It’s easier to comply with the law than to circumvent it. This summer I am teaching this simple yet profound lesson to the students in our Professional Responsibility class.
A rule in point, Model Rule of Professional Conduct 5.6: “A lawyer shall not participate in offering or making … an agreement in which a restriction on the lawyer’s right to practice is part of the settlement of a client controversy.” So, a defense lawyer is prohibited from offering to pay X amount to a plaintiff’s lawyer if she agrees not to sue the defendant in the future. Conversely, a plaintiff’s lawyer may not suggest to a defendant that he will not sue the defendant in the future if paid a certain sum of money. Why the rule? As one Judge aptly put it: “(to prohibit) a corporate buyout of plaintiff’s attorneys.”
