Court Opinion

ID: 9540470
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:16:26.195734+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:52.030001
License: Public Domain

NAJAM, Judge,
concurring.
I fully concur with the majority but write separately to point out potential issues in cases of this kind arising from the multijurisdictional practice of law.
In August of this year, the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice adopted amended guidelines to Rule 5.5 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct to address multijurisdictional practice. Those new guidelines state, in part, as follows:
[A] lawyer who is admitted in a United States jurisdiction, and not disbarred or suspended from practice in any jurisdiction, may practice law on a temporary basis in another jurisdiction. These would include:
I. Work on a temporary basis in association with a lawyer admitted to practice law in the jurisdiction, who actively participates in the representation;
II. Services ancillary to pending or prospective litigation or administrative agency proceedings in a state where the lawyer is admitted or expects to be admitted pro hac vice or is otherwise authorized to appear.
III. Representation of clients in, or ancillary to, an alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) setting, such as arbitration or mediation; and
TV. Non-litigation work that arises out of or is reasonably related to the lawyer’s practice in a jurisdiction in which the lawyer is admitted to practice.5
Report Of The Aba’s Commission On Multi-jurisdictional Practice (adopted August 12, 2002).
The California Supreme Court recently held that a New York law firm, which *549represented a New York company and its California affiliate, violated California’s statute prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law when it represented the California affiliate in a contract dispute that was scheduled for arbitration but ultimately settled before the hearing date. See Birbrower v. Superior Court, 17 Cal.4th 119, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 304, 949 P.2d 1, 5-10 (1998). That court defined the practice of law in California as that which “entails sufficient contact with [a] California client to render the nature of the legal service a clear legal representation.” Birbrower, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 304, 949 P.2d at 5.
At first blush, Richards & O’Neil’s and Wittlin’s actions seem to raise the specter of the unauthorized practice of law in Indiana. After all, attorneys from the firm assisted Cullman in the purchase of Day Dream, an Indiana corporation. And in doing so, attorneys spent two days in Indiana reviewing documents and communicated regularly throughout the process with Day Dream’s shareholders. In addition, Richards & O’Neil attorneys drafted an “opinion letter” for Day Dream shareholders regarding various aspects of the proposed purchase. And after disputes arose surrounding the subsequent purchase, Richards & O’Neil appeared pro hac vice in Indiana courts to defend a lawsuit by Day Dream and, on another occasion, came to Indiana to interview witnesses and reviewed documents in connection with a pending New York arbitration.
These contacts with Indiana do not amount to the unauthorized practice of law. First, Richards & O’Neil represented Cullman, a New York corporation, not Day Dream. Secondly, the “opinion letter,” which was sent to Day Dream’s New York based attorneys and not Conk, contained a clear disclaimer, which stated in part that Richards & O’Neil:
... do not purport to be experts in, or to express any opinion herein concerning the laws, statutes, rules or regulations of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York of the United States of America. We do not opine on, and we assume no responsibility as to, the applicability to, or the effect on, any of the matters covered herein of, the laws of any other jurisdiction.
Appellants’ App. at 43. Further, the firm’s attorneys obtained pro hac vice status for their court appearances. And the amendments to the model rules allow attorneys to perform non-litigation work that arises out of the representation of a client in another jurisdiction and to perform work in another jurisdiction that is ancillary to a pending ADR proceeding. Thus, while attorneys for Richards & O’Neil performed several actions in Indiana, none of them individually or taken together amount to sufficient contact with an Indiana client to constitute the unauthorized practice of law.
But these facts illustrate the dual hazards when an attorney appears to practice law in a foreign jurisdiction, namely, both the risk of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and the concurrent risk of generating sufficient minimum contacts with a foreign state to submit the attorney or law firm to personal jurisdiction within that state. In the information age, geographic boundaries are dissipating and the nature of legal practice is changing. Attorneys, who are licensed to practice on a state-by-state basis, now draft and circulate documents as e-mail attachments across traditional jurisdictions. In such cases, an attorney’s potential liability for unauthorized practice or other claims will depend upon a determination of where and to whom the legal services were rendered. In our new world of e-commerce, acts by nonresidents “having an effect in this state” are subject to evolving notions of *550minimum contacts, due process, and long-arm jurisdiction.6

. The Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 5.5 states:
A lawyer shall not:
(a) practice law in a jurisdiction where doing so violates the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction; or
(b) assist a person who is not a member of the bar in the performance of activity that constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.
The Indiana State Bar Association’s Committee on Multijurisdictional Practice is in the process of evaluating tire ABA’s adopted guidelines on multijurisdictional practice. To date, the Committee ’has not issued a formal proposal or recommendation regarding a possible amendment to Rule 5.5.

. Indiana long-arm jurisdiction has been expanded to the full extent of the law. Effective January 1, 2003, Indiana Trial Rule 4.4(A) is amended following the acts enumerated in subparagraphs (1) through (8) to include: "In addition, a court of this state may exercise jurisdiction on any basis not inconsistent with the Constitutions of this state or the United States.”