Opinion ID: 1474458
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Aiding the Unauthorized Practice of Law

Text: No lawyer shall permit his professional services, or his name, to be used in aid of, or to make possible, the unauthorized practice of law by any lay agency, personal or corporate. We find that the attorney violated all three canons. The practice which has been referred to as a one-package system is a system whereby commercial services, including a lawyer's fee, are rendered to a person for a single charge. This throws the practice of law into a commercial atmosphere which is wholly foreign to the concept of a correct practice and which has been soundly condemned. Stack v. P.G. Garage, Inc., 7 N.J. 118, decided May 7, 1951; In the Matter of A.B.C., an attorney and counselor-at-law, 7 N.J. 388, decided June 4, 1951. The offense here is aggravated beyond that in the case captioned as In the Matter of A.B.C. by the instructions given by the attorney to real estate agents and particularly by the publicizing of the one-package system. We have concluded that a penalty must be administered, although, in view of all of the circumstances, it will be relatively light. The attorney will be suspended for the period of one month. This, however, is not to be taken as a measure of future discipline. The bar henceforward will, of course, be upon full notice that the practices here condemned are regarded as highly unprofessional and may be followed by severe penalty.