Taking on work on the side Forum

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Anonymous User
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Taking on work on the side

Post by Anonymous User » Tue May 22, 2018 4:45 pm

I work for a small litigation firm in NY. I was thinking of doing wills on the side for extra cash flow. I do not have any employment contract with my current firm that discusses outside work/non-compete, etc. I was also never told of any policy regarding this. Does anyone know if I can obtain private malpractice insurance and do this kind of work on my own, while still working full time at my current position?

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nealric

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Re: Taking on work on the side

Post by nealric » Tue May 22, 2018 4:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:I work for a small litigation firm in NY. I was thinking of doing wills on the side for extra cash flow. I do not have any employment contract with my current firm that discusses outside work/non-compete, etc. I was also never told of any policy regarding this. Does anyone know if I can obtain private malpractice insurance and do this kind of work on my own, while still working full time at my current position?
Can you? Yes. Will they be likely to fire you if they find out? Yes. From their perspective, if you are able to bring in outside work you should be bringing it to the firm. Plus, they don't want to run the risk that the firm could be sued for malpractice over your side work. A client, knowing you work for Smith & Jones, might reasonably think they are being represented by Smith & Jones and sue them if things go south. That you have your own malpractice policy wouldn't necessarily be an out.

Right2BearArms

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Re: Taking on work on the side

Post by Right2BearArms » Wed May 23, 2018 8:51 am

nealric wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:I work for a small litigation firm in NY. I was thinking of doing wills on the side for extra cash flow. I do not have any employment contract with my current firm that discusses outside work/non-compete, etc. I was also never told of any policy regarding this. Does anyone know if I can obtain private malpractice insurance and do this kind of work on my own, while still working full time at my current position?
Can you? Yes. Will they be likely to fire you if they find out? Yes. From their perspective, if you are able to bring in outside work you should be bringing it to the firm. Plus, they don't want to run the risk that the firm could be sued for malpractice over your side work. A client, knowing you work for Smith & Jones, might reasonably think they are being represented by Smith & Jones and sue them if things go south. That you have your own malpractice policy wouldn't necessarily be an out.
Agree with all of the above. Bring the work to the firm or find another attorney to do it and negotiate a finders fee. My firm specifically disallows outside work and our malpractice policy expressly excludes coverage for any work done that is not for a client with an engagement letter to ___ LLP.

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