Subsection (d) of Rule 5.4 (Professional Independence of a Lawyer) of the Rules of Professional Conduct is unambiguous and unequivocal: A lawyer shall not practice with or in the form of a professional corporation or association authorized to practice law for a profit if: 1) A nonlawyer owns any interest therein…. 2) A nonlawyer is a corporate director or officer thereof or occupies the position of similar responsibility in any form of association other than a corporation. 3) A nonlawyer has the right to direct or control the professional judgment of a lawyer.
Equally clear is the rationale for that prohibition found in the official commentary, which provides that “[t]his Rule . . . expresses traditional limitations on permitting a third party to direct or regulate the lawyer’s professional judgment in rendering legal services to another.”
