WISBAR April 6, 2011

Does a lawyer presenting a forms seminar create a lawyer-client relationship, and may law students help attendees fill out the forms?

Short answer: If the lawyer gives only legal information, no lawyer-client relationship forms and students may help complete forms; if legal advice is given, the program must run under SCR Chapter 50 supervision and SCR 20:6.5 limits later conflicts.

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This page answers the general question as of 2011. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.

Disclaimer: Advisory only. Not binding precedent.

About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official ethics opinion. The original opinion (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

View original ethics opinion (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Informal Opinion EI-11-01 addresses a proposed seminar, run under a law school student organization, in which a lawyer would review the state power-of-attorney forms for health care and finances, after which attendees would complete the forms with the help of law students. The committee answered four questions.

On whether the presentation creates a lawyer-client relationship, the committee explained that formation is a question of contract law outside the Rules, but turns on whether the lawyer is providing or offering legal services. Drawing the line between "legal advice" (applying legal knowledge to a specific person's circumstances) and "legal information" (general information about legal processes), the committee concluded that a presenter who gives only general legal information about the purpose and effect of the forms, without addressing specific individuals, does not provide legal services and forms no lawyer-client relationship. The committee noted the Wisconsin Supreme Court's 2010 order (SCR Chapter 23, effective January 1, 2011) defining the practice of law, and found it does not change that conclusion where the presentation is limited to legal information.

On whether the law students would be engaged in unauthorized practice by helping complete the forms, the committee concluded that if students limit themselves to information about what the form requires, they are not practicing law; if they give legal advice, it is permissible only if the program complies with SCR Chapter 50 (student practice under a supervising attorney in an approved program). SCR 50.05(3) imposes professional responsibility on the supervising lawyer, so organizing the program to let students give advice makes the presenter responsible and creates lawyer-client relationships with attendees. The committee also noted SCR 23.02(2)(i), which lets nonlawyers help complete certain fill-in legal documents requiring only common or transaction-specific knowledge, but took no position on whether the seminar's forms fit that exception.

On disclaimers, the committee concluded that a disclaimer can be a useful risk-management tool, but the lawyer's conduct, not the disclaimer language, controls whether a relationship forms; a disclaimer stating no relationship is intended, that the seminar is informational only, and that the lawyer is not supervising the students can be effective if it accurately reflects what the lawyer actually does. On later representation of one attendee against another, the committee concluded the answer is fact-specific: if no advice was given, no conflict arises; if the program provided advice under law school sponsorship with no expectation of continuing representation, SCR 20:6.5 applies, subjecting the lawyer to SCR 20:1.7, 20:1.9(a), and 20:1.10 only where the lawyer actually knows of the conflict, and relieving the lawyer of conflict-checking and imputation.

In practice

The opinion holds that, under the Wisconsin rules as they stood at the time, the ethical posture of a forms seminar turns on the legal-information versus legal-advice line. Under the opinion, a presentation limited to general legal information creates no lawyer-client relationship and keeps law-student helpers out of unauthorized practice, while a program intended to deliver legal advice must satisfy SCR Chapter 50, makes the supervising lawyer responsible for the students under SCR 20:5.3 and SCR 50.05(3), and is governed for conflict purposes by SCR 20:6.5.

Common questions

Q: Does presenting a legal-forms seminar make the attendees the lawyer's clients?

A: Not if the lawyer gives only general legal information. The opinion concludes that a presentation not tailored to specific individuals does not provide legal services, so no lawyer-client relationship forms.

Q: Can law students help attendees fill out the power-of-attorney forms?

A: Yes, if they provide only information about what the form requires. The opinion concludes that giving actual legal advice is permissible only under SCR Chapter 50 student-practice supervision.

Q: Does a signed disclaimer prevent a lawyer-client relationship?

A: Only if it matches the lawyer's conduct. The opinion concludes the lawyer's actions, not the disclaimer language, determine whether a relationship arises, so a disclaimer is effective when the lawyer gives information only and does not supervise the students.

Q: Could the presenter later represent one attendee against another?

A: It depends on the facts. The opinion concludes that if no advice was given there is no conflict, and if the advice program ran under SCR 20:6.5, the lawyer faces a later conflict only if actually aware of it, with no imputation to the firm.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets SCR 20:6.5 / Model Rule 6.5 (nonprofit and court-annexed limited legal services programs) and SCR 20:5.3 / Model Rule 5.3 (responsibilities regarding nonlawyer assistance), against Wisconsin's practice-of-law definition (SCR Chapter 23) and student-practice rule (SCR Chapter 50). It also touches on lawyer-client relationship formation discussed in Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers Section 14 and prior Wisconsin opinions.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

Model Rule 6.5 / SCR 20:6.5 (limited legal services programs; conflicts and imputation)
Model Rule 5.3 / SCR 20:5.3 (supervision of nonlawyer assistants)
Model Rule 1.18 / SCR 20:1.18 (prospective clients); SCR 20:1.7, 20:1.9(a), 20:1.10 referenced via SCR 20:6.5

Other authorities:

SCR Chapter 23 (definition of the practice of law; SCR 23.02(2)(i) fill-in-document exception)
SCR Chapter 50 (student practice; SCR 50.05(3) supervising-lawyer responsibility)
Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers Section 14 (formation of the lawyer-client relationship)

Other opinions cited:

Wisconsin Ethics Opinion E-95-5 and EI-10-01 (formation of the lawyer-client relationship)

Source

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