Partners In Name Only
The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a stayed six-month suspension in a case involving conflicts of interest and related charges against two attorneys.
Relator alleged that a co-counsel arrangement between Cannata and Phillips, which included the representation of limited-liability companies in which Cannata was a member, created conflicts of interest and falsely created the impression that the two attorneys were practicing law in a partnership, in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
The court’s findings
After graduating from the United States Air Force Academy, serving on active duty in the Air Force, and obtaining a master’s degree in business administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cannata returned to Cleveland in 1993 and started a construction business. He branched out into housing and commercial real-estate development before he attended and graduated from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law in 2002. He continued his business career after completing law school and devoted only 20 to 30 percent of his professional time to his solo legal practice. Because of his business contacts, Cannata was able to attract legal business that required more legal experience and expertise than he possessed, so he began to refer certain matters to Phillips, a more experienced lawyer, and worked with him as co-counsel.
In 2009, Cannata and Phillips entered into a written co-counsel agreement that established how they would divide their fees on their co-counsel cases, provided that they would maintain their separate practices of law in their separate offices, and stated that nothing in about the co-counsel relationship would “establish * * * any other relationship, including without limitation a partnership, a professional association, or a law firm.” At the same time, they filed articles of organization for a limited-liability company called Cannata Phillips, L.P.A., L.L.C., in which they represented that they were a law firm, and Cannata created a website for the company that appeared to represent that he and Phillips were members of a law firm. Phillips testified that they did not intend to operate as a law firm and that he intended for the filing to provide public notice that he would not be bound by Cannata’s other liabilities. From 2009 through 2011, Cannata and Phillips shared approximately $140,000 in legal fees.
The attorneys violated conflicts of interest rules. However, because they were not in fact partners, Rule 1.10 was inapplicable.
The court concluded that a stayed suspension with the requirements of no future violations was the appropriate sanction. (Mike Frisch)