道德意见325
同意将原律所的利润分配给原律所的合伙人，只要他们继续在合并后的新律所执业:规则5.6(a)
当一家澳门赌场官网事务所即将与另一家澳门赌场官网事务所合并时, its partners agree to distribute profits already earned by the former firm, 但这将在未来得到支付, only to partners who continue to practice with the post-merger firm. 该协议违反了规则5.6(a)因为它在财务上抑制了合伙人离开合并后的律所并与另一家律所合作. 规则5中的例外.6(a)关于退休福利的协议仅适用于职业生涯结束时的典型退休类型，而不适用于从公司离职的所有情况.
适用的规则
- 规则5.6(a)
询问者对规则5的解释提出了一个问题.6(a)适用于澳门赌场官网事务所合并的情况. 如询问者所述，事实如下:
- 真实的背景
询问者是一家澳门赌场官网事务所的合伙人，该澳门赌场官网事务所与另一家澳门赌场官网事务所合并成为合并澳门赌场官网事务所. 合并前, the Law Firm was owed fees by some clients for work that had already been completed. 这些费用将在一段时间内支付, but the Law Firm needed to do nothing further to be entitled to them. 预测合并, the partners of Law Firm assigned the future right to receive these fees to a new entity, 应收账款有限责任公司. 根据创立本有限责任公司的合伙人的协议, 每个澳门赌场官网事务所合伙人都有权获得有限责任公司应收账款的固定和明确规定的百分比份额，该份额等于该合伙人在澳门赌场官网事务所利润中的份额. 这被称为管理份额. 除了, 那些被视为发起了导致应收账款的客户业务的合伙人有权获得进一步具体列举的应收账款百分比, 称为发起人份额. 询问者是发起人，因此有权获得代表他在合并前澳门赌场官网事务所利润份额的管理股份, 加上发起人的份额. 因此, 合并后，有限责任公司收到可归属于合并前澳门赌场官网事务所工作的款项，并将这些款项支付给合并前澳门赌场官网事务所的合伙人.
根据文件创建应收款有限责任公司, the partners’ rights to receive Management and Originator’s shares were not unconditional. The agreement creating the LLC provides that if any partner of the pre-merger Law Firm who is a member of 应收账款有限责任公司 leaves the Merged Law Firm before December 31 of the year following the year of the merger (a period of two years from the effective date of the merger), that partner’s Management share in 应收账款有限责任公司 ceases at that time - does not vest1 用协议的术语来说，就是停止付款, unless the departure within that period from the Merged Law Firm is attributable to 死亡, 疾病, 或者从澳门赌场官网行业退休, in which case the payments do not stop with the departure from the Merged Law Firm. If the partner leaves the Merged Law Firm after two years have elapsed since the merger, 然后，尽管离开了，付款仍在继续. 除了, 如果任何合伙人也是发起人, 就像调查报, 在任何时间以任何理由离开合并后的澳门赌场官网事务所, then that Originator’s share becomes void and the payments of the Originator’s share stops. 因此, documents creating 应收账款有限责任公司 condition the right to receive sums owed to the pre-merger Law Firm in such a way as to create incentives to partners of the former Law Firm to continue practicing with the Merged Law Firm.
询问者报告说，在合并之后, 合并后的澳门赌场官网事务所决定寻求那些与询问者可能代表的客户有利益冲突的客户. 询问者不可能继续代表作为询问者传统客户群的客户. 询问者说, “按照(合并后的公司)的指示, 我不得不找一家新公司来执业.“询问者实际上将在两年期限届满之前离开, so that departure would result in the loss by the inquirer of all rights to a continuing share, including both a 会员 share and an Originator’s share of income from 应收账款有限责任公司.
- 适用规则
规则5.第6(a)条规定，澳门赌场官网不得“订立或参与订立限制澳门赌场官网在关系终止后执业权利的合伙协议或雇佣协议”, 除了一份关于退休福利的协议 . . . .“虽然有很多关于规则5的文章.6(a)(包括我们的意见291、241、221和652)，我们认为讨论其基本框架是有益的.
The Rule first bars a lawyer from participating in the offering or making of a partnership or employment agreement that "restricts the right of a lawyer to practice after termination of the relationship . . . ." 在那里 is then an exception for agreements "concerning benefits upon 退休 . . . .规则五.6(a)与其前身“基本相似”, 《澳门赌场官网》第2-108(a)条. 看到 the report of the District of Columbia 酒吧 Model 职业行为准则 Committee, 按照理事会的建议进行修改, submitted with the 董事会’s Petition recommending adoption the 规则 to the D.C. 上诉法院，1986年11月，第210页.
规则5.第6(a)条旨在防止澳门赌场官网签订不利于澳门赌场官网从一家事务所跳槽到另一家事务所的协议. 制定该规则的原因是，当他们的澳门赌场官网(无论是在职业生涯的开始还是后来)能够改善他们的工作环境时，客户可能会受益. D.C. Court of Appeals has favorably quoted the Committee’s determination in 意见没有. 241 .该规则是一种机制，“以保护客户获得自己选择的澳门赌场官网的能力，并使澳门赌场官网能够促进其职业发展。." 纽曼v. Akman, 715 A. 2d 127, 131 (D.C. 1998). 委员会最近强调，客户经常向澳门赌场官网建议更换澳门赌场官网事务所, 出于各种原因, 及意见No. 273(1997)要求澳门赌场官网在更换事务所之前与客户协商，正是因为这种变化对客户来说往往是重要的. 这一促进澳门赌场官网改变执业环境以造福客户的原则在我们的规则中也有体现, 例如规则1中旨在促进澳门赌场官网在事务所之间流动的特别规定.10. 参见规则1的注释[10]、[11]和[21].10.3 这样的考虑并不是哥伦比亚特区所独有的，而是其他司法管辖区所共有的. 看到 2风险 & 赫德, 《澳门赌场官网法 § 47.4在47-5 (3d版). 2001).
很明显，规则5.6(a) bars not only agreements that would explicitly restrict lawyers’ practices but also reaches agreements that may not explicitly bar such actions but create financial disincentives to taking these actions. 意见No. 65 (1979) this Committee considered an agreement that sought to compel a lawyer to pay 40 per cent of any fees received from a client of the lawyer’s former firm if earned within two years after the lawyer’s departure from the firm. It concluded that such an agreement violated DR 2-108(a) because "[i]ts effect is to impose a barrier to the creation of a lawyer/client relationship between the departing lawyer and the clients of his former firm.即使字面上并没有这么做, 委员会注意到, such a barrier interfered with clients’ choice of attorney because "[t]he departing attorney would find work for clients of the former firm economically less attractive than work at similar rates received from other clients, and might be deterred from accepting employment from such clients."
意见没有. 241(1991)的结论是，一项协议在财务上抑制了离职澳门赌场官网与前澳门赌场官网事务所的竞争. 在那里, 澳门赌场官网事务所的合伙协议规定在五年内偿还合伙人的资本账户, except that where after departure a partner practiced law in the District of Columbia, 还款被推迟五年，或者直到离职的合伙人达到65岁或停止在哥伦比亚特区执业. 委员会的结论是，该协定违反了规则5.6(a)因为“对离职澳门赌场官网施加的经济处罚除了限制业务和使公司免受潜在竞争之外没有其他目的."
我们注意到, 然而, 离开公司的经济成本的简单存在并不一定意味着规则5.违反了第6(a)条. 构成违反, 协议必须有效地“限制澳门赌场官网在关系终止后的执业权利”.当这种限制不明确时, 该协议的效力必须是对竞争造成这样的限制或对实践的其他限制. 出于这个原因, 可能有必要审查周围的情况，以确定是否违反了规则5.6(a) has occurred where the restriction on a lawyer’s practice is not expressed.4
The Rule also contains an exception for "an agreement concerning benefits on 退休." Much of the attention that has been paid to this rule by courts, 伦理委员会, 评论员们已经处理过这个例外, 谁的范围经常被争论. 看,e.g., Borteck诉Riker，但泽，舍勒，海兰 & Perretti LLP), 844 A. 2d 521 (N.J. 2004)(其中, at 530-31, 新泽西州最高法院要求其专业责任规则委员会审查规则5.6(a) "to determine whether the rule should define ’退休’ and, 如果是这样的话, 提出定义或相关标准”); 纽曼，上，715 A. 2d第136页(其中D.C. 上诉法院讨论, 但觉得没必要做决定, 异常范围的问题). 对这一问题作出裁决的法院普遍认为，这种例外只适用于职业生涯结束时的退休. E.g.，科恩诉. 主啊，天啊，主啊，东经550度，北纬410度.Y. 1989); 看到 Borteck, 844 A. 2d 527. 哈扎德教授和霍兹教授一致认为，如果“退休”仅仅意味着“合伙或雇佣”关系的终止, 那么例外就会吞噬规则. 它将从规则的禁止中排除关于终止每一关系的每一协议. 2危险与危险; 《澳门赌场官网法 § 47.47-5到47-6. (3 d艾德. 2001). 虽然在 纽曼v. Akman, 715 A. 2d在126处，D.C. 上诉法院不必对这个问题作出裁决, 通过广泛描述为什么有争议的协议在职业生涯结束时退休的意义上构成“退休协议”, 通过积极地引用 灰色v. 马丁 , 663 P. 2d 1285, 1290(俄勒冈App. 1983), 看到纽曼, 715 A. 2d at 134, 法院表示，如果被要求，它将与我们所引用的其他权威机构一样看待这个问题. 因此，我们的结论是，这里所讨论的条款, which apply when a partner leaves the Merged Law Firm regardless of age, 不属于规则5的“退休”例外情况.6(a).
讨论
我们首先注意到，可能有人认为，根据规则的含义，组建应收款有限责任公司的协议不是一种“合伙”协议. 然而, the LLC was created by the partners of the pre-merger Law Firm solely to obtain and distribute to those partners funds owed to the pre-merger Law Firm in payment for its previously completed legal work. We therefore conclude that the agreement that created 应收账款有限责任公司 is a "partnership . . . 在规则的含义内的“协议”. 否则，公司可以避免规则5的禁止.通过创建一个单独的机构来处理部分(而不是全部)律所的法律业务. 近年来，澳门赌场官网事务所的合并变得更加频繁. Individual lawyers in a firm that is contemplating merging with another may be concerned about whether the firm that would result from the merger would be as satisfactory a place for them to practice for clients as was their pre-merger firm. 类似的, 谈判公司中哪些合伙人可能留在合并后的公司的问题可能是合并谈判的一个特点. 在这些情况下，规则5的局限性.6可能特别重要. It would not be consistent with the language or purpose of that Rule to allow partners of one or both of the merging firms to escape scrutiny under it by forming separate organizations to achieve some of their purposes.
We now examine in turn the two kinds of payments made under the agreement forming the LLC. 作为初步的一点，我们注意到，我们不认为可以为根据规则5进行分析的目的而争论.6 the Merged Firm is somehow a continuation of the pre-merger Law Firm. 有限责任公司仅由原有澳门赌场官网事务所的合伙人组成(而不是其他参与合并的人)，并且只适用于他们, and operation of the LLC is independent of the compensation of the Merged Law Firm.
根据有限责任公司, 按照每个合伙人在合并前公司的所有权份额的固定百分比，会员份额金额支付给前澳门赌场官网事务所合伙人. 这些会员权益到期.e., 不要“背心”," if a lawyer leaves the Merged Firm before the end of the two-year period, 除非在此期间因死亡而离开, 残疾, 疾病, 或者从澳门赌场官网行业退休, 在这种情况下，即使有关澳门赌场官网在两年内离职，继续领取付款的权利仍然存在. 正如我们所见, 询问者在两年内离开了, 在他的兴趣变得固定之前, 因为他觉得他不能自由地从事他的业务，不能为那些从他的经验和发展的专业知识中获益最多的客户服务, 合并后公司的新方向.
实际上, the imposition of the two-year vesting period is an action by the partners of the pre-merger Law Firm that uses assets belonging to them to induce themselves not to depart from the Merged Firm for at least two years after the merger. The pre-merger firm’s entitlement to the payments was fixed before the merger. 随着合并前澳门赌场官网事务所的终止, its partners had the unconditional right to receive those sums as they were eventually paid. 创建有限责任公司的协议规定，这些款项将根据一个公式进行分配，该公式使用合并前公司中每位澳门赌场官网的利润份额百分比, 一个完全基于过去事件的固定公式. 但该协议更进一步，增加了一个条件，即每位澳门赌场官网是否有权继续获得这些付款，取决于该澳门赌场官网是否在合并后的公司待满两年. 事实上，对于可能退休的合伙人来说，两年的归属要求是有例外的, 死, or become disabled before the end of the two years underscores that those partners who are capable of leaving the firm to practice elsewhere are the ones who are affected by a financial disincentive inherent in the vesting period.5
出于这个原因, 而这里的协议并没有明确表示，如果澳门赌场官网在两年的归属期结束前离开合并后的事务所与其他澳门赌场官网一起执业，它将切断支付, that is its clear impact - and it is what happened in the inquirer’s situation. 两年的归属要求只适用于那些因为打算在其他地方执业而离职的澳门赌场官网.6 它相应地惩罚(通过停止以前的收入流)那些继续执业但不与合并后的公司这样做的人. While it is of course possible that a partner would leave to practice law but not in competition with the Merged Firm (such as by moving to another city - although in specialized practice areas even such a move may not avoid competition with a lawyer’s former firm), 我们认为，对于那些在职业生涯中已经成为公司合伙人的澳门赌场官网来说，这种情况相对罕见. That mere possibility does not change the dominant practical impact of the provision, which is to penalize those partners who 看到k to serve their clients by practicing elsewhere than the Merged Law Firm by depriving them of a portion of previously earned fees that otherwise would be theirs. 询问者离开合并后的澳门赌场官网事务所去从事该澳门赌场官网事务所不感兴趣的业务，这一事实也不会影响我们的观点. 询问者希望继续代表与合并后的澳门赌场官网事务所的客户意见普遍相反的客户. 规则5的目的.第6条是禁止澳门赌场官网之间的协议，这些协议可能会限制澳门赌场官网在更好的执业环境中寻求代表其客户利益的能力. 如果一名澳门赌场官网离开一家对其特定客户怀有敌意的律所，就会受到惩罚，这一协议同样有悖于规则5的宗旨.6 as trying to prevent a lawyer from competing for the same kinds of clients as his former firm.7
The Originators’ shares present a different and more difficult issue. The right to continue to receive an Originator’s share does not ever become fixed, 或背心, and therefore a partner who departs from the Merged Firm for any reason, 包括死亡, 疾病, 退休, moving to another firm (whether in competition with the Merged Firm or not), 或者离开这个行业去追求另一项事业, 失去继续接收发起人股份的权利. 事实上, 询问者通知我们，在有权享有发起人股份的合伙人死亡的情况下, 那部分的支付确实终止了. 经向已故合伙人的遗产查询, 合并后的澳门赌场官网事务所表示，对发起人股份的这种待遇之所以存在，是因为根据合并前澳门赌场官网事务所的补偿安排, partners were given recognition for matters that they "originated" (i.e., 负责给公司带来的收入。, such an arrangement was no longer possible in the Merged Law Firm, 发起人股份的有限责任公司待遇是为了模仿合并前澳门赌场官网事务所从这些收入来源获得的补偿.
虽然我们并不认为这个问题完全没有疑问, 我们的结论是，对非“既得”发起人股份的处理也违反了规则5.6. 关于这些份额, 应收款有限责任公司协议规定了合并前澳门赌场官网事务所以前赚取的资产的分配, 是哪个结束了它的业务, 因此，只要合并前公司的前合伙人继续在指定的新合并后公司执业，他们就能继续获得报酬. 如果合并前的公司完全结束了自己的事务, 据推测，合伙人将把未来收入的权利分配给各自, 无条件地. 但相反，合并前公司的合伙人将该资产的未来分配限定在与一家新的、不同的公司继续合作的基础上. 此外, 而发起人的股份不再支付给因任何原因离开被合并公司的合伙人, 包括疾病, 死亡, 和退休, 如果这一事实是由一家正在经营并继续经营自己业务的澳门赌场官网事务所应用的，那么它将具有更大的效力. 与一家正在进行业务的公司合作, 停止对离开的伴侣进行补偿是有基本道理的. 但在这样一家公司的背景下，它已经结束了自己的事务，尽管如此，它仍试图对以前赚来的资产的分配行使一些未来的控制权, 如果不能认识到死亡和残疾不是自愿离开，而是退休，那就是无视现实, 虽然它可能会被推迟, 最终也很大程度上是非自愿的. 因此，发起人股份的非行权特征的明显效果是阻止合伙人 自愿 只要付款继续，就离开合并后的公司, 自愿离开的主要途径是, 就像询问者的案子一样, 去另一家律所执业. We do not 看到 why the future payout of a previously fully earned asset would be conditioned on a partner’s staying with the Merged Firm unless the purpose of the condition were to incentivize the recipients to stay with the firm by depriving them of that previously earned asset if they left it. 我们相信规则5.6(a)不允许因合伙人正在清盘而使公司的合伙人清盘, 作为合并的一部分, 加入新公司, 利用前公司的资产给自己制造离开新公司的经济诱因.
正如刚才所建议的，我们的意思并不是说，当一家公司有一个正在进行的业务，只是停止补偿离开它的澳门赌场官网时，同样的考虑也适用. 当期薪酬计算方法考虑合伙人前几年贡献的公司, 甚至将收入流确定为合伙人在前几年的工作所得，并将其薪酬增加一部分, do not run afoul of the Rule simply because when a partner leaves the firm, 不管是什么原因, 公司停止补偿该合伙人，因此不再继续补偿他或她之前为公司工作的持续利益. Firms benefit presently and in the future from the contributions of their partners, 作为补偿过程的一部分，将其量化是常见的，并且不违反规则(至少不违反规则), 例如，一些不平等的待遇不成比例地落在那些离开公司与公司竞争的合伙人身上。). 任何合伙人离开拥有这种薪酬制度的律所，就意味着他或她将失去该律所未来的薪酬, 即使离开的合伙人对公司的持续成功做出了显著的贡献，并且可以通过留在公司继续参与成功. 因此, 我们并没有得出这样的结论:一家正在运营的律所在澳门赌场官网离开律所时切断了部分薪酬, 不管澳门赌场官网离开后打算做什么, 必然违反规则5.6(a) merely because some departing lawyers would thereafter be competing with the firm, 我们不知道有任何案例或权威机构得出这样的结论.8
但在我们面前的这件事上, the pre-merger Law Firm wound up its affairs and distributed its assets to the partners, yet the former partners sought to retain some control over those assets after distribution, 并因此寻求继续- -在未来数年- -以前合伙人今后有权获得他们继续为合并后的公司工作的报酬为条件. It is this attempt by partners of the pre-merger Law Firm to continue to influence the future practices of partners some time after their departure from the pre-Merger Firm that leads us to conclude that treatment of this payment as well violates the Rule.
通过:2004年10月
出版日期:2004年12月
1. “背心”这个词, 虽然在法律上可能不完全准确, 在有限责任公司文件中使用, 为了方便，我们在这里用它.
2. 意见65解释了前DR 2-108(A).
3. 手头的案件就是一个例子，说明了澳门赌场官网换事务所可能给客户带来的好处. 询问者换了公司，因为合并后的公司的业务对他所代表的客户变得不那么友好了, 他还寻求在另一家律所执业，在那里他的客户的目标与律所其他客户的目标不冲突.
4. 见意见No. 221，涉及一名澳门赌场官网，他离开了一家公司，带走了或有收费客户. 澳门赌场官网与该澳门赌场官网事务所之间的雇佣协议规定，在这种情况下，澳门赌场官网离开该澳门赌场官网事务所，并从该客户那里收到一笔或有费用, a portion of that fee would be allocated and paid back to the former firm, 根据澳门赌场官网在事务所处理案件的时间长短，按百分比公式进行分配. 委员会的结论是，如果百分比公式“代表了基于公司历史经验的一般公平的费用分配，则没有违反规则5。.6(a). 另一方面, 如果公司的份额过高, 这将产生限制离职澳门赌场官网在违反规则5终止关系后继续执业的权利的效果.6(a).委员会还指出，它“无法做出事实调查”，因此“既不能批准也不能反对该公司使用的具体百分比”."
5. Even with our conclusion that "退休" means the end of a career practicing law, 协议的这一部分不是规则5所指的“关于退休福利的协议”.6(a). 它的主要目的不是提供退休福利, 但要为继续享有过去获得的费用分配的权利创造一个归属期. This vesting period is imposed on partners who do not retire; the fact that it is waived for those who do retire does not alter its impact on those who do not. 此外, 法院在纽曼案中所依赖的因素都没有显示出这种观点下真正的退休协议. 这里分配的资金是已经完成的工作的利润, not work to be done; there is no requirement that entitlement to those distributions is limited to partners of conventional 退休, 而且，福利的支付不会“分摊到退休伴侣的整个剩余生命中”.——纽曼，公元715年. 2d, 136 - 38.
6. Presumably a partner who enters another field of endeavor has "retire[d] from the practice of law" and would thus be entitled to continue to receive the Management shares even if he or she left the firm before the two years had expired.
7. We also do not believe that the fact that a lawyer need remain at the Merged Firm for only two years before being able to depart assured of continuing to receive the Management share makes a difference. 如果客户的澳门赌场官网可以更换公司，情况就会改善，不应该要求客户在他们首选的澳门赌场官网完成两年的归属期时等待. 在设定两年期限时，应收款有限责任公司文件的起草者可能试图从纽曼案的脚注13中获得一些安慰, 715 A.2d at 136. 那个脚注说明了, 然而, with a provision in a 退休 plan approved by the Court under which a retired lawyer could resume practice after two years of 退休 and still receive 退休 benefits from the lawyer’s former firm. The Court describes that provision as having "limited anticompetitive effect". 但根据第5条的退休例外规定.澳门赌场官网退休是指允许对澳门赌场官网的执业权利进行完全限制的时候. 因此, 作为继续领取退休福利的条件，澳门赌场官网事务所可以要求比两年长得多的限制执业期, and it is only by comparison to that possibility that a two year restriction is "limited." A two year restriction on practice in the middle of a lawyer’s career is not "limited."
8. 比较注释b. to § 13(b) of the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers (2000), which discusses denial of "benefits" effective at the time of a lawyer’s departure from a firm.
