June 20, 2012 – Ethical dilemmas affect every lawyer’s practice. This series of questions and answers appears each month in InsideTrack. The answers, offered by State Bar’s ethics counsel Timothy Pierce, are intended to provide guidance only and are not legal authority. Each situation will depend on the facts and circumstances involved.
Question
I share office space and a secretary with another lawyer. We have a very good relationship and we often refer clients to each other and cover each other’s cases. Since we are so closely associated, can we advertise ourselves as “Smith & Jones” as long as we have a disclaimer that we are not a partnership?
Answer
No. This practice is explicitly prohibited and such a disclaimer is insufficient to render the name non-misleading.
References: SCR 20:7.5; State Bar of Wisconsin Formal Ethics Opinions E-00-2 and E-90-1.
For guidance and help in resolving questions regarding Wisconsin’s Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys, visit the Ethics webpage on WisBar.
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