Communications About Legal Services
This chapter covers advertising and solicitation: the ban on false or misleading communications, limits on direct solicitation, and rules on firm names and specialization claims.
Advertising and False Communications
Under Model Rule 7.1, a lawyer must not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services; a communication is misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation or omits a fact needed to make it not materially misleading. Truthful advertising is constitutionally protected commercial speech. A lawyer generally may not state or imply certification as a specialist unless certified by an approved organization and the certifying body is named.
Solicitation
Under Model Rule 7.3, a lawyer generally must not solicit professional employment by live person-to-person contact (in person, by live phone, or real-time electronic contact) when a significant motive is the lawyer's pecuniary gain, unless the person contacted is a lawyer or has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer. A lawyer must not solicit anyone who has made known a desire not to be solicited or by means involving coercion, duress, or harassment.