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Somuah v. Flachs12/18/1998
local law. With the exception of Spivak, it also appears that the attorneys in these cases may have represented themselves as attorneys of the state in which they were not licensed. Moreover, in Perlah, the attorney maintained an office in the state in which the attorney was not licensed to practice. Respondent did not and does not have a Maryland office, and he did not engage in any advertising or solicitation that led to his introduction to Petitioner. Furthermore, two of the decisions explicitly cautioned against a per se rule denying compensation to all out-of-state attorneys who perform transactions in a state in which they are not licensed, noting the frequency of multi-state transactions in modern times. See Spivak, 263 N.Y.S.2d at 956; Lozoff, 362 N.E.2d at 1049.
This Court has noted that the "goal of the prohibition against unauthorized practice is to protect the public from being preyed upon by those not competent to practice law-from incompetent, unethical, or irresponsible representation." In re Application of R.G.S., 312 Md. 626, 638, 541 A.2d 977, 983 (1988). In Kennedy v. Bar Ass'n, 316 Md. 646, 561 A.2d 200 (1989), which involved a complaint against an attorney who was admitted to practice law in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, but not admitted in Maryland, we addressed the attorney's argument that he should be permitted to practice federal and non-Maryland law from his office in Maryland. We noted that the "unauthorized practice of law ... is not limited to practice utilizing the common law and statutes of Maryland." Kennedy, 316 Md. at 662, 561 A.2d at 208. In discussing what constitutes the practice of law, we indicated that it includes " tilizing legal education, training, and experience ... [to apply] the special analysis of the profession to a client's problem. Depending on the problem, that analysis may require consideration of federal, state, local or foreign law." Id. Under certain circumstances, "meeting with prospective clients may ... constitute the practice of law because `the very acts of interview, analysis and explanation of legal rights constitute practicing law in Maryland.'" Attorney Griev. Comm. v. James, 340 Md. 318, 324, 666 A.2d 1246, 1248 (1995)(quoting Kennedy, 316 Md. at 666, 561 A.2d at 210). We are unable to conclude, however, that, under the circumstances of this case, the investigation performed by Respondent primarily consisting of gathering and preserving evidence in order to analyze Petitioner's potential claims constituted the unauthorized practice of law where, unlike in Kennedy, Respondent did not expressly hold "himself out to the public as an attorney engaged in the general practice of law in Maryland" and did not maintain his principal office in Maryland. 316 Md. at 659, 561 A.2d at 207.
While we agree with Petitioner that when an out-of-state attorney takes a case that may need to be filed in Maryland he or she should disclose this fact to the client and advise the client that local counsel might have to be retained, we do not agree that Respondent's failure to do so results in the complete forfeiture of all compensation. Although New York courts prohibit an attorney discharged for cause from recovering any fee whatsoever, the majority of jurisdictions have permitted an attorney discharged for cause to recover in quantum meruit the reasonable value of the attorney's services competently rendered prior to the attorney's discharge. See, e.g., Crockett & Brown, 849 S.W.2d at 941; Salopek, 124 P.2d at 24; Tobias, 406 N.E.2d at 104; see also Covington v. Rhodes, 247 S.E.2d 305, 308 (N.C. Ct. App. 1978), review denied, 251 S.E.2d 468 (N.C. 1979); Collins, 473 S.E.2d at 917. The primary rationale for permitting quantum
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