050919 NYEO, ETH 1167

Case DateMay 09, 2019
CourtNew York
ETH 1167
Ethics Opinion 1167
New York Ethics Opinion
New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics
May 9, 2019
         Topic: Law Firm Name: Use of Multiple Surnames          Digest: A lawyer who practices under the lawyer’s full surname name may use a law firm name that omits a first name and includes only the lawyer’s middle name and last name.          Rules: Rule 7.5(b)          FACTS          1. The inquirer, a New York sole practitioner whose full legal name we will call “Charlotte Moretti Jones,” is forming a new law firm and wants to know whether the firm may be called “Moretti Jones, PC.” The inquirer recently changed the inquirer’s surname to include the name of a spouse. Nevertheless, the inquirer’s concern is that, because the inquirer’s middle name sounds like a surname, the public may mistakenly conclude that Moretti and Jones are two different lawyers.          QUESTION          2. May a lawyer practice under a law firm name that includes only the lawyer’s surname includes a name that is a common last name?           OPINION          3. Rule 7.5(b) of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (the “Rules”) provides, with certain narrow exceptions, that a “lawyer in private practice shall not practice under a trade name, a name that is misleading as to the identity of the lawyer or lawyers practicing under such name, or a firm name containing names other than those of one or more of the lawyers in the firm. “ As we have often remarked, the purpose of this rule is to protect the public from being deceived about the identity or status of those who use the firm name. See, e.g., N.Y. State 1003 (2014).          4. In N.Y. State 740 (2001), the Committee opined that “[u]sing a name that is not the legal name of one or more partners or former partners in the law firm constitutes [the] use of a trade name” within the meaning of Rule 7.5(b). Applying this interpretation of the rule to the inquiry at issue, the Committee concluded that a lawyer could not insert the letter A before the firm name to insure favorable placement in the Yellow Pages. ...

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