Important! November 6th, 2024 Webinar Attendees, please click here to complete our Survey or Verification Request Form.

Click Here

Introducing

Essential Business Skills for Busy Lawyers

Four-Part Free CLE Webinar Series

Featuring

Each Webinar Awards 1.00 Regular Credit

How Much Advance Notice Should a Lawyer Give Before Leaving a Firm?

Last update

at

by:

by:

Share

The ethics of law firm departures.

When a lawyer makes a decision to leave a law firm, what ethical duties are required of both the firm and the departing lawyer?

ABA Formal Opinion 489 offers excellent guidance on that point.

The question is critical because lateral movement of lawyers from one firm to another has reached a “fever pitch,” according to the ABA. The pandemic only accelerated that trend.

The opinion confirms that a lawyer has a right to switch firms. In fact, the ethics rules prohibit non-competition clauses in partnership, member, shareholder or employment agreements. When a lawyer gives notice, the opinion says, the lawyer and the firm have an ethical duty to develop a plan that is orderly, flexible and protects client interests during the lawyer’s transition.”

“Firms may require some period of advance notice of an intended departure,” the opinion says. “The period of time should be the minimum necessary, under the circumstances, for clients to make decisions about who will represent them. … Firm notification requirements, however, cannot be so rigid that they restrict or interfere with a client’s choice of counsel or the client’s choice of when to transition a matter.”

Key provisions of ABA Formal Opinion 489 appear below.

As a benefit of a Lawyers Professional Liability Insurance policy underwritten by Alta Professional Insurance Services, policyholders are automatically enrolled in the Alta Pro Lawyers Risk Purchasing Goup (Alta Pro RPG). They have access to our exclusive policyholder-only services. The Alta Pro RPG website is intended to be a resource for independent agents, insured attorneys, insured paralegals/staff, and the general public.

Formal Opinion 489: Obligations Related to Notice When Lawyers Change Firms

  • Lawyers have the right to leave a firm and practice at another firm.
  • Likewise, clients have the right to switch lawyers or law firms, subject to approval of a tribunal, when applicable (and conflicts of interest).
  • The ethics rules do not allow non-competition clauses in partnership, member, shareholder, or employment agreements.
  • Lawyers and law firm management have ethical obligations to assure the orderly transition of client matters when lawyers notify a firm they intend to move to a new firm.
  • Firms may require some period of advance notice of an intended departure. The period of time should be the minimum necessary, under the circumstances, for clients to make decisions about who will represent them, assemble files, adjust staffing at the firm if the firm is to continue as counsel on matters previously handled by the departing attorney, and secure firm property in the departing lawyer’s possession.
  • Firm notification requirements, however, cannot be so rigid that they restrict or interfere with a client’s choice of counsel or the client’s choice of when to transition a matter.
  • Firms also cannot restrict a lawyer’s ability to represent a client competently during such notification periods by restricting the lawyer’s access to firm resources necessary to represent the clients during the notification period. The departing lawyer may be required, pre- or post-departure, to assist the firm in assembling files, transitioning matters that remain with the firm, or in the billings of pre-departure matters.

Read ABA Formal Opinion 489 here.

Read an ABA press release here.

Alta Professional Insurance Services Agency, LLC, (Alta Pro) provides innovative, intelligent, professional insurance underwriting, claims, risk management, product development, and sales and marketing services to our clients using state of the art information technology. Alta Pro adheres to the highest standards of ethics and integrity to achieve superior results for our clients. Led by experienced program administrators who know their clients’ insureds and the carriers’ appetites, Alta Pro continues to expand our program offerings across the U.S. 

Share

Related Posts on Altaprorpg.com!

Alta Pro Logo Icon

About the Editorial Staff

In an age of consolidation where increasingly impersonal transactions have made customer service an oxymoron, we bring together independent agents, insurance companies, and other industry specific service providers to develop and deliver insurance products and risk management solutions that benefit our insurance customers.

December 11, 2024 1:00 pm EST
1.0 Ethics Credit

Join Our Newsletter

Occasional newsletters and CLE invites

Upcoming CLE Webinar: Inside the Lawyers Brain

December 11, 2024 1:00 pm EST
CLE Credit: 1.0 Ethics

Colleen L. Byers

Colleen Byers Mediation, LLC

Archives

Latest Videos

1 Hour

Creating an Attorney Compensation Plan That Will Build Firm Culture and Attract Top Talent

1 Hour

Cybersecurity for Attorneys: Employing Competent and Reasonable Safeguards

1 Hour

Blazing Trails:  The Future of Cannabis in a Changing Legal Landscape

Need Help?

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. 

Or email us directly at info@altaprorpg.com

Or submit your issue in the comment form below and we will respond as soon as possible.