Hunter v. Virginia State Bar, 744 S.E.2d 611 (2013), deals with the question of whether blogs are subject to the rules of professional conduct. Attorney Hunter, a criminal defense lawyer, wrote a blog on his firm website discussing recent cases of interest in Virginia, most of which were cases Hunter successfully handled. The Virginia State Bar claimed that the blog was subject to the rules of professional conduct and charged Hunter with two violations: failure to include a disclaimer on the blog dealing with case results and disclosure without client consent of information about client cases even though such information had been revealed in court. The Virginia Supreme Court agreed with the Bar on the disclaimer issue. Considering a number of factors, the court held that Hunter’s blog was commercial rather than political speech and therefore could be regulated by the bar. The court held that the requirement of a disclaimer met the three-pronged test established by the Supreme Court in Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Public Serv. Comm., 447 U.S. 557 (1980). In particular, the Supreme Court had previously approved the requirement of disclaimers to avoid misleading the public. However, on the second charge, violation of the duty of confidentiality, the court held that Hunter’s blog posting were constitutionally protected: “a lawyer is no more prohibited than any other citizen from reporting what transpired in the courtroom.” The Supreme Court has denied certiorari in the case.
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