RPC RULE 7.5
                      FIRM NAMES AND LETTERHEADS


  (a) A lawyer shall not use a firm name, letterhead or other
professional designation that violates Rule 7.1.  A trade name may be
used by a lawyer in private practice if it does not imply a connection
with a government agency or with a public or charitable legal services
organization and is not otherwise in violation of Rule 7.1.

  (b) A law firm with offices in more than one jurisdiction may use the
same name or other professional designation in each jurisdiction, but
identification of the lawyers in an office of the firm shall indicate the
jurisdictional limitations on those not licensed to practice in the
jurisdiction where the office is located.

  (c) The name of a lawyer holding a public office shall not be used in
the name of a law firm, or in communications on its behalf, during any
substantial period in which the lawyer is not actively and regularly
practicing with the firm.

  (d) Lawyers may state or imply that they practice in a partnership or
other organization only when that is a fact.

Comment

  [1] A firm may be designated by the names of all or some of its
members, by the names of deceased members where there has been a
continuing succession in the firm's identity or by a trade name such as
the "ABC Legal Clinic." A lawyer or law firm may also be designated by a
distinctive website address or comparable professional designation.
Although the United States Supreme Court has held that legislation may
prohibit the use of trade names in professional practice, use of such
names in law practice is acceptable so long as it is not misleading. If a
private firm uses a trade name that includes a geographical name such as
"Springfield Legal Clinic," an express disclaimer that it is a public
legal aid agency may be required to avoid a misleading implication. It
may be observed that any firm name including the name of a deceased
partner is, strictly speaking, a trade name. The use of such names to
designate law firms has proven a useful means of identification. However,
it is misleading to use the name of a lawyer not associated with the firm
or a predecessor of the firm, or the name of a nonlawyer.

  [2] With regard to paragraph (d), lawyers sharing office facilities,
but who are not in fact associated with each other in a law firm, may not
denominate themselves as, for example, "Smith and Jones," for that title
suggests that they are practicing law together in a firm.

Additional Washington Comment (3)

  [3] Lawyers practicing out of the same office who are not partners,
shareholders of a professional corporation, or members of a professional
limited liability company or partnership may not join their names
together. Lawyers who are not 1) partners, shareholders of a professional
corporation, or members of a professional limited liability company or
partnership, or 2) employees of a sole proprietorship, partnership,
professional corporation, or members of a professional limited liability
company or partnership or other organization, or 3) in the relationship
of being "Of Counsel" to a sole proprietorship, partnership, professional
corporation, or members of a professional limited liability company or
partnership or other organization, must have separate letterheads, cards
and pleading paper, and must sign their names individually at the end of
all pleadings and correspondence and not in conjunction with the names of
other lawyers. (The provisions of this Comment were taken from former
Washington RPC 7.5(d).)


[Amended effective July 2, 1996; September 1, 2006.]