When does an out of state lawyer
engage in the unauthorized practice of law in Minnesota, under the Minnesota
Rules of Professional Conduct? Earlier this year, the Minnesota Supreme Court
upheld the decision of a Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board panel holding that
an out-of-state lawyer who exchanges email communications with people in Minnesota may engage
in the unauthorized practice of law. How does this decision provide guidance
to Minnesota and non-Minnesota attorneys regarding the limits of multijurisdictional practice? What about the exception in
Rule 5.5(c)(4) allowing the temporary provision of legal assistance when
it is “reasonably related” to the lawyer’s home state practice? Please
join us for a discussion by two professional responsibility experts on the
impact of this important Supreme Court
decision.
This CLE is approved for credit
through February 8, 2019.
Presenters:
Patrick
Burns: Patrick is the Deputy Director of the Minnesota Office of
Lawyers Professional Responsibility where he has worked since 1988. From
1978 to 1988 he was employed, first as a law clerk, then as an attorney in
private practice with Primus Law Office, a small, general practice firm in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Patrick has served as an adjunct professor at both
William Mitchell College of Law and the University of
Minnesota.
William
Wernz: Bill is the author of the online treatise Minnesota Legal
Ethics, hosted by the MSBA. Bill served as Chair of the Board on Judicial
Standards in 2015 and 2016, and has served as a Board member since 2011. Bill
previously practiced law at Dorsey & Whitney where he served as Ethics
Partner. He has taught legal ethics at the University of Minnesota and William
Mitchell College of Law.