TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jul 12, 2023

The American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has released a formal opinion that provides guidance to lawyers on how they might share an office and staff resources with an unaffiliated attorney. Formal Opinion 507 notes that while office-sharing is permissible under the model rules, attorneys should appreciate that such arrangements require “appropriate measures to comply with their ethical duties concerning the confidentiality of information, conflicts of interest, supervision of nonlawyers and communications about their services.” The opinion also directs lawyers in these arrangements to clearly communicate the nature of their relationship with other lawyers in the shared space to the public and their clients.