Sports Law Blog is publishing a 5-part series on the practice of sports law. The series is co-authored by Peter Jarvis, a legal ethics and professional responsibility attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP in Portland, Oregon and Jason Davis, a California attorney currently residing in Seattle, Washington. These posts will appear on Saturdays. First post can be read at this link, the second at this link and the third at this link. Here is the fourth:
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"Pros or Cons" Thoughts For The Modern "Sports Attorney"
Authored by Jason A. Davis, Esq. and Peter R. Jarvis, Esq. (all rights reserved)
(ARTICLE #4)
The Lateral Pass (Association and Networking)
The quarterback throws, the running back runs, and the kicker kicks. Each member of a team serves a distinct and valuable purpose. Although a sports attorney may at times need or be tempted to wear a number of different hats, it is important to remember which hats are the most important, which are necessary, and which are problematic.
In our continuing hypothetical, Mega Star's requests of Attorney Al include the organization of Mega's motivational speaking business and the filing of Articles of Incorporation for Mega's motivational speaking business in Delaware and legal advice in connection with Mega's purchase of a vacation home in Florida.
As a first question, one might consider whether Al already has the legal competence to handle these Delaware and Florida matters. If not, then he will either have to take the time to learn enough law to make himself competent or, alternatively, to associate with someone who already has the requisite degree of competence.
It does seem highly unlikely, however that Delaware would view Al's formation of a Delaware corporation as the unauthorized practice of Delaware law. If Delaware law did so, the state could not play the preeminent role that it plays in corporate formation on a national level. Whether Al's involvement in a single real estate transaction for a non-Florida resident would provide him with sufficient Florida contact to subject him to the Florida RPCs would have to be addressed under Florida RPC 4-8.5, though it seems to us that that should not be enough. It should be clear, however, that Al's likelihood of being subject to the Florida RPCs will be materially greater if he regularly helps clients buy Florida real property.
In our next and final installment in this series, we will look at a further real reason why Al may want to "share the glory."
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