Communication on legal services

Question 1

Regarding a state’s ability to regulate lawyer advertising, what is true?

Answer 1

A state may adopt reasonable regulations to prevent false or misleading advertisingA state may adopt reasonable regulations to prevent false or misleading advertising - correct

Question 2

A lawyer may, subject to certain restrictions, enter into a

Answer 2

reciprocal referral arrangement with another lawyer or nonlawyer professional.

A lawyer may advertise in written, recorded, and electronic media, including public media.

Question 3

A lawyer is not prohibited from identifying clients by name in an advertisement. However, the lawyer must first

Answer 3

obtain the clients’ consent.

Question 4

A solicitation is

Answer 4

a communication initiated by a lawyer or firm that is directed to a specific person the lawyer knows or reasonably should know needs legal services in a particular matter, and that offers to provide, or can reasonably be understood as offering to provide, legal services for that matter.

Question 5

A communication is not a solicitation if it:

Answer 5

(i) is directed to the general public (e.g., through a billboard, website, television commercial, or Internet banner advertisement);
(ii) responds to a request for information; or
(iii) is automatically generated in response to an Internet search.

Question 6

a lawyer or firm must not, by live person-to-person

Answer 6

contact, solicit professional employment when a significant motive for doing so is the lawyer’s or firm’s pecuniary gain. “Live person-to-person contact” means in-person, face-to face, live telephone, or other real-time visual or auditory person-to-person communications (e.g., Skype or FaceTime) where the targeted person is subject to a direct personal encounter without time for reflection.

Question 7

An e-mail does not constitute

Answer 7

live person-to-person contact, so it would be proper for the attorney to send an e-mail to a murder suspect.

Question 8

Even live person-to-person contact is permitted when the lawyer is

Answer 8

soliciting certain categories of people, including relatives. Thus, it would be proper for the attorney to visit her uncle and offer to draft his will.

Question 9

Can a lawyer advertise that he is a certified specialist in a particular field of law?

Answer 9

Yes, if the certifying organization is identified and has been approved by the state or the ABA.

Question 10

Patent and admiralty lawyers are

Answer 10

not the only lawyers who can identify as certified specialists. The term “certified” is not inherently misleading, and may be used by a lawyer if all qualifying requirements are met.

Question 11

when a partner dies, may the firm continue to use that partner’s name in its letterhead?

Answer 11

When partners die or retire, their names may be carried over to successor partnerships.

Notwithstanding the specific exception for deceased and retired partners, the general rule is that lawyers must not imply that they are partners or are otherwise associated with each other in a law firm unless they really are. Thus, it is incorrect to say that a firm may continue to use the name of all former partners in its letterhead

Question 12

May a lawyer be subject to discipline for written advertisements that contain only true information?

Answer 12

Yes, a lawyer may be disciplined for any communication that is misleading, even if true

Question 13

A lawyer wants to visit and offer his legal services to a specific person, who happens to be his brother. If __________, it is improper for the lawyer to solicit work from the brother.

Answer 13

The brother has told the lawyer that he does not want to receive such communications

a lawyer must not solicit any person by any method if the person has made it known to the lawyer that he does not want to be contacted, or if the communication involves coercion, duress, or harassment.

Question 14

the lawyer may not claim to be a certified specialist unless

Answer 14

the certifying organization is approved by the state or the ABA. Furthermore, the lawyer must reveal the certifying organization to the public even if the certifying organization is approved.

Question 15

A firm name is misleading if it implies a connection with

Answer 15

a government agency, or with a public or charitable legal services organization unless accompanied by an express disclaimer.

Question 16

Every lawyer advertisement must include

Answer 16

The name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content

Question 17

May a lawyer advertise that she practices within a specific field of law?

Answer 17

Yes. a lawyer may state that she does (or does not) practice in particular fields of law.

Question 18

May two law firms hold themselves out to the public as being “affiliated” with each other?

Answer 18

Two law firms may hold themselves out to the public as being “associated” or “affiliated” if they have a close, regular, ongoing relationship (they need not share common ownership) and if the designation is not misleading. However, the two firms would ordinarily be treated as a single unit for conflict of interest purposes.

Question 19

Sometimes lawyers may enter into reciprocal referral arrangements, in which the lawyer and another person agree to refer clients to each other.What are the rules?

Answer 19

A lawyer may set up a reciprocal referral arrangement with another lawyer OR with a nonlawyer professional. However, such a reciprocal arrangement: (i) Must not be an exclusive agreement, (ii) The referred client must be told about the arrangement, (iii) The agreement must not interfere with the lawyer’s professional judgment as to making referrals or providing substantive legal services, and (iv) The agreement should not be of indefinite duration and should be reviewed periodically.

Question 20

A lawyer calls a local man accused of murder and offers to represent him free of charge. Under the rules regarding solicitation of clients, which of the following statements is true?

Answer 20

The rule prohibiting solicitation via live person-to-person contact (in-person, live telephone, or other real-time visual or auditory person-to-person communication) applies only when a lawyer is seeking pecuniary gain.

The lawyer’s contact would have been proper even if she visited the man in person

Question 21

If a lawyer has entered public service, the firm can’t use the lawyer’s name

Answer 21

during any substantial period in which the lawyer isn’t regularly and actively practicing with the firm.

Question 22

rade names are generally permitted as long as they aren’t

Answer 22

false or misleading

Question 23

When partners die, successor partnerships may

Answer 23

continue to use their names.

Question 24

When a partner leaves a firm,

Answer 24

he firm’s continued use of her name is misleading. Must drop it.

Question 25

It is misleading to include the name of any

Answer 25

nonlawyer in a firm name.

Question 26

Any lawyer may state that she is a “specialist” in a particular field of law based on

Answer 26

her experience, specialized training, or education as long as the statement isn’t false or misleading

Question 27

As a general rule, a lawyer can’t compensate, give anything of value, or promise to give anything of value to

Answer 27

a person for recommending the lawyer’s services.

Question 28

Under the relevant exception to the above rule, a lawyer may give a nominal gift or gratuity as an expression of appreciation to

Answer 28

a person who recommended the lawyer or the lawyer’s firm, provided the gift or gratuity wasn’t intended or reasonably expected to be a form of compensation for recommending the lawyer’s services. Such gifts must not be more than a token item that would be given for a holiday or in the course of ordinary social hospitality.

Furthermore, any gift is prohibited if offered or given in consideration of any understanding that such a gift would be forthcoming or that referrals would be made or encouraged in the future.

Question 29

As an exception to the prohibition on paying for recommendations, a lawyer may pay the permitted costs of

Answer 29

advertising, and may also pay the usual charges of a legal service plan, a not-for-profit lawyer referral service, or an approved lawyer referral service.

However, there are special rules when paying “lead generators,” like JusticeMatch, that provide consumers with matching, referral, and directory services.

A lawyer can pay others to generate client leads as long as the lead generator does not recommend the lawyer and the lead generator’s communications aren’t false or misleading.
.

Question 30

A communication by the lead generator is false or misleading if

Answer 30

it creates a reasonable impression that: (i) it is recommending the lawyer; (ii) it has analyzed the person’s legal problems when determining whether to refer the person to the lawyer; or (iii) it is making the referral without any payment from the lawyer.

Question 31

“nonlawyer professional. includes?

Answer 31

a profession with a high level of training and are licensed and regulated.

Question 32

A lawyer can’t use an agent to do what the lawyer isn’t

Answer 32

permitted to do, and this is prohibited live person-to-person solicitation.

Question 33

Live person-to-person contact with certain persons, including close friends,

Answer 33

is generally allowed.

Question 34

Live person-to-person contact with routine business users of the type of services offered is

Answer 34

generally allowed

Question 35

Where the legal services plan uses live person-to-person contacts, a lawyer can’t participate if

Answer 35

he owns or directs the organization that operates the plan.

Question 36

A lawyer may participate in a plan when

Answer 36

When the plan doesn’t contact persons who are known to need specific legal services in a particular matter—they contact potential subscribers based on location and demographic information only.

Question 37

A communication that truthfully reports an attorney’s achievements on behalf of clients or former clients may be misleading if

Answer 37

presented so as to lead a reasonable person to form an unjustified expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client’s case.

Question 38

A lawyer may participate with a prepaid or group legal-service plan that uses both live person-to-person contact or nondirect communication (such as mail or email) to enroll members or sell subscriptions for the plan. T or F?

Answer 38

True.