88-03 In the sale of a law practice, the goodwill of the firm may not, consistent with accepted ethical principles, be sold. The selling attorney is, obliged to notify clients of their right to retain other counsel and to take possession of their files. Compensation arrangements between the buying attorney and selling attorney, if the selling attorney remains “of counsel” to the buyer’s firm, should be structured as a genuine attempt to compensate the selling attorney for services, and must not be simply an attempt to disguise sale of goodwill.