New York Bar Recognizes that Virtual Lawyers May Be More Accessible to Clients

Slowly but surely, these times they are a changing. In Ethics Opinion 1025, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) clarified that its advertising rules – which require lawyers to list a physical address on letterhead and business cards – does not “independent mandate for attorneys who advertise to maintain a physical office address.” What’s noteworthy about the opinion, however, is that it recognizes that a physical office is not necessarily presumptively more safe, secure or accountable from the perspective of the client. From the opinion:

First, a prospective client’s intelligent selection of a lawyer can be facilitated not merely by physical presence but also by the potential value (due to lower overhead) of having a lawyer who works solely through a virtual law office (where that can be done competently, as we address below). Second, some clients who work only virtually might also prefer, for some kinds of work, the lawyer who operates virtually as well.  Third, the robustness of electronic communications, and the appointment of a virtual law office service as an agent for accepting service of process, effectively combine to eliminate any concern that a physical office is necessary in all cases for the receipt of service and other communications.  Indeed, as N.Y. City 2014-2 points out, the more electronically-connected lawyer may be “at least as accessible as a lawyer who rents a dedicated physical office space.” We note that physical offices almost always are open only on a limited schedule. Finally, there is nothing inherently misleading about advertising a virtual law office.  All such advertising must be truthful and not misleading, and the inquirer here intends to disclose that all services are conducted virtually and not via a physical office.

At the same time, the Opinion makes clear that “there are no virtual office exceptions” to a lawyers’ ethical responsibilities. Thus, lawyers operating a virtual office must disclose that they don’t have a physical office and must ensure that the services they provide are competently delivered.