Ethics Opinions

Texas Ethic Opinion 661 Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas   Topic: Use of competing lawyer or law firm’s name as keyword in advertising services offered by search-engine companies   Conclusion of the Committee: “A lawyer does not violate the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct by simply using the name of […]

Ethics Advisory Committee   Topic: attorneys participating in websites providing a fixed-fee legal referral service   From the Opinion The fixed-fee legal referral service works as follows: Attorney signs up for the service by agreeing to offer certain flat fee services. The fee for the service is set by the internet advertising directory website(service). The […]

Topic: Attorney Advertising and LinkedIn   Digest: “An attorney’s individual LinkedIn profile or other content constitutes attorney advertising only if it meets all five of the following criteria: (a) it is a communication made by or on behalf of the lawyer; (b) the primary purpose of the LinkedIn content is to attract new clients to […]

On September 22, 2015, the West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel Legal Ethics issued a comprehensive opinion to provide the guidance for lawyers on the use of social media for both business and personal matters.  West Virginia Office of Disciplinary Counsel Legal Ethics Opinion 2015-02 Lawyer Disciplinary Board – L.E.O. 2015-02 The Disciplinary Board provided […]

  In Formal Opinion 2015-3, the Committee on Professional Ethics of NY City Bar opined on the increasing recurrence of internet scams directed to lawyers Digest of the opinion: “An attorney who discovers that he is the target of an Internet-based trust account scam does not have a duty of confidentiality towards the individual attempting […]

On March 10, 2015, the New York County Bar Association (NYCLA) issued opinion Formal Opinion 748 to offer guidance on whether a lawyer can ethically maintain a LinkedIn profile and when it constitutes advertisement. According to the opinion, attorneys may maintain profiles on LinkedIn but they must ensure that all information and endorsements in their […]

Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: The ethical implications of attorney profiles on LinkedIn From the digest: “Attorneys may maintain profiles on LinkedIn, containing information such as education, work history, areas of practice, skills, and recommendations written by other LinkedIn users. A LinkedIn profile that contains only one’s education and current and past employment does not […]

Ethics Opinion 368 – Lawyer Employment Agreements—Restrictions on Departing Lawyer Who Competes with Former Firm “A law firm may not provide for or impose liquidated damages on a lawyer who, after departure, competes with the firm. A firm and a departing lawyer may have liability to one another, though, for work done before the lawyer’s departure. Also, a […]

Committee on Professional Ethics Topic: Solicitation Digest of the Committee: “Where a potential client posts a message on a website asking to be contacted by a lawyer about a particular legal problem, a New York lawyer may respond in the manner invited by the potential client.  A response invited by the potential client does not […]

Proposed Opinion 12-0006 is issued now as Formal Opinion 2016-196. Please see here: http://www.technethics.com….     In the proposed Opinion 12-0006, the California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility opined on “under what circumstances is “blogging” by an attorney subject to the requirements and restrictions of the Rules of Professional Conduct and related provisions of the State Bar […]