Legal News from NYS Bar Association; New York State Bar Association Proposal to Allow Sale of a Law Practice Wins Approval By Courts.

ALBANY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 1996-- A plan first proposed by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) that would place New York among a growing number of states permitting lawyers to sell their law practices, was approved this week by the presiding justices of the state's four appellate divisions.

The joint court order is expected to affect a majority of lawyers statewide.

After lengthy discussion and debate within the nation's largest voluntary state bar association, the proposal developed by the NYSBA Special Committee to Review the Code of Professional Responsibility (the Code governs the daily business and ethical behavior of the state's 100,000-plus lawyers), was approved last January by the Association's House of Delegates. It, for the first time, permits New York lawyers to sell their law practice, including it's "good will."

New York now joins other progressive states that allow solo and firm practitioners to sell more then their books and furniture when they elect to retire from the practice of law. This change will permit lawyers who have long labored in individual and small firm law practices to provide for a more secure retirement," said Maxwell S. Pfeifer of the Bronx, NYSBA President and the leading proponent of the plan.

Traditionally, due mainly to the nature of the attorney-client relationship and prohibitions concerning disclosure of confidences, the Code restricted the sale of a law practice to its tangible assets. Pfeifer said that "uppermost in the minds of the members of the special committee was maintaining inviolate the attorney-client relationship." He added, "the provisions crafted by the state bar and the courts, keep that relationship sacrosanct."

Now, all lawyers, regardless of whether they are solo, small firm practitioners or members of large firms can avail themselves of the benefits of such sale, as other professions in New York have been doing for years.

According to a 1991 survey, over 46 percent of New York lawyers engaged in private practice are solo/small firm practitioners (firms with five or fewer members).

Pfeifer expressed his appreciation to the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Code of Professional Responsibility, the presiding justices of each department, the associate justices and support personnel, all of whom worked in close collaboration with the NYSBA special committee.

CONTACT: Frank J. Ciervo

Department of Media Services & Public Affairs 

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