88-7.

• Court: Kansas

Kansas Ethics Opinion 1988. 88-7. 1988KBA Legal Ethics Opinion No. 88-7FACTUAL BACKGROUND Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (KEC) is a not-for-profit statewide service organization for 37 of the rural electric cooperatives located in Kansas. KEC provides a variety of services to its members including extensive legislative research and coordinated legislative action programs on the state and national level, member relations, youth programs, public relations and advertising, printing and publications, consumer communications and information dissemination, development and coordination of training and safety programs for rural electric cooperative employees and directors, coordinated programs on wise use of electricity and load management programs, meter testing and safety devices, inspections, coordination with regulatory agencies, policies and procedures, and retail rate case assistance, to name a few. KEC maintains an office staff in Topeka to carry our those services, which staff includes an attorney, Michael W. Peters, who was admitted to the Bar on April 14, 1988. The rural electric cooperatives are confronted with a host of legal issues ranging from environmental protection problems and hazardous waste disposal issues to wage and hour regulations. The staff attorney at KEC is responsible for, among other things, monitoring changes in the law which may affect the rural electric cooperatives in Kansas. KEC would like any member cooperative utilizing the staff attorney for a specialized project to reimburse KEC for the time and expenses incurred by the attorney in working on the particular project. ISSUES PRESENTED 1. Does an arrangement whereby KEC bills its member system for legal services performed by the KEC staff attorney on behalf of the member system violate Canon III relating to the unauthorized practice of law, or D.R. 3-102, dividing legal fees with a non-lawyer? 2. Does an arrangement whereby KEC bills its member system for legal services performed by the KEC staff attorney on behalf of the member system violate any provisions of the rules relating to discipline of attorneys? LEGAL ANALYSIS The committee concludes that the situation described is violative of Rule 5.5(b) {formerly D.R. 3-101(a)}, assisting a nonmember of the bar in the performance of activity that constitutes the unauthorized practice of law or, perhaps...