Legal Ethics Opinion No. 1395

 Advertising and Solicitation--Law Firms: Propriety of Using, as
Part of the Name of a Law Firm, Name of Geographic Area of the
State Which is Also a Military Installation 

You have advised that your firm wishes to open a branch office
using as a part of its trade name the name of a geographic area
of the state which is the same as a military installation.  You
indicate that a variety of businesses in that geographic area use
the term in their name.

You have requested that the committee opine as to the propriety
of employing the geographic area/military installation name in
the name of the law firm.

The appropriate and controlling disciplinary rule relative to the
question you have raised is DR 2-l02(B) which permits a lawyer in
private practice to use a trade name provided, among other
caveats, that it does not imply a connection with a government
agency.

The committee is of the view that, assuming you are correct that
the word which names both a geographic area and a military
installation has been incorporated into the general parlance and
has been adopted by numerous other businesses in their company
names, such usage would then be sufficient to dilute any
implication that the law firm has a connection with the military
installation.  Therefore, the committee is of the opinion that
the use of the word in the trade name of the law firm would not
be improper in the circumstances you describe.

Committee Opinion
January 14, 1991