Law Firms Marketing on the Net-Is It Practicing
Law without a License?
The most difficult law firm web page ethics issues
involve multiple jurisdictions-when a firm in State A files a
complaint upon losing a major client to a firm in State B as a
result of the State B firm's web marketing.
Consider a situation in which a California law
firm gains a client (as a result of its web marketing) from a
Mississippi law firm. The Mississippi firm files a complaint with
its state authorities. If one or more lawyers in the California
firm are admitted to practice in Mississippi, they could be charged
with violating Mississippi's lawyer advertising regulations. If
no lawyers in the California firm are admitted to practice in
Mississippi, charges of unauthorized practice of law are a possibility.
In either case, the prospect of defending against such an action
in a distant forum is not pleasant.
Complying with the rules of all fifty states may
be an impossible task-the requirements are inconsistent and sometimes
even contradictory. If twenty-three states require filing a copy
of advertising material, are you supposed to send each state a
copy? What if you change your site's content every day? Compliance
with the most restrictive rule in every state would result in
a website with very little marketing appeal. Even if you successfully
met state requirements, you still might not be safe. And foreign
countries might not allow, or may even criminalize, legal advertising.
Until the situation is hashed out by the organized
bar, lawyers who want to establish websites should use common
sense measures to avoid ethical difficulties and minimize potential
risks:
