Ethics-Governance: Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/1999/dec-99-ethics.htm

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http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/1999/dec-99-ethics.htm The Practical and Ethical Considerations of Internet Advertising: Lawyer Advertising on the Internet by Barrie Althoff, WSBA Chief Disciplinary Counsel. Opinions expressed herein are the author's and are not official or unofficial WSBA positions. This article reviews Washington's ethical rules on lawyer advertising, all adopted long before widespread use of the Internet, and then applies the rules to lawyer advertising on the Internet. It also looks briefly at ethical issues of e-mail, chat rooms and list serves, and then collects some useful resources in an appendix. Introduction A lawyer's right to advertise for and solicit clients is protected as a freedom of commercial speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The right, however, is subject to the Bar's mandate to protect the public from, among other things, deceptive practices and undue direct solicitation. While a lawyer has a broad constitutional right to engage in commercial speech, the right is not unlimited, but is subject to reasonable restrictions related to that form of free speech.[1] The Washington Supreme Court's Rules of Professional Conduct (RPCs) specify the minimum level of conduct required of lawyers to avoid disciplinary action. Washington's RPCs are largely based on the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, adopted in 1983 and modified a number of times since. Washington's principal ethical rules applicable to lawyer advertising are RPC 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services), RPC 7.2 (lawyer advertising), RPC 7.3 (soliciting clients), RPC 7.4 (communicating a lawyer's fields of practice), RPC 7.5 (use of firm names), and RPC 8.4(c) (specifying various acts of misconduct). Full Article: http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/archives/1999/dec-99-ethics.htm


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