolio of information in its office on each counselor. A staff member of the Chamber will be available to assist the business owner in arranging a conference with a counselor chosen by the business owner. All inquiries will remain confidential and there will be no requirement that the business owner disclose the nature of the matter to anyone other than the counselor.

In order to cover the cost of administering the service, it is anticipated that the Chamber will charge a one-time registration fee of between $10.00 to $20.00. The business owner will be permitted to meet with as many counselors as are necessary to resolve the matter.

There is no general prohibition against an attorney participating in a counseling service such as the one described above, so long as the payment received by the Chamber is for administrative costs only in order to avoid assisting a non-lawyer with receiving a fee for legal service. See Rule 5.4 of the Mississippi Rules of Professional conduct. An attorney should treat persons to whom he gives advice through the service as clients for purposes of determining his ethical responsibilities toward them under the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct.