The Mississippi Bar’s Ethics Committee has approved ghostwriting on “discrete aspects in a matter” without the need “to disclose either the name of the preparer or that the document was prepared by a lawyer.”
The opinion analyzes ghostwriting in accordance with Mississippi’s Rules of Professional Conduct that address limited scope representation (Rule 1.2(c)) and misconduct (Rule 8.4(c)) and concludes that it is permissible but cautions that “a lawyer cannot utilize the limited scope representation to actively and substantially participate in a matter without disclosure…On-going representation of a client without disclosure would be misleading and a violation of Rule 8.4(c).”
Ghostwriting has been addressed by various state bars resulting in somewhat inconsistent opinions. For example, The Florida Bar’s Rule 4-1.2 provides that “if [a] lawyer assists a pro se litigant by drafting any document to be submitted to a court, the lawyer is not obligated to sign the document. However, the lawyer must indicate ‘Prepared with the assistance of legal counsel’ on the document to avoid misleading the court, which otherwise might be under the impression that the person, who appears to be proceeding pro se, has received no assistance form a lawyer.” Unlike Florida, the Mississippi opinion concludes that “the unlikely event that a court will be misled into providing lenience to a pro se litigant under these circumstances does not outweigh the strong public policy set out in the Comment to Rule 1.2 encouraging lawyers to provide limited scope representation without having to enter an appearance.The Committee is concerned that lawyers will be dissuaded from providing limited representation if required to disclose their involvement. “
To read the opinion click here
