10 Attorney Advertising Considerations

Attorneys are bound by strict regulations and guidelines. Some of the most important ethics rules to consider when creating attorney advertising:

1) Referrals: If you pay money to anyone and a client is referred to you, you are probably obtaining an illegal referral, unless the referral is from a Bar Association. Advertising involves a risk. The risk is that you may pay for advertising and may not sign up any clients. If you are offered a guarantee that you will sign up enough cases to cover the cost of advertising, this guarantee turns your advertising campaign into an illegal referral system. If you are considering working with an advertising agency that offers a guarantee, have an ethics lawyer review the guarantee before you work with that agency. If you work with an advertiser or an agency, make sure you are actually paying for advertising and not for the cases. Beware of advertising schemes where "someone" offers to send you clients which have been obtained without advertising and offers to bill you on their "advertising agency" bill head for advertising services or consulting services. Several lawyers and doctors, I have spoken to, mistakenly believed that if they have a bill for advertising, it's legal. These schemes are clearly illegal in addition to violating ethics and can result in an arrest and conviction. Know who you're doing business with and live by a simple rule: If you're trying to make something look like something else, it's probably illegal.

In some states, such as New York, if telephone calls are answered in a central office, no person can decide which calls go to which lawyers. For instance, if the agency or call center receives telephone calls from callers requesting different services such as bankruptcy, criminal, divorce, and personal injury, a referral may made when the operator decides which lawyer to send the call to. Even if all calls request personal injury services and an operator is able to decide whether to give the call to lawyer "A" or lawyer "B", a referral would be made.

2) Disparaging Other Lawyers: Advertising which includes a remark disparaging other lawyers is probably one of the quickest ways to get into trouble. Not only is it unethical in most states, but lawyers who view your disparaging advertising will likely report you.

3) Misleading Advertising Claims: Claims should be carefully examined to avoid being misleading. Claims implying that your law firm can get more money or that your law firm is powerful are misleading. Even a claim that you are a big-city lawyer, while it could be true, can be considered misleading as an implication of power or competency due to your location. In states, such as New York, where the lawyer is required to charge the client for expenses, stating that there is no fee unless you win will not only violate ethics but subject you to a lawsuit.

4) Claiming to be an Expert: Most states prohibit lawyers from stating in their advertising that they are an expert or that they specialize in a particular practice area, unless the lawyer is board certified. Where the lawyer is not certified, some states, like Texas, require that the lawyer state that he or she is not certified (this rule should also be eliminated).

5) Verdict Results: If you advertise previous settlements or verdict results, most states will require a disclaimer that prior results are not predictive of future outcomes. Claims must be true and you should be able to prove it.

6) Use of Actors in the Commercial: Some states prohibit lawyers from using an actor in the commercial to portray a lawyer and have strict regulations regarding the use of testimonials, and the portrayal of clients.

7) Dramatic Accident Re-creation: Some states prohibit use of dramatic accident recreations in the commercials.

8) Jingles: Some states prohibit use of jingles in commercials.

9) Office Address: Most states require that your main office address appear in your advertising.

10) Copy of Advertisement: Some states require lawyers to keep a copy of the advertisement for certain period of time. Some states require lawyers to submit a copy of their advertisements for prior approval.