A bad combination. Bruce Bower of the Texas Legal Services Center spoke in favor of allowing nonlawyers to perform certain legal services for indigent persons. The UPL Task Force accepted written public comment on its proposals until Aug. 15 and will issue a report on its final recommendations in October. If the task force recommends that the State Bar move forward with the proposed legislation, it would have to be approved by the Board of Directors and added to the Bar's legislative package for the upcoming session. The practice of attorneys accepting stock in lieu of cash fees as payment for legal services performed has become increasingly common during the past year, largely due to the booming high-tech economy.
Many attorneys also accept stock as an investment opportunity in connection with providing services.
The formal opinion, issued by the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Conduct, covers the traditional factors relevant to determining whether a fee is reasonable. These include the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, the skill required to perform the services properly, the likelihood that the lawyer will forfeit other employment in order to perform the services required, and customary fees for similar services in the locality. These traditional factors remain important in a stock for legal services transaction, but the committee notes it will also often be necessary to look at the market value of the stock at the time of the transaction. Because the future success of a client's venture is unknown, it may prosper or fail and potentially cause the lawyer's fee to appear either unreasonably high or worthless. In cases where stock value is not reasonably ascertainable, the committee suggests that a lawyer accept a percentage share of the stock issued or to be issued.