The Oklahoma Bar Journal August 2023

E thics & P rofessional R esponsibility

IF THERE IS ONE THING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC TAUGHT US, it was that people in many professions, ours included, could truly work from anywhere as long as they could access a reasonably reliable internet connection. For some, that might have been their kitchen table, the back porch, a makeshift office in a closet or, if they were lucky, a vacation home. Judging co-workers’ office spaces on a videoconference became “a thing.” My go-to was the front seat of my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee, sitting in my driveway because it was the one place I was pretty sure my potty-training toddler would not appear on a Zoom meeting wear ing only his PJ Masks Pull-Up (or less) or serenade participants on a conference call with his rendition of the musical theme to Paw Patrol . It would not have gotten me a high score on the Twitter account Room Rater, but it did bring me some much-needed peace and quiet. Work From Home Anywhere: Ethical Considerations in the Post-Pandemic Era of Virtual Lawyering By Paige A. Masters

It comes as no surprise then that even as COVID restrictions have lifted, lawyers worldwide have, as Roy Strom of Bloomberg Law put it, “ma[de] the hop from their cushy offices to a brave, new world” of “‘virtual,’ ‘hybrid,’ or ‘remote’ firms.” 1 According to Bloomberg’s report in October 2022, “At least 10 law firms [we]re operating office-free or office-lite business models” that offered lower overhead and, thus, “part ners a bigger cut of the revenue.” 2 The Rules of Professional Conduct

do not require that a lawyer has a “brick-and-mortar office.” 3 The pandemic, though, did not halt, relax or bring about changes in the ethics rules. And with the shift in virtual lawyering comes ethical concerns. This article touches on a few of those, focusing primarily on the unauthorized practice of law while also briefly addressing duties of competence and con fidentiality and supervising the work of subordinate attorneys and nonlawyers.

MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES AND THE UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW The risk of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law in a state in which an attorney is not licensed is a principal concern of a mobile virtual practice, for not only can attorneys find them selves in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, but they may also face criminal or civil liability. 4 Under Rule 5.5(b) of the Oklahoma Rules of Professional

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL