ETHICS OPINION 322-1934

NUMBER 322 1934

Question. Is it professionally proper for a firm of lawyers, who have large experience in trade association work, to form a corporation which will solicit retainers to organize and manage trade associations? The corporation may have offices in the same suite with the attorneys. No solicitation would be done by using the names of the attorneys in any way, and no solicitation would be made for legal work, as any such association would restrict itself to correcting commercial abuses in industry, along the lines of the New Farm Act and the New Industries Recovery Act. Would it make any difference if the attorneys were or were not stockholders, officers, or directors of the corporation?

Answer. In the opinion of the Committee, the proposed plan is obviously an attempt by lawyers, through an intermediary organized by them, to procure, by such indirection, professional employment. Accordingly, the course is not approved by this Committee. And it would make no difference whether the attorneys were or were not stockholders, officers, or directors.