INFORMATION ON PROFESSIONALISM & ETHICS IN LAWYER ADVERTISING

FREQUENTLY UPDATED

• Differences between State Advertising and Solicitation Rules and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
(Updated February 1, 2008)

PENDING CASES

• Complaint in Harrell v. The Florida Bar (Jan. 7, 2008). Civil Action No. 3:08-CV-15-J-33TEM. Plaintiffs seek a declaration that portions of the Florida advertising rules violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and an injunction against enforcement of those rules. (Updated January 1, 2008)

COURT RULINGS

• Some New Lawyer Advertising Rules in New York Violate Free Speech, Federal Court Rules (July 23, 2007)

• U. S. District Court grants motion to dismiss, ruling that plaintiff’s claim that the Avvo lawyer rating system is inaccurate and misleading is barred by the First Amendment. (Dec. 18, 2007)

PROPOSED RULE CHANGES

• Florida proposed amendments governing computer-accessed communications such as websites, electronic mail, and other computer-accessed advertisements. (February 26, 2008)

• The Louisiana State Bar Association House of Delegates voted to submit recommended changes to the Rules on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation to the Louisiana Supreme Court (June 2007)

• New Jersey State Senate Judiciary Committee receives for consideration a proposed Act making it a crime for an attorney to send any written communication soliciting professional employment on the attorney’s own behalf to any person whose name, address or other personal information was obtained from a public record such as a police report, accident report or court record. (January 29, 2007)

• Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct of The State Bar of California by the State Bar’s Special Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct (June 2006) (See Rules 7.1-7.5)

REPORTS

• Report of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Task Force on Lawyer Advertising (May 2007)

• Kentucky Bar Association Attorneys' Advertising Commission Ethics 2000 Committee Report (November 17, 2006)

• Report of the Special Committee on Lawyer Advertising of the Indiana State Bar Association (June 30, 2006)

ETHICS OPINIONS

• North Carolina State Bar Formal Ethics Opinion 2007-14 (January 25, 2008)
A lawyer may advertise the lawyer’s inclusion in the list of lawyers in North Carolina Super Lawyers and other similar publications and may advertise in such publications subject to certain conditions.

• Iowa Ethics Opinion 07-09 (October 2007)
Lawyers may advertise that they are listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” or “Super Lawyers”.