Legal advertising

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This article or section deals primarily with the United States
and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk
page.

Legal advertising is marketing by law firms and attorneys.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Marketing and advertising by lawyers in the

United States
o 1.1 Bates v. Arizona State Bar
o 1.2 New York and Florida proposals
• 2 Legal notices
• 3 Legal marketing internationally
• 4 References
• 5 External links

• 6 See also

[edit] Marketing and advertising by lawyers in the

United States

There is no standard definition of what constitutes legal

advertising.[1]

Legal marketing is broader than advertising, as it also

includes client relations and public relations.[citation needed]

Certain marketing practices, such as barratry,[2] also called

ambulance chasing, are considered illegal and unethical.
Likewise, the use of bloody accident scenes to advertise a
law firm would be considered Shockvertising.
[edit] Bates v. Arizona State Bar

The birth of law firm marketing in the United States

coincided with the 1977 Supreme Court decision in the case
of Bates v. Arizona State Bar. [3] The American Bar
Association (A.B.A.) commemorated that case's 30th
anniversary with a continuing education conference about
legal marketing.[4]

[edit] New York and Florida proposals

New York and Florida court systems proposed several

restrictions on advertising in 2006 and 2007.[5] The N.Y.
proposals, in particular, generated much controversy.[6] In
2005, New York State Bar Association President Vincent
Buzard appointed a Task Force on Lawyer Advertising,
chaired by Bernice K. Leber, to make proposals for
consideration by NYSBA and the New York courts. [7]

The new rules for New York were effective on February 1,

2007. [8] For the first time, the New York Legal system
defined legal advertising, as:
"any public or private communication made on or behalf of a
lawyer or law firm about that lawyer or law firm's services,
the primary purpose of which is for the retention of the
lawyer or law firm."[9] The new rule specifically exempts
communications to existing clients or other lawyers. [10]
Publicity is, for the first time, also included as a synonym of
advertising.[11] The newly revised rules now allow advertising
about a lawyer's publications and "bona fide professional
ratings". [12] There are certain special rules for email
advertising, prohibiting spam.[13]

The 2007 rules stated that advertising must not include a

number of prohibited marketing devices:

1. Certain endorsements or testimonials from a former

client
2. Portrayal of judges
3. Paid, undisclosed payment of testimonials
 4. Portrayal of a judge, or fictitious lawyer or law firm
5. Use of actors or fictionalized persons
6. Irrelevant characteristics of the lawyers
7. Ads that resemble legal documents
8. Certain limits on soliciting new clients for 30 days after
a tort
9. Certain other limits on communications with non-clients
10. Use of a nickname or moniker.[14]

The new New York rules were challenged, in Alexander v.

Cahill, and United States District Court Judge Frederick J.
Scullin of the Northern District of New York struck down five
of the rules as unconstitutional infringement of the First
Amendment. [15] The endorsement, portrayals, "Irrelevant
characteristics", and nicknames provisions were stricken;
however, the domain name limitations, 30-day solicitation,
and communications rules were upheld. [16] State Bar
President Kathryn Madigan promised to work with the court
system to develop new rules that will survive constitutional
strict scrutiny. [17]

The new Florida rules also may be challenged, so a wise law

firm administrator, paralegal, or attorney will keep up to
date on this topic. Also, not all states in the United States
have the same rules, so a search should be made of that
jurisdiction's particular rules. [18]

[edit] Legal notices

Legal advertising can also, less commonly, refer to the Legal

notices classified section of newspapers. [19] Legal notices are
the advertisements seeking missing heirs, "deadbeat"
parents, and potential Class action plaintiffs.[citation needed]

[edit] Legal marketing internationally

In England legal marketing can be traced back to 1986 when

the Law Society first permitted lawyers to advertise. [20]
From the 1990’s other continental European jurisdictions
progressively opened way for advertising: the Spanish
abogardo , the French avocat and the German Rechtsanwalt
are among those able to freely use instruments of
communication.

In Italy, the Bersani Decree of July 2nd, which converted into

law in January 2007 gives lawyers the right to advertise. [21]
[22]

People often confuse legal marketing with legal advertising.

Advertising is only one of many tools a professional services
organisation can utilise in its marketing strategy. [23]

[edit] References

1. ^ There is no definition for it in Ballentine's Law

Dictionary, nor at a search on nolo.com.
2. ^ Barratry is the illegal solicitation of potential clients.
3. ^ Bates v. Arizona State Bar, 433 U.S. 350 (1977).
4. ^
[http://www.lawdragon.com/images/uploads/pdf/aba_m
arketing_4107.pdf Press release about the ASBA
conference.
5. ^ Law.com article from June 15, 2006 New York Law
Journal (N.Y.L.J.) article on NY proposals by John Caher:
[1]
6. ^ See, e.g., this blog for more information:[2]
7. ^ Andrew Rush, U.S. District Court: Some advertising
rules unconstitutional, State Bar News,
September/October 2007, p. 4.
8. ^ For the full rules, see: [3].
9. ^ 11 New York Code of Rules and Regulations
(N.Y.C.R.R.) part 1200, section 1200.1 (k), found at [4]
(requires Acrobat-TM reader).
10. ^ Id.
11. ^ 11 N.Y.C.R.R. part 1200, section 1200.6, also known
as the Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary
Rule (DR) 2-101, found at: [5]
12. ^ Id., at DR 2-101 (b) (1).
 13. ^ Id., DR 2-101 (b).
14. ^ DR 2-101 (c), found at [6].
15. ^ Andrew Rush, U.S. District Court: Some advertising
rules unconstitutional, State Bar News,
September/October 2007, p. 4.
16. ^ Andrew Rush, U.S. District Court: Some advertising
rules unconstitutional, State Bar News,
September/October 2007, p. 4.
17. ^ NYSBA Press Release
18. ^ Furthermore, an Internet search can not reveal the
status of the proposed Florida rules as of April 18, 2007.
19. ^ See, e.g., North Carolina Press association web page,
citing NC General Statutes sections 1-596 through 1-
600:[7]
20. ^ Professional Services Marketing Group web site
21. ^ Legal Marketing Italia
22. ^ Marketude web site
23. ^ See Kotler, Armstrong, Brown Adam & Chandler,
(1998)Marketing 4th edition, Pearson Education,
Australia.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Legal Marketing

• Legal Marketing Association

• Legal Marketing Magazine

[edit] See also

• Advertising
• Ambulance chasing
• Barratry
• E-mail spam
• Marketing
• Publicity
• Shockvertising
Retrieved from
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_advertising"

Categories: Articles with limited geographic scope | USA-

centric | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with
unsourced statements since January 2008 | International law
| Legal communication | Court systems | Advertising

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