Cleveland Bar Ass'n v. Sharp Estate Services, Inc.

837 N.E.2d 1183, 107 Ohio St. 3d 219
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 14, 2005
DocketNo. 2004-2114
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 837 N.E.2d 1183 (Cleveland Bar Ass'n v. Sharp Estate Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cleveland Bar Ass'n v. Sharp Estate Services, Inc., 837 N.E.2d 1183, 107 Ohio St. 3d 219 (Ohio 2005).

Opinion

Pfeifer, J.

{¶ 1} On July 5, 2002, relator, Cleveland Bar Association (“CBA”), filed an amended complaint with the Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law pursuant to Rule VII of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Rules for the Government of the Bar, asserting that respondents Sharp Estate Services, Inc., Asset Preservation Group, Inc., Sharp Estate & Insurance Services, Inc., Jeffrey G. Sharp, Robert Clapacs, and Diane C. Sharp (collectively, “Sharp”), Henry W. Abts III, and The Estate Plan (“TEP”) engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Ohio. The [220]*220complaint alleged that each respondent sold living-trust and estate plans and related documents to Ohio residents. After a hearing, the board recommended that this court hold that each respondent has engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Ohio and that we enjoin each respondent from the further unauthorized practice of law. The board also included a statement of costs to be paid by respondents.

{¶ 2} TEP is a Nevada corporation owned by Abts that engages nationwide in the preparation and marketing of living trusts and other estate-planning products. TEP associates with companies and individuals, known as advisors, who market and sell its products. Advisors are typically nonattorneys; none of the respondents in this case are licensed to practice law in Ohio. Advisors are under contract with TEP, are required to attend TEP training sessions, and must adhere to a sales and marketing manual that instructs them how best to market TEP products.

{¶ 3} A typical transaction begins with advisors developing prospects through telemarketing or purchased lists, followed by a sales presentation in the prospective customer’s home. When Sharp advisors make sales presentations, they use TEP products to assist the prospective customer in determining what type of living trust or estate plan is appropriate. Many customers were targeted despite clear indications that they would not benefit from a living trust or estate plan. Advisors routinely provide TEP folders containing information on living trusts or estates to prospective customers. The board concluded that Sharp was under contract with TEP, that Sharp used TEP products extensively, and that TEP and Abts permitted the Sharp advisors to hold themselves out as representatives of TEP.

{¶ 4} WTien a prospect agreed to purchase a TEP living trust or estate plan, the Sharp advisor procured a signed purchase agreement from the customer and two checks. One check was payable to the advisor; the other was payable to the review attorney, who had been selected by the advisor from a list provided by TEP. The review attorney, who is typically under contract with TEP, would enter the customer’s information into a TEP computer-software program, usually without having had contact with the customer. TEP would then prepare the requested documents and return them directly to the advisor, who would deliver the documents to the customer.

{¶ 5} Sharp’s fees range from $1,995 and $2,195 for living-trust and estate-planning documentation for modest estates. Fees for estates involving millions of dollars were more expensive, ranging upward from about $2,495. According to the partial list provided by TEP, at least 468 living-trust and estate plans were sold in Ohio.

[221]*221{¶ 6} The board concluded that Sharp’s nonattorney advisors engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when they told customers that they needed a living trust or estate plan, when they recommended specific types of trust or estate plans, and when they advised customers of the legal consequences of their choices. The board found that TEP and Abts engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when they marketed and sold their products through a network of nonattorney advisors, when they prepared legal documents, and when they advised customers as to the legal effect of the documents that they had prepared. The board also found that the use of a review attorney after the execution of a contract to create a living trust or estate plan does not cure the unauthorized-practice-of-law (“UPL”) violation. This conclusion was bolstered by the fact that the purchase agreements between TEP and its customers do not require attorney approval.

{¶ 7} The board recommended that Sharp and TEP be enjoined from further engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and that Sharp and TEP pay the costs incurred by the board and the CBA. We agree with the recommendations of the board and impose further sanctions as discussed below.

{¶ 8} The unauthorized practice of law is defined as “the rendering of legal services for another person by any person not admitted to practice in Ohio.” Gov.Bar R. VII(2)(A). The record reflects that none of the respondents are admitted to the practice of law in Ohio. Nevertheless, they marketed and sold living trusts and estate plans, explained the legal consequences of specific decisions relating to living trusts or estate plans, and prepared legal documents related to living trusts or estate plans. These activities constitute the unauthorized practice of law. See Cincinnati Bar Assn. v. Kathman (2001), 92 Ohio St.3d 92, 96, 748 N.E.2d 1091.

{¶ 9} Respondents argue that the use of review attorneys to supervise the estate or trust-document preparation immunizes them from a UPL charge. The evidence reveals, however, that review attorneys were only tangentially involved in the transactions. In most cases, they did nothing more than enter a customer’s information into a TEP computer program, and they rarely came into contact with customers. Further, approval by the review attorney was not required by the purchase agreement.

{¶ 10} Even if the attorneys had been extensively involved in the transaction, they were incapable of acting solely in the interests of their ostensible clients because of their contractual relationship with TEP: review attorneys are subject to termination by TEP if they prepare non-TEP living-trust or estate-plan documents based on information received from an advisor. In Kathman, we concluded that “the review attorney enters the relationship too late,” and we followed the analysis of the Colorado Supreme Court, which concluded that “hub” [222]*222attorneys merely “lend[ ] credibility and a faqade of legality to the product the nonattorney offers.” Id. at 97, 748 N.E.2d 1091, citing People v. Cassidy (Colo.1994), 884 P.2d 309, 311. Because the advisor, not the attorney, sells the trust or estate plan and makes the decisions necessary to create the trust or estate document, the use of hub attorneys does not cure the UPL violation.

{¶ 11} In Kathman, we also found that an attorney who assists a nonattorney in the marketing and selling of living trusts violates DR 3-101 (A), which prohibits such assistance. Id. at 96, 748 N.E.2d 1091. Consequently the hub attorneys involved with respondents knew that they themselves were violating DR 3-101(A).

{¶ 12} Respondents TEP and Abts argue that Sharp and his associates were not their agents and that TEP had disclaimed any agency relationship in the contracts between TEP and Sharp.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Columbus Bar Ass'n v. American Family Prepaid Legal Corp.
2009 Ohio 5336 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2009)
Ohio State Bar Ass'n v. Martin
118 Ohio St. 3d 119 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2008)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Kramer
866 N.E.2d 498 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2007)
Cincinnati Bar Ass'n v. Bailey
852 N.E.2d 1180 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2006)
State Ex Rel. Indiana State Bar Ass'n v. Northouse
848 N.E.2d 668 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2006)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Wheatley
107 Ohio St. 3d 224 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
837 N.E.2d 1183, 107 Ohio St. 3d 219, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cleveland-bar-assn-v-sharp-estate-services-inc-ohio-2005.