Can a law firm put a legal assistant's name and certification on its letterhead if it also notes the person is a legal assistant and not licensed to practice law?
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This page answers the general question as of 1986. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current Texas Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The inquiry asked whether a firm may list a legal assistant's name and certification initials on its letterhead, with a notation that the person is a legal assistant and not licensed to practice law. The Committee treated firm letterhead as a communication subject to DR 2-101(A), which bars a lawyer from making any false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services.
The Committee reasoned that, although a legal assistant is not a licensed lawyer, a false or misleading communication about the assistant and the assistant's relationship to the firm would fall within DR 2-101(A). But an accurate and dignified listing of a legal assistant's name and certification, with an indication that the person is a legal assistant and not licensed to practice law, would not normally be false or misleading; it would be truthful information the Code does not prohibit. The opinion compared Opinion 403 (1982), which permitted the accurate and dignified listing of a legal assistant's name on a business card approved by the attorney or firm.
The Committee addressed Opinion 390 (1978), which had held it impermissible to list a legal secretary on a firm's letterhead under a version of DR 2-102 that no longer applied after the extensive revision of DR 2-101 through 2-104 effective September 1, 1982. Finding Opinion 390 inconsistent with the current provisions as interpreted here, the Committee overruled it. It concluded the Code does not prohibit the accurate and dignified letterhead listing described, by a 9-0 vote.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1986, under the former Texas Code of Professional Responsibility, which the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct replaced effective January 1, 1990. The Disciplinary Rules have since been amended, and Texas never adopted the ABA's Ethics 2000 framework. The current Texas rules on misleading communications and supervision of non-lawyer assistants are Rules 7.02 and 5.03, with closest ABA analogs Model Rules 7.1 and 5.3. Subsequent rule changes 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, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Can a legal assistant be listed on a firm's letterhead?
A: Per the opinion, yes, if the listing is accurate and dignified and notes that the person is a legal assistant and not licensed to practice law. The Committee concluded such truthful information is not false or misleading under DR 2-101(A).
Q: What about the assistant's certification initials?
A: The Committee concluded the firm may include the legal assistant's name and any certification, provided the not-licensed designation accompanies it.
Q: Did this opinion change earlier guidance?
A: Yes. It overruled Opinion 390 (1978), which had barred listing a legal secretary on letterhead under a version of DR 2-102 superseded by the 1982 revision of DR 2-101 through 2-104.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interprets DR 2-101(A) of the former Texas Code of Professional Responsibility (no false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services), in the context of DR 2-102 on firm letterhead and designations. The closest current concepts are Texas Rules 7.02 and 5.03 and Model Rules 7.1 and 5.3 on communications and non-lawyer assistants. The analysis turns on whether a truthful, dignified listing with a not-licensed notation could mislead the public.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- MR 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services must not be misleading)
- MR 5.3 (responsibilities regarding non-lawyer assistants)
- DR 2-101(A), DR 2-102, Texas Code of Professional Responsibility
Other opinions cited:
- Texas Professional Ethics Committee Opinion 403 (1982) (legal assistant's name permissible on a business card)
- Texas Professional Ethics Committee Opinion 390 (1978) (overruled)
See also
- TX Ethics Op. 437: Listing a Non-Lawyer Business Administrator on a Firm Sign
- TX Ethics Op. 438: Unsupervised Non-Lawyer CPA Work for Firm Clients
Source
- Landing page: https://www.legalethicstexas.com/resources/opinions/opinion-436/
- Original PDF: https://tcle-web.s3.amazonaws.com/public/documents/Opinion_436.pdf
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
QUESTION PRESENTED
May a law firm include on its letterhead the name of a legal assistant and initials indicating the legal assistant's certification with a notation that the person is a legal assistant and is not licensed to practice law?
DISCUSSION
A law firm's letterhead constitutes a means of communication about the law firm. As such, a law firm's letterhead is subject to the general requirement of Disciplinary Rule ("DR") 2-101(A) of the Texas Code of Professional Responsibility, which provides in pertinent part that "[a] lawyer shall not make, on behalf of himself, his partner, associate, or any other lawyer, any false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services."
Although a legal assistant is not a licensed lawyer, a law firm's false or misleading communication about a legal assistant and the legal assistant's relationship to the law firm would come within the prohibition set forth in DR 2-101(A). However, an accurate and dignified listing of a legal assistant's name and any certification on the letterhead of the law firm employing the legal assistant with an indication that the person is a legal assistant and is not licensed to practice law would not in normal circumstances constitute a communication that was false or misleading about the law firm or the legal services provided by the firm. Rather, such information would be truthful information which is not prohibited by the Texas Code of Professional Responsibility. Compare Committee Opinion 403 (Texas Bar Journal, January 1982) (holding permissible the accurate and dignified listing of a legal assistant's name on an attorney's or law firm's business card approved by the attorney or law firm).
Opinion 390 of this Committee (Texas Bar Journal, April 1978) held that it was not permissible for the name of a legal secretary not licensed to practice law to be listed on a law firm's letterhead, but Opinion 390 was based on a version of DR 2-102 that no longer applies after the extensive revision of DR 2-101 through 2-104 effective September 1, 1982. Since Opinion 390 is not consistent with the requirements of the current provisions of the Texas Code of Professional Responsibility as interpreted in this opinion, Opinion 390 is overruled.
CONCLUSION
The Texas Code of Professional Responsibility does not prohibit the accurate and dignified listing on a law firm's letterhead of the name and any certification of a legal assistant employed by the firm with a further designation that the person is a legal assistant and is not licensed to practice law. Committee Opinion 390 (Texas Bar Journal, April 1978) is overruled. (9-0 vote)
Tex. Comm. On Professional Ethics, Op. 436 (1986)
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