Supreme Court offers guidance

Have you ever wanted to hire your suspended lawyer buddy?  What if your best friend from law school gets suspended and is desperate for work?  What if she is a great title abstractor? Now you can, under limited circumstances, hire her, and if you’re careful, you’ll keep your own license safe.

In February of 2015, the South Carolina Supreme Court softened its long-standing rule barring lawyers from employing disbarred or suspended lawyers, directly or indirectly, in any capacity. Under the former version of Rule 34* a lawyer without a current license could not be employed as a paralegal, investigator or in any capacity connected with a law practice.

Rule 34 was amended in 2015 to allow the employment of a lawyer suspended from practice for less than nine months under limited circumstances. The new version of Rule 34 allows these suspended lawyers to engage in:

• Clerical legal research and writing, including document drafting, library or online database research, and searching titles, including obtaining information in the recording office; and
• non law-related office tasks, including but not limited to, building and grounds maintenance, personal errands for employees, computer and network maintenance, and marketing or design support.

These suspended lawyers who are employed by a lawyer or law firm are forbidden from:

• Practicing law in any form;
• Having contact or interaction with clients, former clients or potential clients;
• Soliciting prospective clients;
• Handling client funds or trust accounting;
• Holding himself or herself out as a lawyer; or
• Continuing employment with the lawyer, law firm, or any other entity where the misconduct resulting in the suspension occurred.

The suspended lawyer must be supervised by a lawyer in good standing, and the two must submit a written plan to the Commission on Lawyer Conduct to outline the scope of the employment, anticipated assignments and procedures in place to insure no further misconduct.

After the amendment of Rule 34, the South Carolina Bar filed a petition with the Supreme Court to amend Rule 5.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, to detail the responsibilities of a supervising lawyer who elects to employ a suspended lawyer. By its order dated May 17, 2017, the Court adopted the Bar’s proposal and amended Rule 5.3 in addition to Rule 5.1.  You can read the entire order here.

If you have a heart of gold and want to help out a friend down on his luck, you now have the Court’s blessing and guidance. But, use caution and meticulously follow the rules to avoid finding yourself in your friend’s unfortunate position!