[font=Lucida Sans Unicode'][background=rgb(249, 249, 249)]Rule 5.5 of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct states that an attorney cannot, without a license to practice in Massachusetts, “establish an office or other systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction for the practice of law.” It also states an attorney cannot, without a license, “hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction.”[/background][/font]
[font=Lucida Sans Unicode'][background=rgb(249, 249, 249)]Michael Fredrickson, general counsel for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, says he does not believe a law professor would be considered to have “a continuous presence” or “an office practicing law.”[/background][/font]
[font=Lucida Sans Unicode'][background=rgb(249, 249, 249)]“If they actually practice here – as some part-time law professors at some of the smaller schools do – they might,” Fredrickson says. “But being a professor at one of the large schools, their office is a professor’s office, and the fact that they tend to dabble in the practice of law doesn’t run afoul of our rule. I don’t think Elizabeth Warren would fall within that, such that she would have to register here.”[/background][/font]
