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(Salt Lake City-AP) -- Attorneys employed by law firms can no longer do work on the side as sole practitioners without notifying their firm, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled.
Lawyers who secretly freelance are benefiting from their association with their lawfirm and using firm resources for their independent activities, wrote Justice Michael J. Wilkins in yesterday's opinion.
The case involved attorney Robert S. Young, a lawyer with Prince, Yeates and Geldzahler, who was discovered to have represented clients without telling the company. The lawfirm sued and Young countersued.
A lower court had ruled in Young's favor and said he was owed 280-thousand dollars.
Yesterday's high court ruling reverses that lower court decision.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
