Legal advertising
Encyclopedia
Legal advertising is advertising
by lawyer
s (attorneys at law) and law firm
s.
Legal marketing
is a broader term referring to advertising and other practices, such as client relations and public relations
.
. Shock advertising
, for example, would be considered unethical; directly soliciting clients (known as barratry
, or "ambulance chasing") is illegal.
The first major case law
decision on legal advertising is the Supreme Court
ruling in Bates v. Arizona State Bar 433 U.S. 350 (1977).
The New York
and Florida
court systems proposed several restrictions on advertising in 2006 and 2007. The N.Y. proposals, in particular, generated much controversy. 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.
The new rules for New York were effective on February 1, 2007. 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." The new rule specifically exempts communications to existing clients or other lawyers. Publicity
is, for the first time, also included as a synonym
of advertising. The newly revised rules now allow advertising about a lawyer's publications and "bona fide
professional ratings". There are certain special rules for email advertising, prohibiting spam
.
The 2007 rules stated that advertising must not include a number of prohibited marketing
devices:
The new New York rules were challenged by the national consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen
, representing Syracuse
law firm Alexander and Catalano, in Alexander v. Cahill, and Judge Frederick J. Scullin of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
struck down five of the rules as unconstitutional infringement of the First Amendment. The endorsement, portrayals, "Irrelevant characteristics", and nicknames provisions were stricken; however, the domain name limitations, 30-day solicitation, and communications rules were upheld. State Bar President Kathryn Madigan promised to work with the court system to develop new rules that will survive constitutional strict scrutiny
.
The new Florida rules, and similar rules in Louisiana, have also been challenged by Public Citizen.
s; they often appear in classified advertising
sections of newspaper
s.
Examples of legal notices includes certain public notice
provisions (relating to pending government actions and meetings, especially about zoning
), as well as advertisements seeking owners of unclaimed property
, missing heirs
, "deadbeat" parents, and potential class action
plaintiff
s.
, legal marketing can be traced back to 1986 when the Law Society of England and Wales
first permitted lawyers to advertise.
From the 1990s, other jurisdiction
s in continental Europe
progressively opened way for advertising. Advocate
s in Spain
, France
. and Germany
are among those able to freely use instruments of communication.
In Italy
, the Bersani Decree of July 2, converted into law in January 2007 gives lawyers the right to advertise.
In Israel
, legal marketing managers in big law firms were active since 2006. Their activity expanded due to the Late-2000s recession which affected law firms, and due to the large number of lawyers per capita in Israel.
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
by lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
s (attorneys at law) and law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
s.
Legal marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
is a broader term referring to advertising and other practices, such as client relations and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
.
In the United States
Certain marketing practices are considered illegal, and many others may be considered violations of legal ethicsLegal ethics
Legal ethics encompasses an ethical code governing the conduct of persons engaged in the practice of law and persons more generally in the legal sector.-In the United States:...
. Shock advertising
Shock advertising
Shock advertising or Shockvertising is a type of advertising generally regarded as one that “deliberately, rather than inadvertently, startles and offends its audience by violating norms for social values and personal ideals.” It is the employment in advertising or public relations of "graphic...
, for example, would be considered unethical; directly soliciting clients (known as barratry
Barratry
Barratry is the name of four legal concepts, three in criminal and civil law, and one in admiralty law.* Barratry, in criminal and civil law, is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass...
, or "ambulance chasing") is illegal.
The first major case law
Case law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
decision on legal advertising is the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruling in Bates v. Arizona State Bar 433 U.S. 350 (1977).
The New York
New York State Unified Court System
The New York State Unified Court System is the official name of the judicial system of New York in the United States. Based in Albany, the New York State Judiciary is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals who is its...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
court systems proposed several restrictions on advertising in 2006 and 2007. The N.Y. proposals, in particular, generated much controversy. In 2005, New York State Bar Association
New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association , with 77,000 members, is the largest voluntary bar association in the United States.-History:The State Bar was founded with a constitution that dates to 1877...
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.
The new rules for New York were effective on February 1, 2007. 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." The new rule specifically exempts communications to existing clients or other lawyers. Publicity
Publicity
Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
is, for the first time, also included as a synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
of advertising. The newly revised rules now allow advertising about a lawyer's publications and "bona fide
Bona Fide
Bona Fide is a studio album from rock band Wishbone Ash. It is the first studio album in six years and is the only studio album to feature guitarist Ben Granfelt...
professional ratings". There are certain special rules for email advertising, prohibiting spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
.
The 2007 rules stated that advertising must not include a number of prohibited marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
devices:
- Certain endorsements or testimonialsTestimonialIn promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a written or spoken statement, sometimes from a person figure, sometimes from a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary...
from a former client - Portrayal of judgeJudgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
s - Paid, undisclosed payment of testimonials
- Portrayal of a judge, or fictitiousFictionFiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
lawyer or law firm - Use of actors or fictionalized persons
- Irrelevant characteristics of the lawyers
- Ads that resemble legal documentsLegal instrumentLegal instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right, and therefore evidences that act, process, or...
- Certain limits on soliciting new clients for 30 days after a tortTortA tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
- Certain other limits on communications with non-clients
- Use of a nickname or moniker.
The new New York rules were challenged by the national consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
, representing Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
law firm Alexander and Catalano, in Alexander v. Cahill, and Judge Frederick J. Scullin of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. The U.S. Attorney for the district is Richard S. Hartunian...
struck down five of the rules as unconstitutional infringement of the First Amendment. The endorsement, portrayals, "Irrelevant characteristics", and nicknames provisions were stricken; however, the domain name limitations, 30-day solicitation, and communications rules were upheld. State Bar President Kathryn Madigan promised to work with the court system to develop new rules that will survive constitutional strict scrutiny
Strict scrutiny
Strict scrutiny is the most stringent standard of judicial review used by United States courts. It is part of the hierarchy of standards that courts use to weigh the government's interest against a constitutional right or principle. The lesser standards are rational basis review and exacting or...
.
The new Florida rules, and similar rules in Louisiana, have also been challenged by Public Citizen.
Legal notices
Legal advertising can also, less commonly, refer to the legal notices, which are certain notices legally required to appear in circulating publicationPublication
To publish is to make content available to the public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any medium, including paper or electronic publishing forms such as websites, e-books, Compact Discs and MP3s...
s; they often appear in classified advertising
Classified advertising
Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
sections of newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s.
Examples of legal notices includes certain public notice
Public notice
Public notice is a notice given to the public regarding certain types of legal proceedings.-By government:Public notices are issued by a government agency or legislative body in certain rulemaking or lawmaking proceeding....
provisions (relating to pending government actions and meetings, especially about zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
), as well as advertisements seeking owners of unclaimed property
Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property
Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property are categories of the common law of property which deals with personal property which has left the possession of its rightful owner without having directly entered the possession of another person...
, missing heirs
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
, "deadbeat" parents, and potential class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
s.
In other countries
In England and WalesEngland and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
, legal marketing can be traced back to 1986 when the Law Society of England and Wales
Law Society of England and Wales
The Law Society is the professional association that represents the solicitors' profession in England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors as well as serving as a sounding board for law reform. Members of the Society are often consulted when important...
first permitted lawyers to advertise.
From the 1990s, other jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
s in continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
progressively opened way for advertising. Advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
s in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
are among those able to freely use instruments of communication.
In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the Bersani Decree of July 2, converted into law in January 2007 gives lawyers the right to advertise.
In Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, legal marketing managers in big law firms were active since 2006. Their activity expanded due to the Late-2000s recession which affected law firms, and due to the large number of lawyers per capita in Israel.
See also
- AdvertisingAdvertisingAdvertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
- Ambulance chasing
- BarratryBarratryBarratry is the name of four legal concepts, three in criminal and civil law, and one in admiralty law.* Barratry, in criminal and civil law, is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass...
- E-mail spamE-mail spamEmail spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
- MarketingMarketingMarketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
- PublicityPublicityPublicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
- Shockvertising